is this what to think about the emerging church?...
Monday, November 23, 2009
In this month's Next-Wave online journal, publisher Charles Wear writes a short article entitled 'What Should Pastors Think About the Emerging Church?', in which he addresses some of the concerns that have been raised by evangelical writers such as D A Carson amongst others. His closing gambit is worth quoting in full...
Let me address some of these, uh, burning issues: The emerging church is not an "it." It is not Emergent or Allelon, or Forge, Catalyst or ReImagine! It is not neo-monastic, or universalist, for that matter. It is not a bunch of Birkenstock-wearing, granola-crunching, Yoga-practicing midwest urban folks. It is not a "church within a church," gen-x service, candles and worship installations, liturgy practicing, hours prayers. It is not daily blogging with cool names and ipod loaded teaching. It is not a fad, anymore than Methodism, Presbyterianism, Anglicanism, Catholicism, Lutheranism, uh, you get the idea, were passing fads. It is no more a fad than the Calvary Chapels or the Vineyards. It has no more apostacy than the rest of the apostacy that passes for Christianity today. And by the way, it is not Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, Spencer Burke, uh, did I leave anyone out, yes, of course I did!
And yet, it is all of the above and so much more. It is what God is raising up to reach the rising culture and the rising generations.
Pastors, if you think you are prepared to deal with today’s cultural atmosphere, go watch the 2007 film, Juno. Then ask yourself this question: What is my congregation doing to make Jesus real to the Juno-Generation in my community?
Go read the full article
Labels: emerging church
hermeneutical humility...
Monday, November 02, 2009
I love this t-shirt slogan - a whole lot more honest perhaps than the famous "God said it, I believe it, that settles it" one. Get it from 'here'!
I'm Malcolm Chamberlain
from Liverpool, United Kingdom
. I'm married with two young children and, in addition to Liverpool, have lived in Leicester (for the first 18 years of my life), York, Peshawar (Pakistan), Oxford and Walsall. I've been actively involved in the emerging church since 2001, as a founding member of Dream in Liverpool City, and coordinator of the Dream network. I'm currently engaged in research into emerging missional communities, and work as a parish priest and pioneer minister.
