Those of you who have read Sticks and Snakes for a while might remember hearing a little about icon+sf, a project that I worked on in seminary that attempted to start an Emerging Church community grounded in historical Anglo-Catholic tradition. I was thoroughly obsessed with this idea for about two years and worked hard on creating a feasibility study and the first phases of a development plan before I graduated last spring. The project was put on hold when the economy tanked and I left town, but friends in San Francisco are still on board with icon or something like it launching in the future.
Well, imagine my surprise when a friend sent me this link the other day. Apparantly San Francisco has an Ikon now, only I have nothing to do with it and the spelling is reminiscent of copy machines rather than Christianity.
Granted. Ikon and icon are not exactly the same concept, but the similarity is striking. I'm not saying that they stole our idea, but...it sure is a coincidence! The main difference between the two ventures is, of course, an important one. Ikon seems to be non-denominational or, to use Emerging Church parlance, "post-denominational," while icon would/will be thoroughly Episcopal and intentionally Anglo-Catholic. I still believe really strongly that historically grounded Christian tradition is, at its heart, evangelical, and that the Anglo-Catholic tradition is an excellent way to experience and live the Christian faith in a community. We'll see if it happens one day!
If any of you in SF have checked out Ikon, let me know! I'd love to hear more about it.
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