emergent church

Mark Driscoll’s House of Cards

March 22, 2012 By Tony Jones 82 Comments

Mark Driscoll

Believe it or not, I take no pleasure in the flailings and failings of Christian leaders who hold dissimilar views to me. I’ve had my own failings, including divorce and foreclosure. And these failings have humbled me. I’m regularly told by friends and acquaintances, especially those who’ve not seen me for a few years, that I now seem more gentle, more humane. I attribute much of that to the love I’ve experienced, most notably from Courtney, Doug, and my family.

Mark Driscoll and I were never close. In the early days of proto-emergent, I was on the fringes and he was an intimidating figure in the inner circle. He made it abundantly clear that he had no respect for a youth pastor like me. By the time I made the inner circle, he’d left. I’ve attempted to correspond with him since — even to get together with him when I was in Seattle — with no success.

I say all that as prelude to the buzz that’s been making the rounds this week. A pastor who was fired by Mark a few years ago, and the pastor’s spouse, have gone public with their story. It is, I think you will agree, a chilling story. It’s full of intrigue, and could easily devolve into a gossipy sin feast.

But that’s not why I’m posting it. [Read more...]

Filed Under: christianity in america, emergent church Tagged With: mark driscoll 82 Comments

What’s After Postmodernism?

March 5, 2012 By Tony Jones 7 Comments

Geoff Holsclaw attempt an answer:

If you missed it, postmodernism died on September 24th, 2011. Yup. At least if you take the word of Victoria & Albert Museum in London, which opened its “Postmodernism—Style and Subversion 1970-1990″ on that day…

But if postmodernism is dead, is over, is done with, what comes after?

Isn’t this the question we always want to ask, that we have to ask? If postmodernism indicated that which follows modernism, which being integrally an extension of it (i.e. modern is still with the very name), don’t we have to ask what is after it? Which is really not a postmodern question, but a modern one, for modernity trained us to expected the new, the next, the upgraded against the old, traditional, normal.

READ THE REST After Postmodernism? “True, but still…” : the church and postmodern culture.

Filed Under: christianity in america, emergent church, philosophy Tagged With: postmodernism 7 Comments

Young Creatives Are Fleeing Evangelicalism

February 14, 2012 By Tony Jones 17 Comments

The Barna Group* has a new study out, and it shows that the future is bleak for the evangelical church in America. That’s because young, creative evangelicals are leaving the church in droves:

The results of a five-year study of the Millennial Generation—people born between 1982 and 1993—are in. Thanks to the Barna Group, a 28-year-old, California-based, Christian research firm, we now know that conservative evangelical churches are losing formerly–affiliated “young creatives:” Actors, artists, biologists, designers, mathematicians, medical students, musicians, and writers.

Some leave because they oppose the church’s doctrinal stance. Others are turned off by its hostility to science, and still others reject the limitations placed on permissible sexual activity. The report cites the tension felt by young adults who find it difficult—if not impossible—to remain “sexually pure,” especially since most heterosexuals don’t marry until their mid-to-late twenties. [READ THE REST]

This comes as no surprise. As I wrote last week, a significant impetus for the birth of the emergent church movement was to find solidarity with cultural creatives. At least at Solomon’s Porch, we’ve been successful at that.

HT: Rollie

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*I am always suspicious of research from the Barna Group. George Barna is not a neutral, disinterested pollster. He is an activist partisan who has written many books; he’s advocated for the demise of traditional churches and the rise of house churches; and he recently endorsed Newt Gingrich for president. He is the FOX News of polling; that doesn’t mean that he’s not accurate, it just means that he’s not neutral.

Filed Under: christianity in america, emergent church Tagged With: evangelicalism, george barna 17 Comments

A Mockumentary on the Emergent Church

January 23, 2012 By Tony Jones 59 Comments

What do you get when you mix a bunch of YouTube videos, interviews with a few ultra-conservative Christians, and some scary Danny Elfmann knock-off music? This:

Filed Under: emergent church 59 Comments

A Flat Church in Action

January 22, 2012 By Tony Jones 1 Comment

If I had the chance to do my dissertation research today, instead of 2005, there are a few other churches I’d use in the study. One of them would surely be Common Table in Washington, D.C., where Mike Stavlund and Co. are doing what they can to embody the flat church that I hope for in my latest book. Here’s a something Mike wrote recently for the Emergent Village Blog:

Mike Stavlund

Listening to a recent ‘On Being’ podcast with the venerable and feisty Walter Brueggemann, I was struck by what seems at first to be rank overstatement. His contention is that the ancient Hebrew ‘prophetic/poetic messengers’ serve to critique everything: all political, social, and religious systems. In Brueggemann’s opinion, the worst thing we can do with these Biblical messages is to organize them, domesticate them, and to “create another ‘ism’”.

Surely, part of the reason emergence churches like Common Table don’t get more organized is because we lack that kind of drive and motivation. We might get around to establishing a denomination, if we had the time to do it. We might try to create some kind of legacy, it it wasn’t such a burdensome project. No, we’re too busy with Twitter, Facebook, fixing our hair, and with finding the perfect hipster glasses to get much done.

via A Seat at The Table: Keep it Wild | Emergent Village.

Filed Under: christianity in america, church, emergent church Tagged With: mike stavlund 1 Comment

Steve Knight Lauds the Language of Participatory Church

January 12, 2012 By Tony Jones 3 Comments

When it comes to publishing, social media, and the church, Steve Knight knows what he’s talking about:

I’ve been working full-time on the Web (in one shape or form) for over a decade now, and it’s been fun to watch the language of it evolve from “interactive” to “multimedia” to “Web 2.0″ to “social media.” The radical shifts in culture that have taken place because of the Internet have been astounding.

At the same time, there’s been a similar shaking going on in Christianity, and I’ve noticed a similar evolution of language for what to call this too — from “alternative church” to “alternative worship” to “ancient-future worship” to “emerging church” to “missional church” and now “missional community formation.”

I predict the conversation about tech lingo will continue to parallel — and deeply inform — the conversation about Christianity and church (how we organize ourselves into religious/faith communities), just as the revolution sparked by the evolution of the Internet is re-making other sectors of society, such as education, journalism, and publishing.

READ THE REST Recap: The Language of Participatory Church | knightopia.com | the online home of Steve Knight.

Filed Under: christianity in america, emergent church Tagged With: steve knight 3 Comments

Shane Hipps on Rob Bell’s Departure

January 10, 2012 By Tony Jones Leave a Comment

Shane is a long-time friend of mine, and the teaching pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan:

When I accepted the call to become the co-teacher with a beloved friend it was a strange experience. We were both so used to being alone in leadership that we didn’t realize the unexpected gift that comes with having a partner. It was a fantastic experience, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Rob is almost entirely ego-less and extremely generous in sharing his platform with others. I experienced an incredible hospitality from him. And it gave me a chance to build a really beautiful relationship with a community that I love.

In South American I’m told there is an expression, one ox can do the work of one. But two oxes can do the work of ten. That was true for me.

READ THE REST » Reflections on Rob Bell’s Departure.

Filed Under: christianity in america, emergent church Tagged With: rob bell, shane hipps Leave a Comment

Get The Church Is Flat for Free!

January 2, 2012 By Tony Jones Leave a Comment

My latest book, The Church Is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church Movement, is now $4.99 in the Kindle store. But, if you’re a member of Kindle Prime, you can

get The Church Is Flat today for FREE!

I’ve enrolled The Church Is Flat in Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which is a lending library for Amazon Prime members. Thousands of ebooks are available to borrow in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library — and there’s no due date!

Filed Under: books, emergent church Tagged With: church is flat Leave a Comment

The Church Is Flat — Now $.99!!!

December 26, 2011 By Tony Jones 1 Comment

Wondering what to get with that Amazon gift card you received yesterday? For a limited time, you can purchase my book, The Church Is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church Movement, for $.99!

Filed Under: books, emergent church Tagged With: church is flat 1 Comment

Welcome Emergent Village to Patheos

December 7, 2011 By Tony Jones Leave a Comment

Patheos has partnered with Emergent Village to create a new portal for innovative and experimental thoughts around church, mission, and faith. It’s called the Emergent Village Voice, and it’s a community blog that launched just this week. It will be created by dozens of contributors.

In his initial post, Andrew Jones draws a line between the ECM and café churches in Asia: