New Room Conference with Seedbed
Last week was Seedbed’s New Room Conference!
….What is the New Room?
Tucked away in the heart of the port city of Bristol, England, is small chapel known around the world as the cradle of the Wesleyan Methodist movement. John Wesley built the chapel in 1739 and named it the New Room. The simple structure consisted of a preaching hall on the ground floor and several rooms on the second floor where Wesley’s preachers would stay when in the area. The New Room served as the first headquarters and home base for the growing Methodist revival. The very first class meeting of Methodism met here. The New Room became a hub for serving the poor of Bristol and a haven for the newly converted.
Can you imagine the conversations among these early Methodist preachers of the Gospel as they compared notes on Scripture, the work of the Holy Spirit, the extraordinary response from field preaching, and the latest pulpits from which they had been banned? Whitefield and Wesley likely debated doctrine in the early years of the New Room. Can you hear them sharing powerful readings from the theological luminaries who had gone before them: Jeremy Taylor, Thomas A’Kempis, William Law, and maybe even Madame Guyon. Can you picture them writing their journals and letters, capturing for the ages to come the works of the Holy Spirit in their own life and times. This must have been something of the fellowship of the New Room.
What if such a meeting place could be arranged today, where our collective paths could cross for a few days of hearing some new voices, engaging in some new conversations, and seeing some new horizons of possibility for a movement whose time has come to move again.
Movements of the Gospel are unpredictable and uncontrollable expressions of the mystery of the Holy Spirit. They are tipping points where Divine Intervention meets human readiness. We see from history certain factors at play when a movement is afoot. It begins with a few people, usually on the margins, who begin to recapture the compelling clarity of an ancient message. This inspires a new generation of emboldened messengers who begin to take the shape of a focused mission— a mobile manifesto of sorts. Next come the musicians and melody makers as new anthems emerge. Then slowly yet suddenly come the masses. And you know you have a bona fide movement when you have your first martyr— or at least when someone gets a tattoo. But in almost all cases, somewhere at some point before anything else really happened, a group of people came together for a meeting. In case you missed the obvious alliteration here’s the review:
Message, Messengers, Mission. Manifesto. Musicians. Melodies. Masses. Martyrs.
It all begins with a meeting— and that meeting is The New Room Conference.
The Second New Room Annual Conference was one for the history books. In the last few weeks we’ve been getting all kind of positive feedback, such as:
“Thinking a lot about the #NewRoomConf this morning. What a great event. Thanks to @OfficialSeedbed for reminding me of many reasons to hope.” — Andrew C. Thompson, ThD
“I’m going to look back in 50 years and remember this week’s New Room Conference as the change in trajectory of life and finding a home.” — Pierce Drake
“It’s going to take months to process everything that went on at the #newroomconf. Thanks, @OfficialSeedbed for an amazing experience!” — Forrest Deviney
“New Room Conference has been awesome and challenging in so many ways. It has been a blessing seeing the Holy Spirit work and move in the hearts of so many. ‘The things which unite us are ever so much stronger than the things which divide us.’ #gospel” — Joel Mooneyhan
“Thanks for hosting New Room Conference. You’ve rekindled my love for our Wesleyan tradition.” — Lisa Yebuah
“I leave this conference hopefully, gratefully … reminded that I am not alone. In fact, far from it, I feel surrounded. In my spirit, I am hearing Elijah on the mountain, saying to God, ‘I alone am left,’ while God says, ‘To the contrary, there are thousands in the valley waiting for you. Get to work.'” — Carolyn Moore
“If there is a theme to New Room Conference, it is about the recovery of a full Wesleyan understanding of sanctification with a large (very large) dose of movement (work) of the Holy Spirit. These folks are deeply serious about genuine discipleship and deep allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord. The focus is worldwide and not just a North American-centric vision.” — Bishop Mike Lowry
But perhaps the best way to signal its success is to consider that the Third New Room Annual Conference is already starting to fill at a fast clip. The date is September 21-23 and again in Franklin, Tennessee.
You can get a sense of the conference by purchasing the conference plenary and breakout presentations (you can get them here), and we recommend them heartily. At the end of the day, though, it is one of those “need to be there” kind of events. You can get on board at newroomconference.com.
The big outcome of the gathering? The announcement of the formation of the New Room Network. Because you don’t have a lot of time to read newsletters like this, check it all out at newroom.network. Download the New Room Covenant, register for one of the three regional gatherings in the spring of 2016, sign up to Beta Test the New Room Band Together App, and get involved in the now moving movement. We anticipate a full court launch of the New Room Network at the Fall 2016 Conference.
Want to be a part of next year’s New Room Conference? http://newroom.seedbed.com/#tile_registration
We treasure your involvement and engagement in this work.
I am a little confused. Your site says Sept 21-23 in Franklin, Tennessee, the link says Sept 25-27 in Nashville, Tennessee. Are they one in the same event?
This is an article from 2016. Please refer to the New Room website for current details on the 2019 conference.