The next big prime time drama: The EC

Update July 14, 05: I have added a few links… and must furiously tip my hat to the Boars Head Tavern-folk for most of them.

So what the heck is the Emergent Church (EC)? Is it churches trying to reach the “next generation”, much like money grubbers do in marketing campaigns? Is it the just another Church of the now (see last paragraph from good ol’ Phil Johnson … and berttd’s response), trying to make a name for its self by doling out regulated doses of the hype? Do I even know what I’m talking about here?

At least I can answer that last question: no.

I have no idea how to approach the EC simply because I don’t know what, who, where it is or how it “does church”. So my simple question is this: what good is it if I (we) don’t know what to do with it?

Now there is a lot of talk about the EC, but I don’t know what is conservative reaction (example: Trogdor’s categorization of Emergent-us appalling) to a new vocabulary for gospel, much like reactions when the bible was being translated to English. There is just as much speech coming from the EC, and it is a task trying to sort out what is actual good dialogue (see also the current issue of Modern Reformation Magazine ).

Here is a piece that PBS did about the EC , and it is well worth the read. Actual, this transcript is what got me thinking about all this in the first place (at least today). I am wondering how much of this movement (or conversation) is just a gathering around a label, how much of it is self serving for a corner of the Christian subculture, and how much of it is missionaly minded people seeking new skin for an old hope? I don’t claim to know about it, and I certainly don’t want to write it all off as “theologically shallow”… unless it is. If anyone has any insight into what makes a body of Christ “emergent” I would love to hear about it. On the other hand, if there are serious critics of the movement, I also want to know. The whole label or movement (or some weird combination of the two) seems to becoming the defining line between “conservative” Christians and “PoMo” Christians… and it seems to me the distinction between the two feeds into the larger culture war that the Christian cloister has chosen to wage.

“But that’s just my opinion, and I could be wrong” -Dennis Miller