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Emerging church

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Introduction

The Emerging Church developed in the late 20th Century into the 21st Century as a conversation in Western Europe, North America, and the South Pacific concerned with the deconstruction and reconstruction of protestant Christianity. Its development stemmed from a mix of a lack of growth in protestant churches, particularly amongst generation x; concern over how the Church would adopt to postmodernity; opposition to fundamentalist doctrines and practices in the modern church; a neglect of ancient Christian tradition and practices; the need for an ecumenical, catholic Church; and increasing suspicion of the missiology of the market-driven, mega-church, and institutionalized Christianity. By 2005, the Emerging Church was also occurring to some extent in Asia, Africa, and South America. Some ecclesial scholars, thinkers, and practitioners affirmed the conversation had become a movement. Since there was no central leadership and no communal doctrines or order, the Emerging Church as a movement was highly debated. Opponents of "movement" argued the emerging church was still a gathering in conversation. [1]

Background

The Influence and Suspicion of Postmodernism

Western Christianity was influenced significantly over the last few centuries by Modernism in the sense that it sought to take the individual narratives of the Bible and from them extract a set of underlying truths or meta-narratives. Using methods borrowed from scientific reductionism it was hoped that a grand truth and worldview would be attained. In practice, the modernist approach led to additional schism within the Church.

Some church leaders, responding to postmodernism, in turn, encouraged followers to deconstruct each element of their faith experience, and reassemble the pieces in light of his or her own unique journey through this deconstruction process.

Conversation or Movement

With the global expansion of the Emerging Church and its influence, some ecclesial scholars, thinkers and practitioners concluded the conversation had become a movement while still others debated it was still a conversation. Often skeptics, like D.A. Carson, Author and Critic of the Emerging Church,[2] as well as its supporters referred to the occurrence as a genuine movement.[3] However, many within the Emerging Church defended its existence as nothing more than a conversation.

Dr. Paul Pierson, dean emeritus of Fuller's School of World Mission, suggested that Christian movements have some of the following summarized characteristics which may have supported the emerging church as a movement: 1) Movements always begin on the periphery of the institutional church; 2) Motivated by a transforming experience of God by an individual or group; 3) High importance on prayer, study, and mutual encouragement; 4) Less institutional; 5) Theological reflection and discovery; 6) Countercultural; 7) Opposed by the dominant culture and Church; 8) Flexible structures emerge; 9) Recontextualization of the Christian message; 10) Concern for the marginalized; and 11) Matures towards social transformation.[4] It was uncertain which criteria the emerging church collectively satisfied to be labeled a movement.

Furthermore, a religious movement was often defined by sociologists as a comparatively organized effort by a group of people to instigate or avert transformation in religious institutions or in religious life.[5] Opponents of the emerging church as a movement argued that the emerging church jointly lacked organization, leadership, and a common purpose to be a valid religious movement.

Distinguishing Characteristics and Differences

While there is no single coordinated organization behind the emerging church globally, many church leaders and thinkers have written books, articles and/or blogs on the subject. Emerging Church groups typically contain some or all of the following elements:

  • Highly creative approaches to worship and spiritual reflection, as compared to many American churches in recent years. This can involve everything from the use of contemporary music and films through to liturgy or other more ancient customs.
  • A minimalist and decentralized organizational structure, somewhat "nonlinear."
  • A flexible approach to theology whereby individual differences in belief and morality are accepted within reason.
  • A holistic view of the role of the church in society. This can mean anything from greater emphasis on fellowship in the structure of the group to a higher degree of emphasis on social action, community building or Christian outreach; missional in it's core.
  • A desire to reanalyze the Bible against the context with the goal of revealing a multiplicity of valid perspectives rather than a single valid interpretation
  • A continual re-examination of theology, and a willingness to push the edge.
  • A high value placed on creating communities built out of the creativity of those who are a part of each local body.
  • A view of "leadership" as more "servant" and less "leader." Church leaders are seen as more poet and painter and far less CEO or COO.

In common with the House church movement, the Emerging Church is challenging traditional notions of how the Church should be organized.

Theological Developments

Ecclesiology

Because of the decentralized nature of the Emerging Church, as with many areas of doctrine, there is not a mutually agreed upon doctrine of ecclesiology -- a theology of the church, its role, nature, origin, and leadership. The emerging church claims its role to be continuing the mission of Christ, but there does not appear to be a unified stance on what role the church as a body plays in that mission.

Missiology

At the turn of the century, the Emerging Church arguably did not have a common missiology. Perhaps, proliferated by the missiological works of Roxburgh, Bosch, Newbigin, Hunsberger, and the Gospel and Our Culture Network (GOCN), the Emerging Church had discovered grounds for a renewed missional theology. As a result of insufficient theological depth on how churches perceive their identity and then how churches associate with their cultural context, Hunsberger addressed Newbigin’s ideology of churches becoming domesticated by culture instead of occupying a domestic missiology that confronts culture.[6] Theological depth and cultural context were essential questions surfacing in the missiological inquiries of the Emerging Church. Guder, addressed the core of missional perspective being concerned with the Kingdom of God.[7] Modern missiology often focused upon building the Church collectively or adding to the numbers of individual churches, thus focusing on building bigger and better churches which produced religious goods and services for consumption.[8] The Emerging Church sought to understand and renew the mission of Christ in its postmodern context. Chris Seay, emerging church pastor, defended, “It should be clear we are championing the gospel and missional values, not what (some) describe as ‘ministry intentionally influenced by postmodern theory.’”[9] Guder suggested there are three major distinctions concerned with surfacing missiology:

  • The church as a body of people sent on a mission in contrast to the church as an entity located in a building or in an institutional organization
  • The church as a community of gathered people brought together by a common calling and vocation (sent people)
  • A shift from ecclesial centric view of mission (mission is about building a church) to an emphasis on the mission of God (mission is about the Kingdom or reign of God)[10]

References

1. ^ Burke, Spencer, et. al. "Our Response to Critics of Emergent" Emergent-US: The Blog, June 2, 2005; Carson, D.A. Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005; Gibbs, Eddie & Ryan Bolger. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures (Manuscript). Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005; Jones, Andrew. "Emerging Church Definition 1.0." TallSkinnyKiwi.com: The Blog, February 2, 2004; O'Keefe, John "Church XP, The Upgrade" Ginkworld.net: 2005, Parts 1-6; Kimball, Dan. The Emerging Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2003; McLaren, Brian D. A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey. Jossey-Bass, 2001; Webber, Robert E. Ancient Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999.

2. ^ Carson, Becoming Conversant.

3. ^ Eddie & Ryan Bolger. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures (Manuscript).

4. ^ Jones, Andrew. "Are We a Movement?" TallSkinnyKiwi.com: The Blog, June 8, 2005, quoting an email to Ryan Bolger, Ph.D. from Dr. Paul Pierson on behalf of Jones.

5. ^ Bainbridge, William S. The Sociology of Religious Movements. New York, NY: Routledge, 1997, 3.

6. ^ Hunsberger, George R., and Craig Van Gelder. The Church between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North America. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996, 1.

7. ^ Guder, Missional Church, 89, quoting Norman Perrin, Rediscovering the Teaching of Jesus. New York: Harper & Row, 1967, 54.

8. ^ Clapp, Rodney. A Peculiar People: The Church as Culture in a Post-Christian Society. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996, 75-83.

9. ^ Seay, Chris. "Is Pomo Nomo?" Christianity Today, February 20, 2003.

10. ^ Guder, Missional Church, 77-83.

Criticism of the Emerging Church

News

Pro Emerging Church

Emerging Church Blogs

Emerging Church Sites

Examples of Emerging Churches

Reading List

  • Reaching a New Generation: Strategies for Tomorrow's Church. Vancouver, B.C.: Regent College, 1993.
  • Innovations in Ministry: Models for the 21st Century. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.
  • Bauman, Zygmunt. Liquid Modernity: Polity, 2000.
  • Brewin, Kester. The Complex Christ: Signs of Emergence in the Urban Church. London, SPCK, 2004.
  • Carson, D.A. Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.
  • Clapp, Rodney. A Peculiar People: The Church as Culture in a Post-Christian Society. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996.
  • Crouch, Andy. "The Emergent Mystique." Christianity Today, November 2004, 36.
  • Drane, John. The Mcdonaldization of the Church: Darton, Longman, & Todd, 2000.
  • Erickson, Millard J. Postmodernizing the Faith: Evangelical Responses to the Challenge of Postmodernism. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999.
  • Erickson, Millard J., Paul Kjoss Helseth, Justin Taylor, and J. Taylor. Reclaiming the Center: Evangelical Accommodation in Postmodern Times. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004.
  • Grenz, Stanley J. A Primer on Postmodernism. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996.
  • Guder, Darrell L. Missional Church: A Visioning for the Sending of the Church. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998.
  • Hauerwas, Stanley, and William H. Willimon. Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989.
  • ________. Where Resident Aliens Live: Exercises for Christian Practice. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.
  • Hodges, Melvin L. The Indigenous Church: Gospel Publishing, 1996.
  • Hohstadt, Thomas. Dying to Live: The 21st Century Church. Odessa: Damah Media, 1999.
  • Hunsberger, George R., and Craig Van Gelder. The Church between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North America. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996.
  • Jones, Andrew. "Emerging Church Definition 1.0." TallSkinnyKiwi.com: The Blog, February 2, 2004.
  • ________. "Emerging Church Definition Additional." TallSkinnyKiwi.com The Blog, February 7, 2004.
  • Kelley, Gerard. Retrofuture: Rediscovering Our Roots, Recharting Our Routes. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999.
  • Kimball, Dan. The Emerging Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2003.
  • Kimball, Dan. Emerging Worship. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2004.
  • King, Ursula. Faith and Praxis in a Postmodern Age. London: Cassell, 1998.
  • Kitchens, Jim. The Postmodern Parish: New Ministry for a New Era. Bethesda, MD Alban Institute, 2003., 2003.
  • Kraft, Charles. Christianity in Culture: Orbis, 1979.
  • Lyon, David. Jesus in Disneyland: Religion in Postmodern Times. Oxford: Polity Press, 2000.
  • McLaren, Brian D. A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey. Jossey-Bass, 2001.
  • ________. The Church on the Other Side. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.
  • ________. More Ready Than You Realize: Evangelism as Dance in the Postmodern Matrix. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.
  • ________. The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian. Jossey-Bass, 2003.
  • ________. A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN. Grand Rapids: Youth Specialties Book, 2004.
  • ________. The Last Word and the Word after That : A Tale of Faith, Doubt, and a New Kind of Christianity. Jossey-Bass, 2005.
  • McManus, Erwin R. An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind. Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2001.
  • Nash, Robert N., and Loren Mead. An 8-Track Church in a Cd World: The Modern Church in a Postmodern World. Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 1997.
  • Newbigin, Leslie. "Christ and the Cultures." Scottish Journal of Theology 31 (1978): 11-12.
  • Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Incorporated, 1951.
  • O'Brien, W.R. "The Mcdonaldization of the Church: Spirituality, Creativity, and the Future of the Church." Missiology 30 (2002): 239.
  • O'Keefe, John. ginkworld.net. "95 Postmodern Theses." http://www.ginkworld.net/yourvoice/positionpapaers/95_postmodern_theses.htm
  • __________. ginkworld.net. "Ten Reasons Your Church Sucks." http://www.ginkworld.net/yourvoice/straighttalk/archive_2004_art/art_03012002.htm
  • __________. ginkworld.net. "Quantum Servanthood." http://www.ginkworld.net/yourvoice/straighttalk/archive_2004_art/quantum%20servanthood%20-%20intoduction.htm
  • __________. ginkworld.net. "What shape is water?" http://www.ginkworld.net/yourvoice/straighttalk/archive_2005_art/what%20shape%20is%20water.htm
  • Rabey, Steve. In Search of Authentic Faith. Colorado Springs: Waterbrook Press, 2001.
  • Seay, Chris. "Is Pomo Nomo?" Christianity Today, February 20, 2003.
  • Smith, Chuck Jr. The End of the World as We Know It: Clear Direction or Bold and Innovative Ministry in a Postmodern World, 2001.
  • Smith, Huston. Beyond the Postmodern Mind. Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 1989.
  • Sweet, Leonard I. Dying to Live. 1995., 1995.
  • ________. Soultsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millennium Culture. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.
  • ________. Carpe Manana: Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow? Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.
  • Sweet, Leonard I., and Andy Crouch. The Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives. El Cajon, CA: EmergentYS, 2003.
  • Sweet, Leonard I., Brian D. McLaren, and Jerry Haselmayer. A Is for Abductive: The Language of the Emerging Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.
  • Tomlinson, Dave. The Post-Evangelical. North American Edition ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.
  • Veith, Gene Edward Jr. Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1994.
  • Webber, Robert E. Ancient Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999.
  • ________. The Younger Evangelicals. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company, 2002.
  • ________. Ancient-Future Evangelism: Making Your Church a Faith-Forming Community. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003.
  • Yaconelli, Mike. Stories of Emergence: Moving from Absolute to Authentic. El Cajon, CA: Emergent YS, 2003.
  • Young, Ed, and Andy Stanley. 24 Best Practices: Discovering What Works in the 21st Century Church. Keller, TX: HeartSpring Media, 2000.

See Also

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