I have been at the Emergence Christianity gathering in Memphis for the last day and a half.  The focus of this conference is celebrating the life and work of Phyllis Tickle.  It's been delightful to hear Phyllis speak, after praying the Divine Hours for over a decade and reading many of her other books. Phyllis gave two lengthy talks -- both astoundingly without any notes at all! -- that gave shape to a historical narrative for emergence Christianity.  The basic thrust of this history was that there have been major cultural upheavals every 500 years, which coincided with major … [Read more...]