THIS IS A GREAT ARTICLE:by: Rebecca Barnes, editor ·
11 Feb 2009
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The big news last year in the Emergent movement was the disappearance of Tony Jones as national coordinator for
Emergent Village. In its December issue
Christianity Today observed that the decision by the Emergent Village board of directors to eliminate its national coordinator position "marked the latest sign that the movement is either decentralizing or disintegrating."
Those in the movement would probably say "decentralizing"—at least those involved in trying to get more broad participation last year. Joshua Case posted a video on the EV Weblog to start a groundswell of support for everyone becoming the new national coordinator of Emergent Village.
"I, and a few friends of mine, are urging everyone who are involved in the conversation, wherever you are, to stand up and take your place within this conversation," he said. " ... Stand up and claim the role of national director, so that we’re able to see this movement continue on."
That was in November, after a late October move to turn the group back toward its social networking roots.
Emergent books
Leaders remain in the Emergent group, however. They blog more prominently and are published.
Phyllis Tickle’s 2008 release, "
The Great Emergence," was named by Publisher’s Weekly as one of the best books of the year in the religion category. While that would seem to bode well for the future of books on the subject—or at least for more books on the subject—those tomes are difficult to find.
The Emergence publishing weblog hasn’t been updated since July, 2008. The only new titles from Baker’s line of Emergent books due out in 2009 I can find listed online are:
Tim Conder’s new book "
Free for All: Rediscovering the Bible in Community" which will arrive this summer. Conder is a founding member of Emergent Village, the founding pastor of emerging church plant Emmaus Way in Raleigh/Durham, and the author of "
The Church in Transition."
Alan Hirsch’s companion handbook to last year’s "
Forgotten Ways." However, to classify this Emergent when the subtitle is "A Practical Guide for Developing Missional Churches," may be incorrect.
Theology
Former Emergents Dan Kimball and professor Scot McKnight were interested in a generous orthodoxy that added controversy to movement early on, but now these two are adhering more strictly to the
Lausanne Convention. Kimball’s apparent discomfort with Emergent led him to help form a new network. Provisionally called
Origins, it is dedicated to "friends, pioneers, innovators, and catalysts who want to dream and work for the gospel together rather than alone."
Specifically noteworthy is Origins' proclamation about beliefs that align with Lausanne, including No. 2 in the list: THE AUTHORITY AND POWER OF THE BIBLE. (Lausanne’s caps)
The Convention states:
"We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice. We also affirm the power of God's word to accomplish his purpose of salvation. The message of the Bible is addressed to all men and women. For God's revelation in Christ and in Scripture is unchangeable. Through it the Holy Spirit still speaks today. He illumines the minds of God's people in every culture to perceive its truth freshly through their own eyes and thus discloses to the whole Church ever more of the many-colored wisdom of God.
(II Tim. 3:16; II Pet. 1:21; John 10:35; Isa. 55:11; 1 Cor. 1:21; Rom. 1:16, Matt. 5:17,18; Jude 3; Eph. 1:17,18; 3:10,18)"
This statement leaves little room for revisionist theology. So it makes sense that Kimball and McKnight broke from the emergent group that as recently as last April had invited Kimball to share the stage with Jones, Doug Paggitt and others with whom theological difference would have been inevitable. This was at the Emerging for Existing Churches conference in Denver last spring. Kimball’s books were on the book table and his photo in the brochure, but he was absent. However, others adhering to traditional theology attended the conference, namely Bob Whitesel.
The difference pointed out by multiple speakers at the gathering was that mainline churches often struggle more with changing the worship style while evangelical or non-denominational churches struggle with changing the theology.
New turns in the Emergent road
This year the Emergent movement, or what is left of it, is taking another direction. Or, perhaps it is just a further progression of the one already traveled. Emergent conferences on the horizon this year indicate an interest in female leadership and Catholics joining the Emergent conversation.
Jones is still speaking and blogging away—though on
BeliefNet now, and notably avoiding that pesky "E" word.
Brain McLaren, emeritus member of the board of directors of Emergent Village, along with former Emergent McKnight and current Emergent Tim Conder, are at the National Pastors Convention this week in California. Only one is still talking Emergent. That’s Conder, who is speaking about "The Pastoral Vocation in an Emergent World." And it only makes sense that as a leader in EmergentVillage and an emergent church planter, Conder also will speak this week on "Emergent Ministry for Existing Churches"—close to the name of last year’s Denver conference.
Conder explains his talk by saying that existing churches "may have the momentum and stability of a historical ministry, but long histories also yield the potential burdens of entrenched expectations and inalterable traditions."
Of course, liturgical, high-church congregations generally have more traditions. But even looser groups tend to build up certain worship, fellowship or event practices. So tradition becomes a tension for any healthy congregation. Churches want to grow to gain momentum and stability. Once they do, a strain toward further growth becomes evident among some members. Particularly those who may be more interested in the traditions than the innovative, and their existing friends than emerging ones.
If Emergent survives now it is in this tension, which all kinds of churches that want to grow experience. These are the people who are now talking about surviving in an antagonistic North American culture.
Churches that want to survive are adapting, reaching out and experimenting. Has the word "emergent" gotten old? Maybe, but the concepts that drove even the most traditional mainline, liturgically worshipping congregation to question the need to change remain. And the question: What must we do to be saved?
I would love to here opinion on this. I truly believe this was a "thing", and now the church worldwide (adam again reference) is searching for the next "thing".Please tell me what you think.R
ound where Restoration History was made.
The last stop of the day was actually James O'Kelly's last stop. I was able to walk the old plot when this great Restorationist's body lays. Although it is in the middle of a very high end subdivision the public is allowed to visit the grave site. Erected by his Christian friends in the memory of James O'Kelley of N.C. The southern champion of Christian freedom. 1738-1826. James O'Kelly was one of the earliest anti-slavery clergymen to come out. In his landmark writing Essays on Negro Slavery he proved that he was not only an advocate for religious freedom but human freedom as well. James O'Kelly 's theology was very close to N.T. Christianity. He believed in partaking the Lord's supper on the 1st day of the week. He taught that the collection was a free-will offering. He believed in singing, preaching, praying, admonishing the saints. He did fail at baptism. He didn't believe immersion was necessary, that sprinkling would suffice. But in the true nature of the Restoration Movement as it seeks to "restore" one could only hope that the more time O'Kelly might have gotten to mingle with Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell, he too might have accepted immersion.