I'm doing this post from one of my leader's Blackberry. Headed to IYC then MX. See ya on the flip.

continuing the series on the work of Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger.

"Can Modern and Postmodern Congregations Exist within a Local Church?"
In the UK it seems that this can happen. There seems to be trouble with doing that so far in the US. Dan Kimball agrees, but he hopes that we can figure it out. [pg41] Kimball has say on his website that it's really up to the senior pastor being ok with the situation. and until that happens, emerging and modern can't be under the same roof long term.

So what do we do about that I interject? How do we transition our modern churches to minister better to the post-whatever world?


From the section "What are Emerging Chruches? on page 41
"For many within the movement, the emerging church is an umbrella that covers many diverse movements. In Johnny Baker's (Grace, London) opinion, emerging church is a catch all term. 'I quite like it for that. Church, as we have inherited it, is no longer working for vast groups of people. the world has change so much. So I think the term emerging church is nothing more than a way of expressing that we need new forms of church that relate to the emerging culture."

Baker's quote hits on the head for me.

So I'm done. I'm done with this Emerging Churches series. Why? I'm through the book. So now blogging feels like a make-up assignment that I did for a lower grade in high school. Oh you may have miss understood, I'm a high school pastor, not actually in high school.

So read the book if you want to understand more about the emergent church. They put a lot of hard work into it and I can't wait to read the follow up. Big-R over and out.

continuing on the work of Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger.


I've heard many say things like: Oh, it will be a differant thing than candles and rock music for the next generation." Interesting findings from the section on "Is the Emerging Church about generaltional approaches to church life?" In the mid 90s there was a shift for some from specific strategies for generations. There was a confernce for Gen-X minsitry put on by Young Leaders Network (YLN). they found that it wasn't standard "angst" from that generation. It was basic philisophical between ministry and culture. The conversations to follow eventually birthed the organization Emergent. Here's a quote from Todd Hunter [Yorba Linda, CA] "My big 'aha' moment was when it hit me: Everything I know about church is aboug Christendom and modernity and the baby boom, and all three of these are going away. These were the three eggs in my basket. So the issues were much deeper than adjusting services for Gen-X" (32).

On pages 33-39 there is an inderesting segmant on labels. First and formost in the postmodern world we don't know what's coming next. It's just post. It's after... what's next? Good question. Andrew Jones of Boaz in the UK has some good thoughts on it. "The goal is for us to put away lable tha excluede, to become more like Jesus and less evangelical, or become more like Jesus and less Protestent. Labels adn terms will always com bcakd to bite us." This quote from page 39 may hit home for some. "From a postmodern perspective, the ultimate question is , Why is it important to label oneself as evangelical? Aren't labels simply aritficial divisions that make us feel safe or help us exert control? Why not mine the riches of many traditions? What is obvious is that the ecclesiastical or theological label on decided to wear is of far less a concern to emerging churhes than how one relates to the gospel and culture."

wow, this is such a slow series. I've decided to plug away despite my tardiness. [In school I was always the last kid out of the locker room.] I am continuing the look into Emerging Churches by Gibbs and Bolger. I will start with a great quote:

"The emerging church is being willing to take the red pill, going down the rabbit hole, and enjoying the ride. It is Dorothy not in Kansas anymore yet finding her way home. It is Superman braving kryptonite to embrace Krypton. It is sight seeking wider vision, relationships seeking expanded embrace, and spirituality seeking holistic practice. it's a "road of desination" where Christ followers, formerly of divergent pasts, are meeting up in the missional present and moving togetther toward God's future."

Karen Ward, Church of the Apostles, Seattle"

(pg 27)

so if you were still wondering what this book is about, there it is.

I've decided to segment the chapters more so I don't have one massive post for each chapter.

Scot made a whole series on this:
Zealotry2, Zealotry3, Zealotry4, Zealotry5, Zealotry:A Danger, ...