I’m relatively new to emergent thought, but as a Gen Xer I have found that the concepts and approaches deeply resonate with me. However, I have noticed a huge disconnect between what I read in books like "Emerging Worship" and "The Out of Bounds Church" and many websites, as well as my own thoughts, in relation to the attitudes and thoughts of the rural community in which I work. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, which now has a metro population of over 3 million people. But now I work in a small town of 4,000 people in rural Ohio. Many of the thoughts and approaches to understanding reality are still very modern, even in the young people I encounter. Many are poor, and don’t have access to the same resources that drive the emerging segments of society (coffee houses, art, palms, Blackberries, even Internet service).
My questions are: Does anyone have experience with emergent churches in rural areas? Is this only a city/white/middle class discussion, or is this truly a societal shift? Any thoughts about evangelizing in a modern (vs postmodern) area? Is it better to try to push the postmodern approach, assuming that "they" are just on the tailend of the societal shift, or does someone like me (post modern, emergent) try to use modern approaches? Any thoughts?
Re: Emerging thought and the rural populace
I would have to agree to some extent. I live in Cedar Rapids Iowa (a town of about 100,000) and am a pastor in a small mainline denomination church. However I lived in New Orleans for a number of years before I went to Seminary.
I would say there is not much going on here in Iowa in terms of emergent thought or theology. Personally I’m right there with it, but my church would probably freak out if I started pushing them in that direction. It may be a generational thing, but even those few parishioners I have that are my age (late 30s) would probably react negatively as well. I think the highschoolers would probably be more open.
I certainly see the emerging thought and practice thing as a phenomenae of larger urban areas. We just don’t have the same mix of counter-cultural, inter-cultural thought here to stir the pot. Though we did get out first Starbucks coffeeshop this year. Anyway I hope to hear some other thoughts here on this topic.
Re: Emerging thought and the rural populace
Who can know what the future holds for the church? It’s fun to speculate, but that’s about as far as it goes.
My speculation? I think the emerging conversation is revealing a prototype of global future faith. But change comes slowly, especially in the church — though the advent of accelerating global connectedness may hasten new forms of nex-gen faith.
I believe we’re seeing the first elements of missional vs. attractional N. American church and hints of unity arising from now-crumbling Reformational relics - a second reformation of sorts.
Millennial generation kids, city-dwellers and rural alike, will be brought together by new social paradigms. City/rural/global/whatever geographical ghettos and restrictions are falling fast. Faith and missional communities will become increasingly virtual (as hard as that is for us Boomers to grasp), bringing most people together in the conversation, not just those with "access" — within 1-2 generations, virtual access will be as common as air and sunlight for much of the developed world.
For now, yes - the emerging conversation [distinct from the Emergent(tm) Religious Organization] will be limited by its roots, but within 2-3 generations (60 years), I believe the church will be seeing the fruits of this transformative conversation. By that time, it will have gone through a number of identity adjustments, new descriptive names, and a matured distaste for the modern relic of religious branding and vertical identity mongering (seeds of disunity) - while increasing a paradigm of organic, local, deeply horizontal community identity, informed (but not coordinated) by a global virtual conversation.
The future church looks good to me – with less demand for consumer-driven desires, and more authentic passion for missional community advancing (by horizontal embrace, not vertical decree) the Kingdom of God. Though perhaps fewer in raw numbers than today’s N. American Xn demographic, the future church will seem more like the early church.
The global church will advance differently per political geography. Who can know what will happen in China? Or Xn house churches in Islamist-ruled countries, all now under intense persecution and literal penalty of death. Perhaps we should grow to look more like THEM in their faith? Maybe our “conversation” is relatively vacuous in relation to those who face death for their love of Christ, on a daily basis? How many of us would remain faithful with a carving knife on our neck? Maybe we’ve had it FAR too easy? Maybe we’re asking the wrong questions?
Emergence and its connection to technology
I’ve read a bit of the emergent literature, and I find that its emphasis on technology is its biggest limitation. It is a global phenomenon, but primarily urban.
In fact, you could even say it is metapolitan - derived from meta for change and polis for city. It is a change we are seeing in the world cities which are becoming more uniform, both technologically and culturally. At the toor of the development is a technological connectiveness - email, the web, IM, MySpace, mobile phones, etc.
As already pointed out, the rural communities are not as tech-savvy as the urban ones. These rural groups will advance in a different direction. I think this may cause a developmental gliche - a segregation between the emergents and the rural non-movement.
In my own fellowship of Baptist churches, I have seen this happening over the past 2 decades. When I graduated from college in 1998, the Baptist Bible Fellowship International (not a denomination) was embroiled in a culture war. The traditionalists who were for the most part technologically backward fought the progressives who were trying to be on the cutting edge of everything. Rather than developing a dialogue, the two groups just hacked on each other.
The advances of the progressives, who implement technology in their worship services and tend to carry Blackberry’s to meetings at Starbucks, only aggrevated the traditionalists who still sang from hymnbooks and only answer the phone when they are in the office. The progressives have more or less taken over the fellowship in urban areas - like Massachusetts where my alma mater is located - while the traditionalists continue to dominate in many of the rural areas like Kansas, Iowa, etc.
Are these divisions necessary? Probably not. There is certainly a relational side to this - something is missing in the way these pastors on both sides are relating to one another and their shared culture points. Will the divisions go away? I don’t know. I would like to believe that everyone will come around, but in every age of advancement there have been traditionalists who refused to let go of the "good ole ways."
Re: Emergence and its connection to technology
We see these rural / urban distinctives now, but I’m fairly convinced that virtual community will develop rapidly within two generations, flattening many if not most of today’s rural/urban cultural barriers - for better or worse. As Barna points out, the Internet may likely provide a primary spiritual community for as much as 20% of the church within 15-20 years. Even some tech-averse Amish are now trickling into the on-line spiritual conversation - that’s a big shift!
I’m here typing away in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by pine, oaks, and cedars as far as the eye can see. My post office is nearly one hour round trip. My son’s school - about the same. Physical church - about the same. I actually think rurals may, per capita, eventually embrace virtual community more aggressively than urbans, for many reasons, not the least of which are significant energy costs related to simply getting somewhere.
Thirteen years ago, there was no commercial television on the 300+ Fiji Islands. Today, many of the villages not only have a TV, but Internet access as well. As McLuhan said, every technology has its upside and downside. Fijian village life, while economically poor, is abundantly rich in Spirit. Yet I’m concerned what virtual access to "western values" will do to the next generations of Fijian kids. Flattening works both ways.