Thursday, May 12, 2005

Have you heard about the Emergent Church movement?

Marla Swoffer has done some investigative journalism on the subject. It is the "next new thing" when it comes to doing church in our post-modern society. I have even heard it mentioned by my pastor during a church service. Marla suggests that we flee the EC based on who is supporting the movement. Read up on it and tell me what you think. I am still pondering it. I am convinced that we cannot continue to do church the same old way and reach out to GenXers and Millennials; but I am not sure Emergent Church is the way, either.

Click on the title.

---Katie

3 comments:

Duncan said...

Hi Katie
I think you're right. There's no one way to reach out to GenXers and Millennials. The Emergent Church network is helping some people link up with some people in those generations. There are some valuable lessons they are learning along the way. But we still have to do the hard work of listening to our local emerging generations, finding ways of translating the gospel into their contexts, and carefully discerning what we might be learning from their take on the gospel.

Have you read Kristoffer Cox's book, Gen X and God? I did a review of it at http://postkiwi.blogspot.com recently. He writes from an Evangelical Lutheran perspective. Would appreciate your thoughts on what he's written.

Mike Morrell said...

Hello Katie,

I'm really glad you're asking this question. Many of us who are involved in the emerging church conversation are asking it too. We're asking, "Who is God and what is God up to in the church, and world today?" Far too often we have accomadated ourselves to a consumer-and-comfort oriented culture that has much more to do with the United States than the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I would welcome you to engage our writings, blogs, and websites firsthand, and realize that there is no coherent "we" but rather, many committed and faithful Christians coming from a variety of contexts, searching together God's truth in love.

If you would like to look around, "friends" and "foes" alike agree that zoecarnate.com is the most comprehensive web resource chartinig emerging churches and resources worldwide. My roommate and I have compiled over 3,600 such internet destinations.

If you decide to check some of these out, do be in touch...I'll be very interested to see where your journey leads you.

your brother,

Mike

Katie Kilcrease said...

Thank you, Mike, I will take a look!