adam cleaveland writes a blog post about andy stanley’s recent visit to the atlanta emergent cohort. i find this to be very encouraging… hopefully this is a first step to tearing down the gigantic wall that separates emergent and the evangelical church. i’m not so optimistic to think that it will ever be torn down, but hopefully there can be some sort of partnership between the two groups working together to make a dent for the kingdom.
Related posts:
- emergent’s doctrinal statement.
- s3k/emergent gathering.
- emergent hermeneutics.
- emergent, the new christian left.
- this is emergent.
That’s a really cool thing to hear/see…thanks for sharing it.
this is a lazy question, i know, aaron. but if you had to explain the “gigantic wall†briefly, how would you do it?
I’m w/ onelouder.
I really don’t think there is a gigantic wall, or at least there won’t be…if believers are striving to glorify Jesus Christ than they can aknowledge how other people connecting people to God in different enviornments and situations can be effective.
“An Emergent†should learn to be excited about new Christian’s coming to know Christ at a large churches VBS that reaches out to tons of families (in ways many emergent churches can’t).
Likewise people from these large box churches should be excited when ministry is going on in coffee shops, bars, and houses and people gather to be community in some of the most unique and unconventional ways.
Any wall is built up because of a prideful heart that thinks we understand how to glorify, praise, and honor God better then someone else.
–RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
nice photo – where did you get that?
gigantic wall, gigantic wall… hmmm, how to explain it. i think that a lot of it revolves around the differing philosophies of ministry mainly the approaches of the seeker-sensitive movement and the missional church. in some cases this gap is widening and the wall is growing, but just recently i’ve noticed that willow creek is making a huge and monumental shift away from seeker-sensitivity and more towards a missional mindset as a congregation! if this is the case, i think the gap and the wall will begin to shrink as all of the small to midsized congregations follow suit (as they seem to always do).
i hear what you’re saying RC and i wouldn’t suggest that emergent or people that are a part of the emerging church would be disappointed with a VBS, but what i would suggest is that the differences are on a philosophical level, and having an honest dialogue and partnership when people’s philosophies don’t match up doesn’t work out so well… i know this to be true from some personal experience.
from adam cleaveland of course! and what a beautiful picture it is!
now, you’ve got me curious about willow. what are the evidences that they’re making this huge shift?
i listened to the final axis sermon given by gene appel. in this sermon he described the effect that axis has had on the rest of the church and how the church is moving in that direction, being more missional, etc. (you can listen to it on axis’ site). they’ve changed their philosophy of small groups recently, and are continuing to change a whole lot more as a community. i’m not sure they’ll fully lose the “seeker-sensitive feel†in their services for a while, but the rest of them is certainly changing. it’s pretty interesting stuff.