The History of Emergent Part 4

Vancouver, WA
1999

Out of the shower, grab towel and phone rings . . .

Me: this is Jason

Phone caller: Jason this is doug pagitt, is this a good time to talk?

Me: sure, if you don’t mind that I am naked

DP: (giggle) sure that’s perfect . . .

. . . . conversation that it is completely forgettable

Dallas, TX (Starbucks)
1999

Meeting the great Tom Davis for the first time

Tom: Doug said that you did your first interview with you naked?

Me: yep, true. He mentioned that to you

Tom (big laugh) yes apparently he really liked that

I am pretty sure this is the only basis Doug evaluated my worthiness for the job as Young Leader Network Coordinator. The interview with Leadership Network to take the Young Leader Network position was a cluster from the beginning.

-Two phone calls with Doug
-Doug visits Vancouver we play golf and he comes to the church. I preach a weak sermon while he plays on his Palm Pilot.
-Fly to Dallas and meet with LN team. Brad Smith makes Cheryl cry. Off
Meet Brad and Suely Cecil, Andrew and Debbie Jones and Doug and Shelley Pagitt at Dave and Busters (good Lord kill me). Brad repeats over and over that we “work real hard”(read obsessive workaholism) . . .to my replies of “I won’t sacrifice my wife on the alter of this job”(read I already did that at the church plant experience)
-Brad hates me. Doug is optimistic (read desperate to find replacement so he can move back to MN to plant Solomons Porch . . . )
-fly to DC for aforementioned conference at Brian’s church, train to New York for Young Leaders Gathering and meet Mark Driscoll, Chris Seay, Tony Jones, Brian McLaren, Rudy Carrasco, Jeff Bailey (remember him ?? what is up!) and Tim Conder (who to this day I cannot decide whether is the most genuine person on the whole planet or full of crap . . . just sayin’). The trip is spent with Doug buying huge dinners, bottles of wine in appreciation for the “hard work” of the Group of Twenty. According to a future co-worker, Doug brought only cash and submitted NO RECEIPTS for that trip . . . but of course LN picked up the bill. After one meeting where driscoll was advocating for a “speakers network” and others talk of leaving LN to start a new group (Emergent?) I confronted doug on a late night walk by saying if you guys are all leaving then I will not take this job. He assured me “we will not go anywhere”. Mark.
-Fly to LA to have one more meeting with Brad Smith so he can offer me job and sign off on me
-fly to Long Beach to attend another ridiculous meeting
-accept job. What in the living hell was I thinking?

I am clearly retarded.

el mol