Articles Of Faith: Emerging churches may keep Christians separated

seattlepi.com ^ | June 8, 2007 | ANTHONY B. ROBINSON

[Alex Murphy]

In church circles, some of the hottest words today are "emerging" and "emergent."

Last weekend, Christian communications company Zondervan hosted a Seattle conference called "Emergence 2007." The event featured a conversation among four emerging-church leaders: Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill, Dan Kimball of Vintage Faith Church, Doug Pagitt of Solomon's Porch and Karen Ward of Church of the Apostles.

Moderator Krista Tippett, host of National Public Radio's "Speaking of Faith," got it right when she said, "The emerging church is not just one thing."

There are mega-sized emerging churches, such as Mars Hill with three Seattle- area locations, and smaller congregations such as Church of the Apostles in Fremont.

There are some -- Vintage Faith in Santa Cruz, Calif., is one -- that offer traditional Christian theology, and others -- Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis -- that consider all theology, as Pagitt puts it, "temporary." Pagitt urges each new generation to work out for itself how to be Christian together.

In the midst of the diversity, emergent churches do have a couple of things in common. All are new churches, most grass- roots-grown and without established denominational progenitors. Most have been birthed in the past 10 years. Emergent churches have been formed by Gen X'ers. They are populated, for the most part, by that same age cohort.

Emergent types are tech- savvy, whether that means using the latest technologies to get their message across or laptops that are open and in use during worship. Emergent churches tend to be informal in style. Jeans are good, tattoos are OK. Often there's a touch of the monastic and an emphasis on art. Candles are big. The music may be chant, jazz, praise or contemporary rock.

At a deeper level, emergent churches have been created by and for a post-modern generation that lacks the confidence and certainties of the modern era. Confidence and certainty that, for example, progress is on the march. Or that most human problems will be solved through reason, more education and tolerance. Post- moderns aren't so sure. They tend to see the contemporary world not only as lacking in clear signposts, but often without ultimate direction or purpose. They see a world with lots of stuff, but not much substance.

The names of emergent churches are revealing: "Jacob's Well," "Solomon's Porch," "Mars Hill," "Quest." Note what the names are and what they are not. What they are is biblical and symbolic, poetic and suggestive. What they are not is denominational or hooked to a particular town or neighborhood. There are no First Presbyterians or Second Baptists. There is no East Bellevue or Ravenna Methodist. This is church for the post- denominational and post- Christendom era.

I am ambivalent about the emerging church. I like the creativity, the daring, the willingness to try a new thing. I love the innovative spirit and the longing to get real. I am saddened that these are churches that tend to work for one generation.

Moreover, I find it true yet still perplexing that starting brand-new churches often seems so much more doable than working for renewal in long-established but declining congregations.

In some ways, the emergent-church phenomenon is a judgment on established churches. By their very existence, emergent churches say that younger generations haven't found room or voice in existing churches.

While there may be plenty of open seats in established churches, there haven't been open seats in the places where decisions were made.

But creating churches for one generation runs the risk of reproducing the problem such churches are meant to cure. What's new becomes old, what's edgy becomes mainstream, what's hip becomes dated. What then?

I've always wanted faith communities that remind me of what we have in common and help us look beyond our differences. In a society where we are acutely aware of our differences (age, race, class, politics, gender ...), I've longed for faith communities that remind us of the God who is not made in our image and likeness but in whose image we have all been created.

That we have a hard time getting there is certainly not the fault of the emerging church. Many churches are more or less one slice of humanity.

But the emerging church, for all its vitality and success, is another sign of how hard it is, today, to transcend our differences.

[Tax-chick]

ping

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Emergent churches may be a judgment on other churches, but if so it is in the same way that God judges people by giving them over to their own evil desires. It is not a good thing.

[Tax-chick]

Later

[Terriergal]

ping!