Struggling with Stage One Emerging Churches
Have been doing some research on this very aspect of the "Emerging Church." Its been driving me crazy as I've looked at 150-300 churches in the U.S. who self-proclaim to be an EC, and manifests that claim purely through a change of style. In fact, a very low percentage of churches reviewed have a value to rediscover a renewed theology... don't know if, at this point in my research, this is because they just don't see the need or they just aren't expressing their value for a new theology. I am happy though that many are missionally-centric. Hopefully, our theology is still emerging.
I am even beginning to wonder how missionally-centric a church can be without a renewed sense of missiology / theology? Theology and mission go hand-in-hand. In fact, some missiologists would even argue that all theology is about mission (that is, all theology is a missiology). Perhaps, and maybe it warrants further study - the missional "Emerging Church" is a trend without anything theologically definitive to grab onto. If EC is not acting from a missiological / theological perspective, and rather merely because its the "in" thing to do... what will be the lasting effects? What will be the future of mission and the Emerging Church?
1 comment:
Thanks for the quote above.
I'm thinking most EC's in the United States are "Stage One, Stage Two" EC's. Some have started to reconstruct, but few are actually living in what has been reconstructed. In many ways, the EC in the U.S. are gypsies or nomads living in ruined lands, deconstructed by their very own hands... strugling to rebuild with little or no help from the mainstream establishment. Rather, those in the establishment make comments, "What do they expect after they ruin what they could have had? They could've been like us." (Imagine Carson, imagine the McLaren as Calvin article, etc.)
I do not know if I am more "frustrated" (and I use that lightly) over our failure to emerge past the initial stages (ah, but grace is needed because who is to say EC's in the U.S. never will?), or over the establishment attempting to marginalize its brothers and sisters.
Thanks again for the mention.
~A from thevoiz.com
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