I had a chance to talk with Hal for awhile last night when we got together with his family at the park near our new house for a little picnic, conversation and play. They had just returned from doing their own elementary church camp for New Hope which they had some great stories about. As always with us, the subjects of worship and art came up and I discovered that he's been spending more time in studying the emerging church movement recently. You can go back to the first year of posts on this blog to get an idea of some of my early travels down that same road that mirror a lot of what I was hearing from Hal last night.
One thing that I find interesting about the whole topic is how many established churches are scared of the emerging church movement and are actively seeking to discredit it. That mistrust is not new to me. I grew up and currently live in the upper midwest where social shifts generally happen gradually with a great deal of difficulty.
Hal and Martha were telling of one church that they know that has more or less gone on the record as saying they want nothing to do with the emerging church and seems to discredit anything and anybody associated with it. I agree that there is much in the emerging church that needs to be sifted out, but I believe that there is much of value that churches need to come to grips with if we are to engage post modern America with the Gospel of Jesus.
The emerging church has not (in most cases) set itself as the best new model for ministry. It generally recognizes that our culture demands a different approach to ministry and is wading into those waters to see what that might look like. It values the local church community and generally recognizes that each community is unique and will require unique approaches to ministry.
I hope for more conversation on this topic with Hal and with our folks at Mercy since emergent thought is a part of what is shaping us.
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