I have been doing a series of posts on "klaos" and will return shortly. However, I want to put that on hold for a few days and write about the Emergent Church phenomena. I just returned from the Emergent Village gathering at the Southern Baptist campground in Glorieta, New Mexico, sixteen miles east of Santa Fe. That first sentence alone could be a metaphor for the experience: A Presbyterian attending an Emergent gathering at a Southern Baptist campground.
Many people have difficulty understanding Emergent as they look for a charismatic leader or an institutional umbrella to define what is happening. The Emergent Village is not a Church or an umbrella organization for a movement. Informal networks connect emergent folks. Like a computer network, there are nodes but no central unit. The Emergent Village is a node.
Some identify Emergent through visible participants like Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, or Spencer Burke and form their opinions based on what they say. Some people form their impressions by visiting websites like the Ooze, an online discussion forum where many Emergent types hang out. Some identify Emergent with a worship style that heavily emphasizes the arts and aesthetics. Others hear the word "postmodern" referenced in positive terms in Emergent circles and brand the participants as relativists who are compromising the witness of the gospel. None of these paint an accurate picture; there is much more beyond what I mentioned.
According to the Emergent Village website:
Emergent is a growing generative friendship among missional Christian leaders seeking to love our world in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Our dream is to join in the activity of God in the world wherever we are able, so that God’s dreams for our world come true. In the process, the world can be healed and changed, and so can we.
In English, the word “emergent” is normally an adjective meaning coming into view, arising from, occurring unexpectedly, requiring immediate action (hence its relation to “emergency”), characterized by evolutionary emergence, or crossing a boundary (as between water and air). All of these meanings resonate with the spirit and vision of emergent. In other languages, names for regional networks will be chosen with similarly evocative meanings.
I have been around the Emergent phenomenon since 1998, shortly after it began to be recognized as a "happening." I am coming to some conclusions about the social psychology of what is happening that I have not yet seen or heard discussed in a public forum. Over the next few posts, I will write about my experiences at the gathering. From there, I will turn to some of my experiences over the years, my understanding of Emergent history, and this social-psychological perspective that is "emerging" in my mind.
I look forward to reading what you think and feel about what I am writing and your take on how you have experienced the Emergent "thing."
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