Emergent Church and Denominations
August 5th, 2009 by Beth A. LewisI just read an interesting blog post from an interview with Phyllis Tickle called “Beyond Denominations, the Hyphenated Church.” Her thought is that denominations need to reach out fast to the emergent church community or an opportunity will be lost. Her estimation is that denominations have only about 18 months to make their move or the window of opportunity will be closed.
An interesting premise with some merit, I think, as I look at trends in research I read about the aging of the membership of mainline denominations, the growth of house churches and other forms of emergent, post-denominational gatherings of believers.
We are living in and publishing for “in-between” times. We need to continue to provide excellent ministry resources with great service at a fair price for our traditional partners in ministry….Lutheran and other mainline denominations’ congregations, synods, seminaries, etc. But, we also need to anticipate and make certain that the resources we create are relevant and helpful to people who are in these new communities of faith.
Nate Frambach, on the faculty at Wartburg Theological Seminary, is helping us think about this through his research and writing on this trend.
Kelly Fryer and her colleagues at A.R.E. engage people across a wide spectrum of “church” and write excellent resources for us. Their latest, Reclaiming the V Word: Renewing Life at its Vocational Core, offers an intersting bridge between traditional Lutheran theology and the service-orientation of many youth and young adults who are finding a home in emergent faith communities.
I follow a number of virtual emergent communities via Twitter, Facebook, Creativeworshiptour and other social networking entities, too.
But, I would welcome your thoughts. What do you think of Phyllis Tickle’s premise re: 18 months of opportunity? How would you advise us at Augsburg Fortress to serve and reach these emergent groups? We are listening & learning!
Blessings,
Beth
Augsburg Fortress
August 5th, 2009 at 2:44 PM
Phyllis’s theories always seem haphazard and mystical to me. And the fact that she’s usually correct makes her all the more infuriating. She tends to tap into invisible realms, or at least a place where she notices things that the rest of us should already know.
Tickle is brilliant, but I can only speak from my own experience, and from that, I can say that the ELCA needs to move fast on connecting to emerging ministries. 18 months? Maybe. Maybe less. But looking at the service-driven, relational success that the National Youth Gathering was should help us realize that there are churches doing the same thing, and they need support.
But it’s not just about service, either. The idea of entering an age of post-denominationalism poses a lot of questions for Lutherans, not the least of which being, “How do I remain Lutheran once I’m part of a local church that eschews labels?”
August 5th, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Thanks, Justin. I know what you mean about “mystical” and “correct”! I hear from people all the time who want us to publish more faith formation & worship resources that are explicitly/solely Lutheran. But, on the other hand, I hear from people who want us to reach well beyond those traditions and labels and publish for our more ecumenical communities of faith….some of which may still have “Lutheran” in their names! As we look to the CWA and the vote for a possible 6th full communion partnership (with the United Methodist Church), this ecumenism/post-denominational tug becomes stronger.
Any advice for AF as we try to create ministry resources for and reach out to a post-denominatial/emergent community?
Blessings,Beth
August 5th, 2009 at 6:38 PM
Thanks for the post. I too greatly appreciate Tickle’s analysis, though I think that the 18-month window seems a bit too narrow. I love the intersections between mainline movements and the emergent church, and have written about them in the forthcoming “Unexpected Emergence: Why the Emergent Church is Good News for Progressive Communities of Faith” (Pilgrim Press, 2010). However, one of the things I argue is that in addition to the phenomenon known as ‘emergence Christianity’ (which includes, of course, the growing number of emergents who readily network with one another), there are also the many other ‘evangelical expatriates’ (Tony Jones’ phrase) who share similar kinds of concerns as those articulated by emergents, yet they don’t have any idea what the whole emergent movement is and often have never even heard of it. Tickle might be right in regard to those who formally identify themselves with ‘emergent’ kinds of labels — though I’m not convinced that she is — but I don’t think that her analysis accounts for the many others who sense similar concerns but have never even heard of emergent language. In other words, there are all kinds of evangelical expatriates in communities across North America who hunger for a more progressive approach to faith, and such a thirst will hardly be quenched within an 18-month time frame. Whether or not they call themselves ‘emergent’ is penultimate at best.
Grace and Peace,
Phil Snider
August 5th, 2009 at 6:59 PM
Beth,
I hope we talk more about this over dinner sometime once I’m up in the cities. I’m planning on responding to Phyllis in a long blog post tomorrow, but here’s the quick, fast and cheap version. First of all, the mainline denominations have already missed many opportunities to engage the emergent conversation. Of our other mainline brothers and sisters, Presbyterians (as Phyllis mentions) and the Episcopalians have done much much more that the ELCA to support both the conversations and also the faith communities. I would agree with her that we are at a pivotal moment. I’m not sure about 18 months. Emergent Village is about to announce its restructuring…a sort of “second wave” or Emergent 2.0. Many of the hyphen-mergents are now gathering together and plotting all kinds of goodness.
What is most clear to me is that this movement will continue through faith communities struggling together to create new forms and ways of being church. We need to create ways to better understand one another. We need forums to tell the stories and to tell our stories.
AF or any other organization (and even a denomination) will be most successful in engaging the emergent community when it becomes part of the interconnected network of relationships that make up the movement. Over the next few months you will be hear a shift from Emergent Village — no longer will we seek to refine “emergent” as some market to be tapped into; but rather we will focus on being a village. Come be a part of the village. Or as Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “come and see.”
Pax,
Tim Snyder
covener at Luthermergent
August 5th, 2009 at 8:07 PM
Tim,
Nicely stated. For too long those in mainline denominations have wanted to be part of the emergent conversation more in order to ‘market’ to emergents instead of simply being part of the conversation, which of course misses the boat entirely and wreaks of the institutionalism emergents are trying to get away from in the first place. Additionally, I wouldn’t underestimate the influence of hyphenateds already in mainline movements. They will continue to struggle for re-formation within their existing structures for a long time to come, which is a gift that they offer established communities of faith. In terms of AF, I won’t be surprised to see emergents continue to draw on AF’s theological resources; indeed, they will continue to significantly inform their collectives. Emergents already take their cues from mainline theologians, and the theological resources already offered by AF have been of no small significance for emergent voices.
Phil
August 6th, 2009 at 7:31 AM
Tim & Phil: Thanks to both of you for your thoughtful comments. Since we are a ministry of publishing that receives no funding and can only continue to develop theological resources, faith formation resources and worship & music resources (whether ink on paper or digital) by selling the resources we have, we need to think in terms of engagement & involvement with the emergent communities in a “both/and” way (sound familiar?) Both as proclaimers of the Gospel and as a business with high quality resources to sell that assist others along their faith walk. It’s an interesting tightrope, as I’m sure you can imagine.
We are, indeed, trying to connect with these emergent communities via web-based networks and in-person networks. In fact, one of our editors is at a gathering right now in Niagara Falls, Ontario of NAAC http://www.catechumenate.org It is an ecumenical, international network of folks and the theme for this meeting is “Ancient Rites for a New Generation of Disciples.”
If you have suggestions for places (in time & space or via the web) where we can continue to learn and be a part of these types of communities, I’m certainly open and many of my colleagues are, as well.
Blessings,
Beth
http://twitter.com/bethalewis
August 6th, 2009 at 11:05 PM
I really hope that Phyllis Tickle is wrong on this one.
If these post-denominational emerging groups are as open and welcoming as they claim to be, they will certainly not close their doors on ecumenical / denominational partners. Of course, this will be a big test for those who have adapted the “y’all come” mentality often associated with post-modern thinking. Some leaders in emerging communities have started to reveal themselves as ANTI (not post) denominational. They see denominations as bruising, sinful organizations that cripple innovative leaders. Perhaps these are the people Tickle is referring to with the 18-month window. My hope is that, if emerging communities are truly interested in renewing the church, they will remain open to ecclesiological conversations for as long as it takes. After all, this is how we “do church”…we talk, we listen, we dream, we disagree, we collaborate, and we cast a vision for how to be God’s people together.
The emerging church “movement” and denominations desperately need each other for their individual long-term survival. I hope both groups realize this out sooner than later…but I also think we ALL have more than 18 months to figure it out.
August 7th, 2009 at 7:29 AM
There is much wisdom in your words, “After all, this is how we “do church”…we talk, we listen, we dream, we disagree, we collaborate, and we cast a vision for how to be God’s people together.”, Erik. I pray that you are right!
Blessings,
Beth