Wednesday, April 23, 2008

First thoughts on "the emerging church" (w/update)

As my search for a church community continues I can't help but consider the emergent/emerging church. The questions is though, what is the emerging church??

No really, what is the emergent/emerging church?

It feels so ambiguous and trendy. Some people love it, other's hate it, but honestly I haven't really been able to pin down a good definition, and no one I've found seems to be willing to define, what some have called a Christian "sub-culture." What I can say, is that I feel drawn to it.

What I can gather so far...

It's not a denomination, nor is it non-denominational. The emerging church exists within many denominations (including non-denom... let's be honest, it's a denomination... but that's a whole different topic). They are seeking genuine relationships with people and with Christ. They want to dig deeper, think critically and chew on the meat of the gospel by putting it into action. These are things I love, and am drawn to, but part of me has reservations. Here are some questions that come to mind...

Is the emergent church just going to be come a new denomination?

Is the emergent church more a way of life rather than an establishment?

What exactly is the goal of the emergent church?

I've started reading blogs and websites on this whole emergent culture, and started discussing it with friends and coworkers. I'm not sure where to go with this, but I'm intrigued.


Update...

The more I look into all of this emergent vs. emerging vs. missional vs. tradtional vs. fundimental vs. evangelical, the more I'm resistant to dealing with it all.

1 comment:

Ryan Jones said...

Hi... I don't even remember when I commented on your blog. Was it a couple of months ago? Anyway, thanks for commenting back. I have finally moved to the city. (hooray!) My friends who are moving too haven't arrived yet and I'm in the process of finding a job. These are exciting times. :)

Anyway, here is the website we have started for our Jesus community: www.EucharistSouthBeach.com

It is incomplete and in need of updating, but it has the DNA of our vision. You seem like a very thoughtful person, I'd love to hear about what you would be looking for in a church. Actually, that is what we are doing to start with - collecting a group of dreamers and seeing what happens.