I've had several people ask me about the Emerging Church movement. Some hear me talk about my ideas. Others have seen or heard of Rob Bell. Others still have read Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, or visited sites like Emergent Village. I am going to run a series of articles and videos on the Emerging Church movement the next few days...maybe weeks if the discussion is good. My goal in all of this is to spark discussion, so please feel free to comment away!!!
This video is a Nightline special about the Emerging Church. It is a good intro if you have never heard of Emerging Church before now. For those of you more into the movement, don't worry, I'm going to give better explanations later...This is afterall an intro!
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5 comments:
Mark-
If you're working with the emergent church, check out www.emergentvillage.com. Troy was a seminary classmate of mine and is doing phenominal work with the emergent church here in Atlanta. You may have already heard of it, but I thought it was worth mentioning. It's a great place.
Mark, looking forward to your series and to the conversation. Some initial comments I have - first I struggle with language. What is emergent church and in what ways is it related to Borg's idea of emerging christianity? Secondly, some of the stuff in the video felt more "contemporary" than "emerging" and I say that even as troubled as I am with the inadequate labels we have. How is emergent different than contemporary? Or is it? Blog on that my friend!
Jeff, thanks for responding. I am going to use some of the latter entries to respond to some of the questions and concerns others bring up!
Contemporary= I define this as Modernity's last gasp at cultural relevance. As Modernism was coming to a close in the life of the church and culture, this worship style aimed at meeting the congregations' worship needs in the transition out of Modernism.
emerging church= a nebulous movement responding to the death of Modernism and the rise and maturity of Post-modernism. No credo, doctrine, or organizational structure currently unites these churches; however, they do have some similar qualities/aims. They are striving to be/think Post-modern, missionally, and community oriented.
Emergent= This is specifically a movement of left-leaning emerging theologians who have gone together to form a group called "Emergent Village." Brian McLaren is an example of such. This organized group is helping lead the way as they have more structure, manpower, and visibility.
"emerging christianity"= I admittedly have not read Borg on this issue.
I highly recommend Borg's "The Heart of Christianity." You might not be crazy about all of it, but it's something worth spending the time on. Good to interact with you in cyberspace!
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