A Continued Longing for Emergence

Hanfield UMC, where I was on staff for eight years, was definitely not an emergent congregation (although we began seeing elements start to creep in about a year ago). This was one of the reasons why a restlessness that had been building in me came to a head at the end of 2004.

Ironically enough, the church we're at now, New Hope Family Church (where Amy and I volunteer) is even less emergent than Hanfield. With Hanfield, there was a part of the congregation that we knew would resonate with some of what the emerging church involves in terms of methodology and philosophy. Hanfield is a multigenerational congregation without one dominant demographic segment to drive everything that happens.

New Hope is a church that is dominated by young families. Most of the church (which runs about 125 in attendance) is made up of couples in their late 20's or 30's with kids under the age of ten. There are a lot of the stereotypically overstretched young families with two working parents and kids in a billion activities who come to church in drive through fashion. I don't say that to be negative, just to give an honest assessment of what I see.

There are a lot of good things happening at the church and Amy and I wouldn't be involved if we didn't believe in the church's mission and leadership. I think there are a lot of possibilities for the future of this church. I just wonder whether emergent theology is a part of it. Regardless, the change in scenery has been good for me. I even get to volunteer and be somebody else's "go-to" for awhile which is a nice change of pace.

I'm still waiting to see what God has in store as far as my long term involvement in ministry. I'm having a hard time believing that the experiences of the last eight years couldn't be put to more use than they are currently. I still don't know if it will eventually lead back to vocational ministry, but my passion for the emerging church is something I'm having a hard time finding an outlet for and may require larger involvement in leadership in a church setting.