A History of Sixth Street

Posted on February 23, 2009

This history was used in a sermon for our move onto 6th Street at Austin City Life.

Sixth Street History

Where did 6th street come from? Formerly called Pecan Street (hence Pecan St festival), 6th Street began as the main thoroughfare into Austin (a nice flat trail) for farmland communities to the east. It quickly became a major commerce district. By the 1860s, log and frame houses, wagon yards, livery stables, and saloons were present along Pecan Street, as were pigs and cows from time to time.

Live Music on 6th

When did 6th become known for live music? It all really started in 1975 when Cliff Antone opened a Blues club at 6th and Brazos (now Antone’s). It was here that Stevie Ray Vaughn and “Paul Ray and the Cobras” got started, generating the live music reputation of 6th.

Keep Austin Weird

How did Austin get Weird? The late 70s ushered in a era of live original music in Austin. Paul Ray describes 6th street as follows:

“It was cheap rent and cheap beer, cheap pot, girls in halter tops and cut offs and you could be just whatever you wanted to be. There were rednecks and long-hairs sitting next to one another at the bar telling jokes to one another. People got along. It was just a different scene.”

Three words. Keep Austin Weird. That’s what happened, in all its glory and depravity. Great blues and gross sin. You could be whatever you wanted to be. Six was an eclectic, accepting, creative, and corrupt scene. We have much to celebrate from the creation of 6th street—great music, creative energy, good beer, artistic tattoos and a place where you can be yourself and people will accept you. That weird, tolerant, eclectic spirit has permeated the whole city and there is much to love about it. The American church would do well to learn from this kind of cultural relativism.

80s Downturn

Why has 6th Street become less known for good, live music? In an interview Ray remarked: “I think by the late ‘80s it had become, for lack of a better description, cover band hell. It was all about bands playing cover music basically trying to bring in people so they could drink.” As the ’80s started winding down, many say, came the years the music died. It became a real frat and tourist scene with mediocre music. “I think it’s true you can make money selling daiquiris to kids, who are just learning what alcohol does, than you can running a music venue. It’s a bottom line question. A lot of clubs would have liked to have stayed open, but I think the landlords raised the rent because they saw the possibility of more money,” Forsyth said.

2001 Riot and Stabbing

What was the secret to 6th’s success? KUT radio jock Paul Ray: “I think organic is the way Sixth Street started. It’s the way it got where it is and I don’t think you can legislate it or do studies on it. It needs to be organic. Otherwise, it’s not going to work because the people will decide if they want to go down there.” In my opinion, organic things can have staying power and impact as long as they are nurtured. That’s the current problem with 6th; it hasn’t been nurtured.

2004 Hilton Convention and 6 St Study

What is the future for 6th Street? The rise of Hilton Convention center and a ten thousand dollar study offered hope for Sixth street resurrection. A few good venues have emerged, in particular Stubbs and The Parish. Much more will need to be done to restore the historical character, quality music and culture to 6th, but it seems that those things are on the rise.

[1] One of my sources in this study was a series of articles done by news 8: http://news8austin.com/content/news_8_explores/sixth_street/?ArID=68989&SecID=285

Neil Cole: Parasitical Parachurches Feeding on Church

Posted on February 21, 2009

Neil Cole’s new book Organic Leadership is insightful, provocative, and prophetic. The first section of the book points out the weeds growing in the soil of the American church. One particular weed is the parasitical effect of parachurch ministries. To be sure, Cole does not view all parachurch organizations as an impediment to the church; however, he prophetically points out how the parachurch has assumed the role and mission of the church leaving her weak and anemic. Consider these areas of capitulation:

  • Her leadership development has been assumed by colleges, seminaries, and Bible institutes.
  • Her compassion and social justice have been given over to nonprofit charitable organizations.
  • Her global mission has been relinquished to mission agencies.
  • Church government and decision making have often been forfeited to denominational offices.
  • Her prophetic voice has been replaced by publishing houses, self-help gurus, and futurist authors.
  • Her emotional and spiritual health has been taken over by psychologists, psychiatrists, and family counseling services.

The Anemic Church

Now, before you react let this settle. Detect the truth in these statements. Where can your church recover certain elements, perhaps not in totality but in measure? Cole is not sweeping all parachurches aside. Rather, he is pointing out the professionalization and specialization of the church into ministries that have left the church anemic. We have capitulated to this fragmentation of the church. Cole notes:

The world today looks at the church wondering what relevance she has. The only use they see for the church is performing the sacerdotal duties of preaching, marrying, burying, baptizing, and passing around wafers and grape juice. The church was once a catalyst for artistic expression, social change, and the founding of hospitals, schools, and missionary enterprise, but today she has settled for providing a one-hour-a-week worship concert, an offering place, and a sermon. (116)

Ralph Winter: Sodality and Modality

Cole is careful to note the distinctions made by Ralph Winter regarding sodalities and modalities. Winter’s helpful article emphasizes the more apostolic, missionary nature of certain entities like Paul’s roving, planting, missionary bands. These are sodalities. These sodalities don’t do everything that the church is responsible for, instead they specialize. Modalities, on the other hand, are a little more static though missional and are churches. The church is a modality because it is given the responsibility to do everything that God has commanded us to do (feed the poor, disciple, translate the bible, etc.). A church is modality and parachurch sodality. Sodalities can weaken or strengthen churches.

Cole affirms the need for both modalities and sodalities but contests these distinctions as a point of division between church and parachurch. He writes: “both modality and sodality are part of God’s redemptive purpose. Both are the church in the eyes of Paul. I do no think he saw himself as at all separate from the church…” (122).

What do you think? Where has your church capitulated to the parasitical parachurch? Is there a way forward? And what of the modality sodality distinction? Are both mission agencies and local churches together the church? Much more could be said on these matters.

Disciplined Duty vs. the Lie of Legalism

Posted on February 21, 2009

Is regular prayer, Bible reading, Scripture memorization, evangelism, social service, and the like all “duty”? Well, yes kind of. Consider John Piper’s comments:

You can call it that.

  • It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater.
  • It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers.
  • It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns.
  • It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food.
  • It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water.
  • It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid.
  • It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin.
  • It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey.
  • It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold.

I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer.

God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there spiritual are means of grace. Resist the lies of the devil in 2009, and get a bigger breakthrough in prayer than you’ve ever had.

HT: JT

Megacities, Networks and Movements

Posted on February 21, 2009

Today I had the privilege of addressing SBC Associational Directors for megacities in the U.S. Hopefully I didn’t make a fool of myself. One of the reasons I was asked to speak was based on our experience with PlantR, a interdenominational church planting network that is seeking to catalyze a Christ-centered, context-sensitive church plant movement that renews Austin and beyond. This presentation was similar to the one I did at the recent Missional Community Leadership conference.

If our experience in PlantR can be replicated in megacities and improved upon, then I believe that networks like PlantR can play an important role in creating a church planting movements in cities across America. Ultimately movement has to be a sovereign work of the Spirit, but the Spirit consistenly used networks throughout Christian history (Jerusalem, Antioch, Celtic Mission bases, etc). I hope you’ll consider joining a local church planting network or starting one in order to see your city truly reached. After all, no one planter, denomination, or church is going to single-handedly transform an entire city. We need each other in gospel mission.

Here is my outline “From Planting to Movements: The Role of City Networks“. And props to Brandon Hatmaker who helped me think this through in the original presentation. A quote from the presentation:

We need churches with strong social ties that extend well beyond the boundaries of their buildings and families into neighborhoods and the city. In short, we need more Missional Communities not Programmed Sunday Events.