Tag: emerging Christianity

Emergent dispatches

something beautiful

A quick summary of emergent Christianity… via @jonestony

Dispatch 1: Emergents practice a generous orthodoxy that appreciates the contributions of all Christian movements.

Dispatch 2: Emergents reject the politics & theologies of left versus right — they anticipate a more complex reality.

Dispatch 3: The gospel is like lava: no matter how much crust has formed over it, it will find a way to burst through.

Dispatch 4: The emergent phenomenon began when a group began talking about how postmodernism was affecting the faith.

Dispatch 5: The emergent movement is not exclusively North American; it is growing around the globe.
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What is emergent? Missional

what is emergent?

Read Part 2 :: What is emergent? Centered set

While there seem to be countless folks in the Church who are more than happy to avoid being labeled emergent, the exact opposite seems to be true for the term missional. More and more folks are rushing to use the term to define their ministries. Some have even suggested it may soon take the place of evangelical in the near future.

And while emergents can be included in the ranks of those using the term it shouldn’t be assumed that those claiming to be missional should also be labeled as emergent. But from my experience it tends to be a strong piece within emerging Christianity — and something I’m working to understand and practice more fully in my daily life.

attractional vs missional

Like I originally noted about sharing my thoughts on emerging, this is not in the least an exhaustive explanation of the term missional. There are far better places to find that information than here. My hope is that this will serve as a basic primer and how it relates to the emerging conversation.

The term missional springs from Missio Dei, or the Mission of God. While historically many have seen only certain “called” members as those active in the Mission of God (either on the foreign mission field or as full time pastors and ministers to their locale), emerging Christianity sees the role of all Christians to be about the Missio Dei each and every day — regardless of their occupation or locale.
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What is emergent? Centered set

what is emergent?

Read Part 1: What is emergent? Generous Orthodoxy

I remember somewhere along the way in school, we studied bounded sets and centered sets. I couldn’t tell you how all the formulas worked, but I remember it was a nice change from the other algebra and/or geometry we were doing at that time.

I had all but forgotten about these two terms until I recently became aware of them as part of the emerging conversation (and more specifically in reading “Not the Religious Type: Confessions of a Turncoat Atheist” by Dave Schmelzer.

So often we do out best to figure out who’s in and who’s out of our club. Who can we trust? Who’s our friend? Who’s really on our side? Are they really a Republican or just a Republican in Name Only? Are they really a liberal or are they just hoping to win friends?
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What is emergent?

what is emergent?

There continues to be a great discussion across the Interwebs as folks try to nail-down exactly what it means to be “emergent.”

Folks are coming into the conversation from all different places in their lives, as well as at different points in the emerging conversation.

Some people have been discussing emerging Christianity since the 1960’s (or before); some have been in the the discussion for 15 to 20+ years; some picked up the discussion circa 1997 when the initial discussions were taking place that ultimately led to the formation of Emergent Village; others listened in at various points along the way and started to align themselves with the emergent conversation in more recent years (myself included); and still others are on the “outside” hearing criticism from various folks and groups and wondering what its all about.
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