the emerging church: a posmodern reformation 10

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: Christianity, church, emerging church, emerging culture, history, missiology, post-Christendom, post-Evangelical, postmodern
• Date: Mar 13,2008

The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 1
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 2
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 3
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 4
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 5
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 6
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 7
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 8
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 9

2003

In 2003, Kimball’s seminal book, The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for Emerging Generations, further advanced the momentum of the emerging church. In the first part of his book, Kimball walks the reader through post-Christian, post-seeker-sensitive, and postmodern discussions in laymen’s terms. He closes the first section by describing the difference between a consumer church and a missional church:

A consumer church is seen as a dispenser of religious goods and services. People come to church to be fed, to have their needs met through quality programs, and to have the professionals teach their children about God. “I go to church…”

A missional church is seen as a body of people sent on a mission who gather in community for worship, encouragement, and teaching from the Word that supplements what they are feeding themselves through the week. “I am the church…” [1]

In the second part of his book, he describes how to reconstruct a post-seeker-sensitive, “vintage Christianity” church for emerging generations, asserting that “churches need to make some holistic fundamental shifts and decision to truly engage the emerging culture.” [2] Kimball illustrates such things as redesigning your worship gathering [3]; rediscovering depth and theology in our preaching [4]; and approaching evangelism [5], spiritual formation [6], and leadership [7] in radically different ways.

Also published in 2003 was the multi-author book, The Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives, edited by Sweet and contributed by McLaren, McManus, Fredrica Mathewes-Green, Michael Horton, and Andy Crouch. Sweet’s introduction in The Church in Emerging Culture is believed to be one of the first attempts to formulate an emerging church categorical matrix. He uses the imagery of “clearings” to describe ways “in which twenty-first century leaders are laboring.” Sweet says, “The language of ‘clearing’ is another way of talking about ‘kingdom.’” [8]

The first “clearing” is depicted as a “garden” where the message and methods are preserved. The second “clearing” is described as a “park” where the message is protected but the methods are evolving. The “glen” is the third “clearing” where the message is developing and the methods are conserved. The last “clearing” is the “meadow” where the message and methods are evolving. [9]

2005

Released in early 2005 was the first prominent critique of the emerging church movement, Becoming Conversant With the Emergent Church: Understanding a Movement and its Implications, by professor and author, D.A. Carson. Though most of the book is a critique of the movement, Carson does mention a generalization that could serve as a taxonomy for the movement: protest. [10]

The book was received with stinging protest by Emergent supporters, but some welcomed its assessment like professor and author Mark Devine, “Carson’s book involves an analysis of only a couple of sub-sections of the movement. But very important sub-sections they are and Carson’s analysis of them is, I believe, right on.” [11] Devine continues, “Far from the mean, reductionistic treatment of McLaren some have charged him with, Carson is very thorough, fair, and even seems to look for every opportunity to praise McLaren where he can.” [12]

In 2005, Gibbs and Ryan Bolger released the first academic-level book on the emerging church movement; an intently comprehensive and objective look at the international advance of doing ministry in the postmodern era called Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Culture, put out by Baker Academic. At the time, it was and for many, still is, the most extensive treatment of the movement.

Emerging Churches continued where Kimball left off by further specifying distinctives of the movement in nine overarching ideas:

1. Identifying with Jesus
2. Transforming secular space
3. Living as community
4. Welcoming the stranger
5. Serving with generosity
6. Participating as producers
7. Creating as created beings
8. Leading as a body
9. Merging ancient and contemporary spiritualities [13]

Tucked away in Emerging Churches is a little known taxonomy offered by Pagitt on the emerging church. Pagitt sees three types of responses to the current context:

1) a return to the Reformation (e.g. Mars Hill in Seattle); 2) deep systematic changes, but Christianity and the church are still in the center and theological changes are not needed (e.g. University Baptist in Waco); and 3) seeing the church as not necessarily the center of God’s intentions; God is working in the world, and the church has the option to join God or not. (e.g. Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis). This third approach focuses more on the kingdom than on the church and characterizes what Pagitt would classify as “emerging.” [14]

[1] Dan Kimball, The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan/Emergent YS, 2003), 95.

[2] Ibid., 105.

[3] Ibid., 112-178

[4] Ibid., 171-196.

[5] Ibid., 198-210.

[6] Ibid., 210-224.

[7] Ibid., 227-241.

[8] Leonard Sweet ed., The Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives (Grand Rapids, MI/El Cajon, CA: Zondervan/YS Emergent, 2003), 19.

[9] Ibid., 22-38.

[10] D.A Carson, Becoming Conversant With the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and its Implications (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), 14.

[11] Mark Devine, “Emerging Church: Confessional Caressing of Carson,” Devine Theology; available from http://www.theologyprof.com/emerging-church-confessional-caressing-of-carson/; Internet; accessed 14 December 2007.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 5.

[14] Ibid., 42.

the emerging church: a postmodern reformation 9

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: books, emerging church, history, leadership, missiology, pastoring, post-Christendom, post-Evangelical, postmodern
• Date: Mar 11,2008

The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 1
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 2
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 3
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 4
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 5
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 6
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 7
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 8

As the emerging church movement began to take shape in the early 2000s, with it came widespread attention. And as is the case in understanding any cultural development, in this case within Evangelicalism, many began to search for ways to classify what the movement was comprised of and who were its spokespersons.

1999

In 1999, Zondervan released professor/author/futurist Leonard Sweet and his book, SoulTsunami: Sink or Swim in the New Millennium. SoulTsunami was one of the earliest books of the current emerging church movement that was supremely focused on how to do ministry within the postmodernism era. His notorious EPIC acronym – Experiential, Participatory, Interactive, Communal [1] – which he details in the book, has become an axiom for many emerging church devotees. Much of what followed in the way of emerging church philosophy can be pointed back to Sweet’s edition.

2000

Also in the year 2000, McLaren, who at the time was a part of the Terranova Project, released his second book entitled, The Church on the Other Side: Doing Ministry in the Postmodern Matrix, a revised and expanded edition of his first book, Reinventing Your Church. In The Church on the Other Side he describes twelve strategies that are necessary to doing postmodern ministry. Some of approaches included distinguishing between renewed, restored, and reinvented churches – and focus on the last [2]; clarifying and simplifying from “more Christians” to “better Christians” in authentic missional community for the good of the world [3]; finding fresh ways to communicate the gospel to the postmodern mind [4]; and anchoring our hope in the future rather than the past.” [5]

Additionally in 2000, InterVarsity Press published Fuller Theological Seminary professor Gibbs’ book, ChurchNext: Quantum Change in How We Do Ministry. Gibbs depicts nine modifications the church must undergo to be effective in the new age. Some of these thoughts included moving from being “market driven to mission oriented [6],” from “attracting a crowd to seeking the lost [7],” from “belonging to believing [8],” and from “generic congregations to incarnational communities [9].”

2001

Some of the first bona fide taxonomy within the emerging church actually came from Emergent Village in 2001. When the EV grew out of the TNP, it brought with it some particular unspoken tenets. To this day, though, the group prefers not to be labeled an organization but rather a “conversation” and it has yet to proclaim a doctrine or statement of belief [10]. Its current identity is found in four words, but retain a connection to why they started this “conversation” in 2001. The four ways that Emergent chooses to describe itself are:

1. Growing: which indicates our desire to develop as the dreams of God for the healing, redemption, and reconciliation of the world develop.
2. Generative: which means that we expect our friendship to generate new ideas, connections, opportunities, and works of beauty.
3. Friendship: Because we firmly hold that living in reconciled friendship trumps traditional orthodoxies – indeed, orthodoxy requires reconciliation as a prerequisite.
4. Missional: Because we believe that the call of the gospel is an outward, apostolic call into the world. [11]

[1] Leonard Sweet, SoulTsunami: Sink of Swim in the New Millennium (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 215-222.

[2] Brian McLaren, The Church on the Other Side: Doing Ministry in the Postmodern Matrix (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 19-26.

[3] Ibid., 27-39.

[4] Ibid., 73-85.

[5] Ibid., 145-150.

[6] Eddie Gibbs, Church Next: Quantum Changes in How We Do Ministry (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 36-64.

[7] Ibid., 172-192.

[8] Ibid., 193-216.

[9] Ibid., 217-239.

[10] Peter Walker and Tyler Clark, “Missing the Point? The Absolute Truth Behind Postmodernism, Emergent, and the Emerging Church,” Relevant, July-August 2006, 72.

[11] Emergent Village, “About Emergent Village”; Internet; available from http://www.emergentvillage.com/about/; accessed 14 December 2007.

the emerging church: a postmodern reformation 8

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: emerging church, postmodern
• Date: Mar 10,2008

Sorry for the break in action on this series. I was slowed down a bit when I entered a conversation offline with Andrew Jones, known by many as a leading expert on the emerging church. It was very much appreciated…

Andrew pushed back on some of my assumptions regarding the emerging church. Much of it centered around my seemingly narrow viewpoint of the emerging church in North America. I appreciated his thoughts as a concerned historian. I have asked Andrew to submit his thoughts to help ‘fill out’ the conversation. I’m hoping I can share his thoughts soon here on relevintage…

To clarify, this series is most specifically about the mainstream North American emerging church, if there is such a thing. But via Andrew, I concede that there were many earlier expressions of the emerging church in North America before the late 90s. I also concede that a considerable part of this movement was happening outside of the Leadership Network sphere of influence. I further concede that Mark Driscoll didn’t start the movement because he gave a speech – Andrew was concerned I was pulling an Al Gore created the internet bungle – but helped forward the mainstream groundswell by being appointed by the LN to give the speech. In other words, Doug Pagitt or Chris Seay could have been pegged to give that talk, it just happened to be Driscoll in the scheme of things…
______________

One other thing. During the break, there has been much discussion surrounding Michael Patton’s emerging church series and accompanying taxonomy in the form of a couple of charts. Although it may be construed as simplistic, I actually think Patton did an excellent job in his series, adding some continued depth to the conversation. You can see comments on the series from Dan Kimball, Scot McKnight, and Andrew Jones.

Check out the series here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

As I mentioned in my introduction to this series, the thrust of my series is to track the historical moorings of the mainstream North American emerging church. But I did mention that possibly at the end of the series, I will do a more detailed amalgamation of those tenets, as well as a critique of the movement. No doubt, I will be perusing Patton at that point in the series.

Now on to part 8…

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The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 1
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 2
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 3
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 4
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 5
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 6
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 7

THE PRESENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERM “EMERGING CHURCH”

Though Bruce Larson and Ralph Osbourn wrote a book in 1970 called The Emerging Church [1], where does our current understanding of the term “emerging church” originate? Kimball shares:

I first heard the term “emerging church” around 1997 when Leadership Network was using it as their tagline which said “advance scouts for the emerging church”…

…since Leadership Network was hosting these events specifically focused on younger generations and their tag line was (advance scouts for the emerging church), it slowly began being used as as substitute word for what was once “Baby Busters” then became “Gen X” then “postmodern” then became “emerging”…

…During the time of 2001 to 2003 the term “emerging church” became more and more popular, other web sites started using it to describe churches etc. So by the time the book (The Emerging Church) was released, the term ‘the emerging church’ was already established in the circles that were talking about all the Gen X and postmodern things. My book did not start the name (as many have asked me about when they talk to me). I think possibly the book popularized it more in circles that hadn’t heard about it before then. But the name was well in usage before the book I wrote came out. [2]

Additionally, before we describe the nomenclature and distinctives of the emerging church, it is important to make a particular distinction between the terms, Emergent and emerging. Within what is know as the “Emergent” stream of the emerging church is an organization (www.emergentvillage.com/) or an official network of likeminded leaders and churches involved in the emerging “conversation.” The term “emerging,” on the other hand, is the term most often used to describe the much broader movement of those seeking to incarnate and contextualize the gospel for postmoderns. [3]

As author Justin Taylor says, “All that is Emergent is emerging, but not all that is emerging is necessarily Emergent.” [4] In other words, some pastors, churches, and writers want to retain the emerging label—or who bear emerging characteristics—without identifying themselves with or even supporting the Emergent organization.

____________

[1] Dan Kimball, “Origins of the term ‘emergent’ and ‘emerging’: part 1”; Internet; available at http://www.dankimball.com/vintage_faith/2006/04/origin_of_the_t.html

[2] Ibid.

[3] Justin Taylor, “An Emerging Church Primer,” 9 Marks; available from http://9marks.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID314526%7CCHID598014%7CCIID2249226,00.html; Internet; accessed 14 December 2007.

[4] Ibid.

the emerging church: a postmodern reformation 7

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: church, emerging church, emerging culture, history, postmodern, research
• Date: Feb 7,2008

The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 1
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 2
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 3
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 4
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 5
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 6

THE CATALYST: LEADERSHIP NETWORK

In the mid to late 90s, Leadership Network of Dallas formed a learning community of Gen X pastors that included Cecil, Driscoll, Pagitt, Seay, Zander, etc. Their first gathering was in 1996 Colorado Springs, CO, called “Gen X 1.0,” where they discussed the generational theory that was preeminent in evangelical circles at that time. At this gathering, Cecil challenged the generational theory, claiming the shifts were more profound and that we were in a new era called postmodernism that would affect the way we should minister to emerging generations.

In 1997, Leadership Network held “Gen X 2.0” in Mt. Hermon, CA. This gathering was marked by Driscoll’s presentation on ministering to the emerging culture with a cultural focus vs. a generational approach. Soon thereafter, the Leadership Network formed a group that would travel around the country to find likeminded individuals. They called this group the Young Leaders Network and included Driscoll, Pagitt, and Seay.

In 1998, author/pastor Brian McLaren joined the YLN and the tone began to change to a more theological discussion. In 1999, Driscoll openly drew the line theologically due to his concern that the learning community was “changing the gospel to contextualize church in the culture” instead of vice versa. In 2000, Driscoll left the YLN and began the Act 29 Network – a church-planting network – with David Nichols of Spanish River Church in Boca Raton, FL. [1] [2]

TERRANOVA PROJECT/EMERGENT VILLAGE BRANCHES OFF

Leadership Network, uncomfortable with the decidedly theologically focused conversation, decided to end the YLN. McLaren, Pagitt, and now Tony Jones then formed was known as the Terranova Project. The TNP eventually became what is today Emergent Village, led by Jones, its current national coordinator. [3]

THE “BRANDING” OF THE EMERGING CHURCH

In the year 2001, there was a significant proliferation of the term “emerging church.” Karen Ward, abbess and founding pastor of Church of the Apostles in Seattle, bought the domain, www.emergingchurch.org; Kimball bought www.emergingchurch.net; Emergent Village bought www.emergentvillage.org; and Youth Specialties bought www.emergingchurch.com. And in 2003, Dan Kimball released The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations. [4]

________________

[1] Dan Kimball, “Origins of the term ‘emergent’ and ‘emerging’: part 1”; available from http://www.dankimball.com/vintage_faith/2006/04/origin_of_the_t.html; Internet; accessed 14 December 2007.

[2] Darrin Patrick, “The Emerging Church: Discerning a Missional Milieu,” Francis A. Schaeffer Institute Lecture Series, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO, October 2007.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

the emerging church: a postmodern reformation 6

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: church, church planting, culture, emerging church, emerging culture, history, missiology, postmodern
• Date: Feb 6,2008

The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 1
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 2
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 3
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 4
The Emerging Church: A Postmodern Reformation 5

Out of the milieu of postmodernism and its impact on culture (post-Christian) and the church (post-Evangelical and post-seeker-sensitive), an innovative church paradigm has begun to materialize know as the emerging church.

WHAT IS THE EMERGING CHURCH?

Though the latter part of this paper with deal with emerging church classification and its accompanying distinctives, a broad definition of the emerging church will give some helpful context. Popularly, the term “emerging church” has been applied to high-profile, youth-oriented congregations that have gained attention on account of their rapid numerical growth; their ability to attract – or retain – twentysomethings; their contemporary worship, which draws from popular music; and their ability to promote themselves to the Christian subculture through websites and by word of mouth.

More generally, emerging church is a catchall term. Jonny Baker, author of Alternative Worship , says, “…I think the term ‘emerging church’ is nothing more than a way of expressing that we need new forms of church that relate to the emerging culture.” [1] Kimball states:

For me, the term “the emerging church” simply meant churches who were focusing on the mission of Jesus and thinking about the Kingdom in our emerging culture. It meant churches who were rethinking what it means to be the church in our emerging culture. It meant churches who were “being the church” instead of “going to church” in our emerging culture. [2]

Andrew Jones, blogger at Tall Skinny Kiwi, says the emerging church is:

1. A nod to the newness of the movement and its fluidity
2. Coming up out the previous wave of ministry, but not necessarily in protest to it
3. Displays characteristics of emergent behavior that are evident in any system when chaos finds order through self-organization and other emergent criteria.
4. Ministry that is a biblically informed contextual response to the local emerging cultural context – something similar to what the wider church used to call youth culture, Gen X culture, postmodern culture, etc.
5. Addressing issues of culture as well as mindset (postmodern) and life-stage (youth, Gen X) [3]

THE DAWNING OF THE NORTH AMERICAN EMERGING CHURCH

As described earlier, Kimball alleges that in the year 2000, postmodernism was a legitimized epoch due to the palpable evidence of postmodern philosophy in culture. If Kimball’s observation is true, there were precursors to the advent of the full-fledged expression of postmodernism, and thus the emerging church.

It is believed that the advent of emerging churches in North America began as Gen-X churches – congregations ministering specifically to the generation of individuals born between 1965 – 1980. The first known Gen-X church in the U.S. began in 1986 with Dieter Zander and NewSong in Pomona, California. In 1993, a second version appeared known as “church-within-a-church.” The distinction from a Gen-X church was that it was financially supported by a megachurch. [4]

About this time in the early 90s, Brad Cecil, an evangelical pastor, was attending a conference on the postmodern philosophy of Jacques Derrida at Villanova University with John Caputo – who at the time was professor of philosophy there. Upon hearing that there was an evangelical pastor in attendance, Caputo took particular note of the seeming interest in postmodernism by the evangelical world.

Also during this time, the next phase of an emerging church groundswell began to take shape. Mark Driscoll was planting Mars Hill Church in Seattle; Doug Pagitt was a youth pastor at megachurch Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, MN; Ron Johnson was planting Pathways in Denver; Tim Keel was planting Jacob’s Well in Kansas City; Andrew Jones was ministering to Goth kids in Portland; Chris Seay was planting University Baptist Church in Waco [5]; Dan Kimball was transitioning from a “church-within-a-church” at Santa Cruz Bible Fellowship to the “sister-hybrid-church;” [6] Erwin McManus had accepted a call to Church on Brady later to become Mosaic; and Rob Bell was at megachurch Calvary Church in Grand Rapids. [7]

In 1993, Leighton Ford Ministries and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship jointly held a Consultation on Evangelizing Generation X, the first conference on Gen-X ministry in the U.S. Additionally, George Barna, Kevin Ford and Tim Celek, and Dieter Zander focused on reaching Busters, or Gen-Xers through ministry strategy. [8]

___________

[1] Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 41.

[2] Dan Kimball, “Origins of the term ‘emergent’ and ‘emerging’: part 1″; available from http://www.dankimball.com/vintage_faith/2006/04/origin_of_the_t.html; Internet; accessed 14 December 2007.

[3] Andrew Jones, “What I Mean When I Say “Emerging-Missional” Church,” Tall Skinny Kiwi; available from http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2006/02/what_i_mean_whe.html; Internet; accessed 14 December 2007.

[4] Gibbs and Bolger, Emerging Churches, 30.

[5] Darrin Patrick, “The Emerging Church: Discerning a Missional Milieu,” Francis A. Schaeffer Institute Lecture Series, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO, October 2007.

[6] Dan Kimball, Emerging Worship: Creating Worship Gatherings for New Generations (Grand Rapids, MI/El Cajon, CA: Zondervan/YS Emergent, 2004), 174.

[7] Patrick, “The Emerging Church,” FSI Lecture Series, 2007.

[8] Bolger and Gibbs, Emerging Churches, 32.