Emergent...Again. Dangit.

I thought I'd posted my last words on the movement that has become known, to the chagrin of those within this movement, as the "emergent church." For long-time readers of The Diner you know that I went through a phase where I was reading anything and everything on the topic. It was fun at the time because there were books putting words to what I was seeing in my own teenagers and couldn't explain what I was seeing...to myself or to others in my congregation.

Well, after reading about 20 books on the subject I felt like I had a handle on the subject and could then effectively explain what was going on. Plus, as an added bonus, I had more or less gotten my hands around it long enough to discard the elements I'd read about that I didn't agree with as well as encourage others with the stuff I liked and thought would minister to others in a meaningful way. Yeah, I blogged about the stuff.

But, basically, it came down to a desire by the younger followers of Christ to have authentic discipleship lived out in community that evidenced love for others as the watermark for their faith. The way I see it, we shouldn't make our current churches "emergent," but rather have the older, wiser members of our congregations lovingly serve the passionate and enthusiastic younger members of our faith in their growth. I liked the term "convergent congregation" to be the vision I'd like to see. I preached a sermon on it over a year and a half ago.

And, as you can imagine, I got tired of all the buzzwords and such that you start to see when something becomes trendy. Eventually, I'd come to my own conclusions and more or less moved on to different stuff in my reading...and began working to establish areas of convergence in my ministry. It'll take time.

But the "Emergent Church" was pretty much off my radar.

Now, it's back. Dangit.

See, the militant and angry and misguided and stodgy and minsinformed and maladroit among the faith are now barking loudly. They're late to the party, if you're asking me, which makes me laugh and in some ways I feel sorry for the funsuckers. But they don't want my pity, they just want to be heard.

The problem is that they're building straw men, tearing them down and attacking and creating confusion where I'm not sure there was any...it initially was a bunch of young people and pastors asking honest and penetrating questions. Sure, they made us uncomfortable at times and said a few things in print I'm sure they'd like a big do-over on, but by and large they are helpful things for us to think about.

So, thanks to my favorite elder of a church in Portland, I got a link to his pastor's site and he did a very helpful Q & A session on this very thing. So, thanks, pastor Bob for saving me the hassle...and it should inform you of the buzzwords and the ways the attackers have misconstrued the "emergent discussion" and confused it with the "emergent church" and all sorts of helpful resources.

Have at it, folks. It'll take some time to read, but you won't regret it.

Evergreen Life's Pastor Bob Hyatt's 26 Questions Regarding The Emergent Discussion.

And, consider The Diner forum on all things emergent re-opened. Let's chat, okay? That'd be the best thing.