The Emergent Church

So I'm going to join everybody else and post a little bit about how I see the emergent church and try to be as neutral (and journalistic) as possible. Let me know how I did, especially if any of you are emergent.

There is a new brand of Christianity on the rise; it’s called the Emerging Church. As with any- thing, the extreme version (the Emergent Village) gets the most publicity – not all of it good. This article will attempt to explain the beliefs that drive the emerging church, the popular criticisms about it, and what it means for the next generation of Christians.

At the core of the Emergents’ beliefs is the certainty that we all have a stake in one another. Emergents are strong supporters of ecumenism. As younger generations, they were raised in an increasingly diverse world, and as such, they revel in the diversity of Christendom. They appreciate the mystery of the Orthodox; they embrace the traditions of the Reformed; and they even encourage interfaith dialogue. The popular founder of the Emergent Village, Brian McLaren, calls it a “generous orthodoxy”. Emergents are most concerned with relational Christianity. They believe that the message of Christ is most effective when it’s conveyed within the context of an understanding conversation. They would prefer to sit down with you (perhaps over coffee) and say, “this is what I believe, but I may be wrong. What do you think? Let’s talk.” They believe that the most effective evangelism comes within the context of a trusting friendship; as such, they are more likely to be pacifists and peacemakers.

Another aspect of the emerging church is their acceptance of a Christian’s role as “earthkeeper”. They believe that God’s creation is blessed, and so try to promote healing for the earth as a whole. They believe not only in whole people, but also whole societies. It is for this reason that many emergents are activists of some type. The whole of creation (not just the welfare of unbelievers) was given to us to care for, and emergents often see the ills of the world (both social and environmental) as the disparity between what is, and what God intended.

As a part of what God intended, emergents are committed to living out the life and mission of Christ to the world. They call this “missional living”; it’s an emphasis on praxis, or acts. This term is taken from the Greek New Testament book of Praxis Apostolon, or the Acts of the Apostles (more commonly known as simply, “Acts”). They believe that the way we live out our faith (or our acts) will often be more of a witness than mere words. This is why a conversation among friends can be so powerful; they understand the importance of living Christ out to the world.

A final hallmark of the emerging church is their creative spirituality and re-interpretation of ancient liturgical rites for the modern day. It’s not uncommon for emergents to discuss the pros and cons of using the lectio divina, the Ignatius Examen, or even Orthodox liturgy. This is their focus on new ways of “doing church” and combining the differing elements from all traditions.

Now, I've gone over what I view as the main tenets of the emerging church. This is the first post. To be fair, next week, I will address some of the main criticisms of the Emerging church and how, possibly and hypothetically (as I am an observer), how the emergents might respond to those criticisms.