emerging ecclesiology

The church in an emerging age! That, I believe, is a better way to locate us than the more common terms “emerging” or “emergent” church. I don’t believe we want to be an “emerging,” “emergent,” or “postmodern” church, any more than we should have wanted to become a “modern” church. Rather, in both cases we should have prayed to become the church in either modernity or our postmodern emerging age. Engaged with but not determined by either age; incarnate in but not defined by the spirits of these ages; this is the kind of faithfulness our God requires. in whatever age and place we are called to discover under the Spirit’s tutelage how to be in but not of our world.

The most popular concept that has been used – even over-used – to describe effective Christian ministry in recent years is that of ‘Incarnational Ministry’. Many books have been written, many articles posted on the Internet, to explain the concept and explore its implications for contemporary cultural missiology (Google it and see!). Richard Passmore, in his book Meet Them Where They Are At, is perhaps the most pragmatic exponent of this view. Pete Ward, in Youthwork and the Mission of God and Danny Brierley in Joined Up both explore the same idea, as does Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Church, albeit within a wider ministerial context than the previous authors.

What is Christian Youth Ministry?

Will the real We please stand up?

I’m very interested in hearing some voices on the matter of relational development.  Much is being made about the need for relational ministry in the emerging church, and there are some phenomenal methodological advances being made in the field.

What I am concerned about is the theology behind these relational developments.  It appears that most of the development in this area is sociological rather than theological and the Bible is being used to justify methods rather than being the epistemological source.

Has anyone seen a developed theology of relationship?

An article by Holland Cotter in The New York Times (‘Collectives blurring the lines of who makes modern art’) got me thinking about what the phenomenon of ‘art collectives’ might teach us about the nature and purpose of the church. An art collective represents the sort of fusion of community, creativity and mission that I think the emerging church is struggling to understand and embody. The analogy needs to be handled with some care, but I have been intrigued by the possibilities that lie in thinking of the work of church as a distinctly postmodern artistic collaboration.

The simple observation that I want to make is that the emerging movement / conversation / church is defined principally in terms of people emerging out from something, primarily evangelicalism, but also, for many, the restricting limitations of the culture and traditions of charismatic and pentecostal church, and, for others, from Anglicanism, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, liberalism, conservatism et al. For that reason, uniting with any ‘ism’, any other movement, would be retrograde. That is not to say that people from every ‘ism’, from every kind of community, cannot join with the emerging movement / church / conversation. Quite the opposite is true.

The vigorous debate between the Orthodox/Catholics and the ‘emerging church’ that has been going on recently (see below for the links), which has been at times very illuminating and at times little more than a slanging match, has made me wonder if we’re not getting this term ‘emerging church’ a bit wrong. It bothers me that it can be so easily misunderstood - and so divisive.

My question is more about the emerging church than emerging theology. If these churches are communities where people can participate and belong before they believe or if they believe very differently, what does accountability look like? Matthew 18:15-17 only speaks to when a brother sins against you personally. What about other areas of sin ? I’m not looking for descriptives of the process like “lovingly , patiently , etc.” I more interested in who is accountable to whom and in what areas.

The modern Church faces assault on all sides from the ‘world’ — the last thing it needs is the presence of a ‘fifth column’ within its ranks, which is effectively what the Emerging Church is. Its abandoning of absolutes and betrayal of Christ’s message for a more ‘relevant’ Gospel endangers not only the Church Universal by its pernicious influence, but more seriously, condemns the ‘unsaved’ by failing to guide them to the Truth. The Emerging Church reminds me of the story I once heard, about a city during the Crusades — surrounded by baying armies, its theologians spent their time simply discussing what colour the Virgin Mary’s eyes were (and since I’m a Catholic, I’m allowed to make the comparison).

I hesitate to write these words in such a public space.

But I can’t keep it secret any longer.

I have an addiction and it’s killing me.

It started innocently enough. A few web pages here, a site or two there… And now?

I think it’s withering my soul.