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IntroductionThe Emerging Church is a label that has been used to refer to a particular subset of Christians who are rethinking Christianity against the backdrop of Postmodernism. In order to explain fully what it is, it is necessary to look at what it is moving away from. During recent centuries, Christianity was influenced significantly by Modernism in the sense that it sought to take the individual narratives of the Bible and drill down towards a set of underlying truths, or meta-narrative, that underpinned them all. This scientific reductionism of underlying truths was then packaged up into a Christian worldview that members of the Church were expected to adopt. These worldviews often contained a lot of cultural baggage as well as theological stances. While disagreements regarding these worldviews were common, this generally resulted in the creation of other denominations with their own distinct but equally modernist Christian worldviews rather than a questioning of modernism itself. By contrast, Postmodernism has been characterised by the deconstruction of modernist worldviews. The reasons for this are beyond the scope of this article, however, it is clear that Christianity has been influenced by this. Individual Christians who choose to reject the particular Christian worldview that they have previously held are now more likely to subsequently question the very idea of a modernist Christian worldview rather than create an alternative one. This has led to a climate where many individual Christians are deconstructing each area of their Christian faith and analysing it piece by piece. Each individual experiences his or her own unique journey through this deconstruction process. One observed phenomenon is that many Christians subsequently start to reconstruct their Christianity thus finding a faith that, while basically Christian, is often distinct from the more established churches. One definition of the Emerging Church is that it is the collective noun for the individuals who are emerging from this process of deconstruction and reconstruction of Christianity, or those who have joined groups being led by such individuals. Structure and CommonalityWhile there is no single co-ordinated organization behind the emerging church globally, and no guarantee that the Emerging Church will mature into a coherent movement at all, the term is becoming increasingly common currency among both leaders of Emerging Church groups and Emerging Church thinkers. Many of these leaders and thinkers have written books, articles and/or blogs on the subject. So far, Emerging Church groups have typically contained some or all of the following elements:
The Emerging Church movement is closely related to the House Church movement in that both of them are challenging traditional notions of how the Church should be organized. Not all House Churches are as influenced by Postmodern philosophy as the Emerging Church, but many Emerging Churches are also House Churches. EcclesiologySomewhat surprisingly for a church movement, the Emerging Church movement has said little about the role of the church. Being decentralized and personal as fundamental principles, it is difficult to find leadership for the movement, much less a solid statement of doctrine. That, added to the impression that "church" and "Sunday morning worship service" seem to be synonymous as the terms are used in the movement, leaves next to nothing about their views on the role of the church as a body. If anything, the Emerging Church seems to stand purposefully in contrast to "The Church", so its proponents seem to be holding true to the cause to avoid much, if any, talk on the subject. External linksExamples of Emerging Churches
Emerging Church sites
Miscellaneous
News
BibliographyReaching a New Generation: Strategies for Tomorrow's Church. Vancouver, B.C.: Regent College, 1993. Innovations in Ministry: Models for the 21st Century. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996. Bauman, Zygmunt. Liquid Modernity: Polity, 2000. Clapp, Rodney. A Peculiar People: The Church as Culture in a Post-Christian Society. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996. Crouch, Andy. "The Emergent Mystique." Christianity Today, November 2004, 36. (http://www.culture-makers.com/articles/the_emergent_mystique) Drane, John. The Mcdonaldization of the Church: Darton, Longman, & Todd, 2000. Erickson, Millard J. Postmodernizing the Faith: Evangelical Responses to the Challenge of Postmodernism. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999. Erickson, Millard J., Paul Kjoss Helseth, Justin Taylor, and J. Taylor. Reclaiming the Center: Evangelical Accommodation in Postmodern Times. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004. Grenz, Stanley J. A Primer on Postmodernism. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996. Guder, Darrell L. Missional Church: A Visioning for the Sending of the Church. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998. Hauerwas, Stanley, and William H. Willimon. Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989. ________. Where Resident Aliens Live: Exercises for Christian Practice. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996. Hodges, Melvin L. The Indigenous Church: Gospel Publishing, 1996. Hohstadt, Thomas. Dying to Live: The 21st Century Church. Odessa: Damah Media, 1999. Hunsberger, George R., and Craig Van Gelder. The Church between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North America. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996. Jones, Andrew. "Emerging Church Definition 1.0." TallSkinnyKiwi.com: The Blog, February 2, 2004. ________. "Emerging Church Definition Additional." TallSkinnyKiwi.com The Blog, February 7, 2004. Kelley, Gerard. Retrofuture: Rediscovering Our Roots, Recharting Our Routes. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999. Kimball, Dan. The Emerging Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2003. Kimball, Dan. Emerging Worship. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2004. King, Ursula. Faith and Praxis in a Postmodern Age. London: Cassell, 1998. Kitchens, Jim. The Postmodern Parish: New Ministry for a New Era. Bethesda, MD Alban Institute, 2003., 2003. Kraft, Charles. Christianity in Culture: Orbis, 1979. Lyon, David. Jesus in Disneyland: Religion in Postmodern Times. Oxford: Polity Press, 2000. McLaren, Brian D. The Church on the Other Side. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. ________. More Ready Than You Realize: Evangelism as Dance in the Postmodern Matrix. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. ________. Generous Orthodoxy. Grand Rapids: Youth Specialties Book, 2004. McManus, Erwin R. An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind. Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2001. Nash, Robert N., and Loren Mead. An 8-Track Church in a Cd World: The Modern Church in a Postmodern World. Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 1997. Newbigin, Leslie. "Christ and the Cultures." Scottish Journal of Theology 31 (1978): 11-12. Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Incorporated, 1951. O'Brien, W.R. "The Mcdonaldization of the Church: Spirituality, Creativity, and the Future of the Church." Missiology 30 (2002): 239. Rabey, Steve. In Search of Authentic Faith. Colorado Springs: Waterbrook Press, 2001. Seay, Chris. "Is Pomo Nomo?" Christianity Today, February 20, 2003. Smith, Chuck Jr. The End of the World as We Know It: Clear Direction or Bold and Innovative Ministry in a Postmodern World, 2001. Smith, Huston. Beyond the Postmodern Mind. Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 1989. Sweet, Leonard I. Dying to Live. 1995., 1995. ________. Soultsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millenium Culture. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999. ________. Carpe Manana: Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow? Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001. Sweet, Leonard I., and Andy Crouch. The Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives. El Cajon, CA: EmergentYS, 2003. Sweet, Leonard I., Brian D. McLaren, and Jerry Haselmayer. A Is for Abductive: The Language of the Emerging Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003. Tomlinson, Dave. The Post-Evangelical. North American Edition ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003. Veith, Gene Edward Jr. Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1994. Webber, Robert E. Ancient Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999. ________. The Younger Evangelicals. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company, 2002. ________. Ancient-Future Evangelism: Making Your Church a Faith-Forming Community. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003. Yaconelli, Mike. Stories of Emergence: Moving from Absolute to Authentic. El Cajon, CA: Emergent YS, 2003. Young, Ed, and Andy Stanley. 24 Best Practices: Discovering What Works in the 21st Century Church. Keller, TX: HeartSpring Media, 2000. Other Reads: A New Kind of Christian, Brian McLaren The Story We Find Ourselves In, Brian McLaren Alternative Worship, Jonny Baker, Doug Gay and Jenny Brown Beyond Foundationalism, Stan Grenz Blue like Jazz, Don Miller The Complex Christ: Signs of Emergence in the Urban Church, Kester Brewin Biblio Courtesy of theVoiz.com (http://www.thevoiz.com) See also |
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