2007: A Good Year for the Emerging Church?
The NBC Nightly News story on the emerging church is getting rightfully critiqued in the comments, so let me turn your attention to an interesting (perhaps better) report published recently in the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper entitled “Emerging Church had a good year.”
Leo Sandon writes, “Theologians correctly identify the movement as Christ-centered. As one Emergent leader expresses it, the purpose of the church and its ministry ‘is to follow Jesus and reach out for others.’
“This rethinking of the church in contemporary America is happening among both evangelical and mainline Protestants, but mostly among evangelicals. Some conservative evangelicals are critical of its tendency toward postmodern theologizing. They think it leads to a relativism that denies absolutes.
“The critics are on to something in that the Emergent thinkers do deny absolute knowledge of God and a doctrinal exclusiveness. They don’t accept the inherited theological tradition uncritically, and they certainly don’t accept the prevailing version of evangelical social ethics. ...
“The Emerging Church Movement is alive and well and has had a productive year. It has published blogs and books, held ‘conversations’ throughout the country, been the subject of both academic and ecclesiastical seminars, and been the object of media inquiries and symposiums.
“It certainly has many leaders in evangelical and mainline groups thinking.”
Read the whole thing and post your thoughts in the comments, please!
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This might be the first article on the emerging church that I’ve read that did not dwell too heavily on the specific beliefs of indviduals who are either for or against. Critical points are discussed in a mature manner. And Christ is exalted! Fantastic!
I agree with Adam. What a difference between Brokaw and Sandon. It seemed to be a fair article that didnt pick at one part of the emerging church, but took a look at the whole.
I appreciate how he didnt take one church and say “this is the emerging church”.
Brokaw is all about politics. And, if he can get the sides he designates fighting all the better, or so it seemed by his report.
The Tallahassee article, I think, defined the emergent—whatever—as well as the emergent whatever has defined itself. I understand the reluctance to label emerging as a movement, Gandhi probably didn’t care what outsiders called his civil disobedience activities. And, as long as emerging people continue to advance the Kingdom on earth by caring about all people and all of creation then do we really care about a tighter definition?
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The dichotomy between Sandon’s and Brokaw’s coverage is exactly where the web can come in and facilitate a meaningful conversation. Ten years ago, Sandon’s piece likely would not have been picked up beyond Tallahassee, and Brokaw’s misleading broad strokes would carry the day. Not so in our Web 2.0 world. Here and elsewhere, the conversation can take us beyond NBC black and white to new shades of gray to which many can add their perspective.
I just blogged on this here: A Wee Blether