TCS Audio Sales: Part 1

Folks, it's been a dog to get these CD recordings in place for sale; more specifically, it's been a dog to get both CD and MP3s ready for sale simultaneously. I sincerely apologize for the delay. Our webmistress is moving inter-state and packing up her computer, web files and all. Our initial efforts to get things into motion have been derailed by the weirdest obstacles. So here we are.

This will be an official announcement that if you wish to purchase a CD of any of the main talks you may currently do so by writing the TCS at the following address:

P.O. Box 1664 Austin, TX 78767-1664

This will be the "quick and dirty" means to get copies of the CD. Soon--and very soon--we'll have swifter ways to get these to you. But if you wish to hold the recordings in your hands and re-live all the glory of Andy Crouch, Eugene Peterson, John Witvliet, David Taylor, Barbara "Habanero Spice Girl" Nicolosi, and Jeremy Begbie, please keep reading.

All sales need to be paid for by check. Please make check out to "Hill Country Institute." Each CD is $6.00. Please add $1.00 shipping per CD. For individual orders of 12 or more CDs, we will waive shipping.Orders will be processed upon receipt of a check.

Please include in your note to us the address you wish us to send the CDs to, how many of which talks, and contact info in case we need to get ahold of you. Email us with any question at: info(AT)transformingculture(DOT).org.

This, at the very least, will get things rolling for those of you who wish to own a very excellent collection of talks on CD. Hopefully very, very soon we will have the capacity for people to download MP3s. They'll be $4.99 each.

About the DVDs, we had an awful technical snafu and none of the audio recorded onto the video. We are going to have go through the laborious process of dubbing the separate audio recordings onto the video files. But that'll take time. There's hope. All is not lost. We shall not be overcome. But this will take some gracious perseverance to accomplish.

And we thank you in advance for your patience, interest and prayers.

Info about Audio CD sales

We want to let you know that we're working to get the six main talks into MP3 downloadable form; we'll start with those. We'll put them up on the website and have them available for sale. Our hope is to get this in working order within the next couple of weeks, so please check back in.

Thank you for your patience--and interest! And thank you to all who attended and made the symposium such a wonderful event. I'll be posting some observations and photos on my blog: here.

A 4 Minutes Max added for artists: Wed., April 2

If you're reading this and you're coming and you're an artist, this is for you. We've changed the schedule for Wednesday evening, April 2. Instead of a panel we're doing a kind of open mic for artists and the rest of us can be entertained. It'll happen 9:00-10:3o PM.

This is the teaser announcment.

4 Minutes Max: "Perform, Show, and Tell"

How many slots? 20 slots for artists of any media, and it'll be first come first reserved. You'll reserve a slot by email to our MCs. That email will come to you if you've registered.

So stay alert!

Two new donors: Cielo Water & Tea Embassy

We're very excited to have two new donor-sponsors. Cielo Water is a local bottle water-making company. Here's their statement:

"Cielo oxygen-enriched purified water is sold by a small local non-profit community dedicated to a simple life of day and night prayer, work, hospitality, and reconciliation.
We believe that water is one expression of the goodness of God towards all peoples of the earth. We are privileged to be stewards of the very best and purest water, and take seriously the responsibility to sell it with thankfulness, joy, and integrity."

Check them out here.

The Tea Embassy is also owned by friends and they have millions and millions of teas for sale; or at least that's what it feels like when you behold their wall of super tasty teas.

Check 'em out here.

An Evening Rate available

We're offering an evening rate for the symposium. It'll be $25 and you'll need to pay at the door. No advance payment possible on this. But if this helps you come to at least part of it, we're happy to offer it.

The evening sessions are Tuesday and Wednesday, and they begin at 7 PM.

Eugene Peterson speaks Tuesday evening, Barbara Nicolosi on Wednesday evening. And there will be other things accompanying the talks. Do see schedule for details.

Video on YouTube about "art in the church" in Austin, TX

Check it out: here. That's the short version.

This is the longer, I think more interesting version: here.

Many thanks for Taylor Martyn for getting this together!

We invite you to PRAY for the TC Symposium

We would like to let you know that we have a prayer team that has been praying daily for the symposium: the events, the speakers, the volunteers, the logistics, and for all of you who will be coming. We eagerly invite you to take a moment here and there to be praying for God's good, perfect and pleasing will to be done in and through and around and even despite us in this time we'll be spending together. Every prayer matters. Every prayer matters a great deal.

I'm copying here a portion of the liturgy that was prepared for this prayer effort. To God be the glory.

*We ask that the Body of Christ be built up in love, setting aside "childish things" to pursue maturity. May beauty and brokenness walk hand in hand in a spirit of reconciliation and mutual blessing. And may this blessing overflow into the various churches in Austin as well as the churches represented by each person attending the symposium.

All: Hear our prayer, O Lord.

*May Your church come alive to the arts and may the arts flourish and flow in the context of love. May foundations be laid at this symposium for ongoing contact and mutual support among artists, pastors, and all those working for cultural transformation.

All: Hear our prayer, O Lord.

Call: Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.

Response: Establish thou the work of our hands;
yea, establish thou the work of our hands.

Interview on Moody Bible Institute Radio

Moody's "Prime Time America" conducted an interview with me last Friday, March 7, about the arts. It's here.

Are we recording the talks?

That's the popular question of late. The answer is yes.

Yes, we are definitely recording the main session talks, including the plenaries and panels.

Yes, we will try to record all seminar talks. We may not get them all, but we'll try.

And then we'll post information in this NEWS section about how to get ahold of it.

So stay tuned.

When the Plenary Speakers speak

This is the order in which everyone will be speaking for the plenary sessions:

#1: Tuesday, 11:30-12:30 AM - Andy Crouch

#2: Tuesday, 7:30-8:30 PM - Eugene Peterson

#3: Wednesday, 9:00-10:00 AM - John Witvliet

#4: Wednesday, 10:30-11:30 AM - David Taylor

#5: Wednesday, 7:30-8:30 PM - Barbara Nicolosi

#6: Thursday, 9:00-10:00 AM - Jeremy Begbie

Our latest list of sponsors

We're very grateful to all the organizations and groups that have partnered with us in pulling off this symposium. They are:

- Christians in the Visual Arts
- Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
- First Evangelical Free Church (Austin)
- International Arts Movement (NYC)
- The Christian Post
- Baker Books
- Redeemer Presbyterian (Austin)
- All Saints Presbyterian (Austin)

It's a tremendous list of friends. We thank them now, we'll thank them during and after.

The TCS featured in The Christian Post

A news feature on The Christian Post has just been, well, posted: here.

New Day Rates now being offered

We are now offering a day-rate for attendees. For either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday we are offering the following rate:

- $85 for regular registration

- $50 for students

Please state that you're registering for a day-rate in your official registration. We hope this offers more flexibility to some.

Limited Discount Now Available for Students

We'd like to offer a limited discount for students for the Transforming Culture symposium, at a registration price of $150. The fee will provide the same benefits as full price registration. To take advantage of this special rate, please fill out the online registration form and in the comments section at the end of the form, please note you are a student and you will pay by check. Please mail your $150 check, made out to Hill Country Institute, to P.O. Box 1664, Austin, Texas 78767-1664.

Please tell as many students as you know and to any faculty who could make this information known to their students. We sure hope this helps as we really do want as many students involved as possible.

Price goes up tomorrow, Jan. 1, 2008

Just a little heads-up here. Today is the last day to register at the $209 price. Tomorrow it goes up to $229. On March 24th the price goes up to $255. And at-the-door registration will be $285. We certainly hope as many of you can sign up today.

A happy, blessed New Year to all.

The Seminars are posted

We've posted the list of seminars. Some are TBA, meaning that we're still putting parts together. But the basic scope is in place. These seminars will be the place where we practically wrestle with the Six Questions. And we're very excited to see what comes out of our collective discussions.

The art on the front page

Because we so love this painting we wanted to give more information about the artist. His name is Tim Lowly and the title of this piece is "Temma on Earth." It's 8’ x 12’, acrylic on panel. Here is how he describes the work:

“…on earth, as in heaven…”

The painting Temma on Earth depicts a child lying on the ground as seen from above. The work brings the viewer into the tension of several paradoxes: an apparently small person depicted at twice life size; a sparse composition with a galactic accumulation of detail; a figure seemingly rooted to the ground, yet – by virtue of pictorial orientation – floating free; an image which brings one intimately close yet kept at a great distance. How does one paint a mystery.

Tim Lowly lives and works in Chicago. Among the bags that he carries: making art, making music, curating and teaching. That said, without his wife Sherrie and daughter Temma he would be little more than a guy with some bags. If that.

Our co-Sponsors

We are very grateful to those who have agreed to co-sponsor the Symposium. They include the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship at Calvin College, Christians In the Visual Arts (CIVA), Redeemer Presbyterian church in Austin, and the International Arts Movement (IAM) in NYC. We are grateful and strengthened for their partnership with us.

Hotel and Lodgings

We've posted info on hotels that can be used for lodging. It can be found here.

The schedule is up!

The official schedule is up. It's under the program tab. It'll give you a sense of the rhythm of the three days. We begin officially at 10:30 am on Tuesday, April 1. For folks coming in from out of Texas that probably means arriving in Austin on Monday.

The first round of breakout sessions should go up within the week. Stay tuned. We are encouraged and grateful by the group of people who have committed to be a part of this event. Please be praying with us.

Schedule + Food

We are about the post the schedule. We wanted to let you know that four meals are included in the price of the regstration: lunch and dinner on Tuesday, lunch and dinner on Wednesday. Just for the record.

Our New News "Page"

Ladies and gents, this is where we will post updates and new information. Good ol' blogger is our new best friend. God bless google.

Updates like what? Like Erik Lokkesome, VP of Strategic Partnerships and Outreach for Walden Media and chairman of Brewing Culture and all-around sharp-dressed man has agreed to do a breakout session for us. I gave him a goofy title but the idea will be the same: "7 Ways Your Church Can Be a Patron of the Arts." Very excited about that.

Our goal is by November 1 to have posted a first draft of our Breakout Sessions. So stay tuned.

Also, as soon as a few pennies drop we'll post, sooner than you think, the official schedule for the symposium.

The engines are firing. Pistons are doing their pistony thing.