For as long as I’ve been involved with Emergent, we’ve always struggled to identify what exactly “Emergent” is. 10 years ago, when I was at the very first Emergent Convention in San Diego, it was a discussion that seemed to be never ending. Eventually, people involved got tired of having the same conversation over and over, but whenever we held “onramp” discussions or others joined the conversation, the first thing people wanted to know was “what is Emergent?” Whenever pressed... Read more
By Chris Smith 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... Read more
By Troy Bronsink Phyllis Tickle said it felt much like a valedictorian address, as she traced the scope of almost 3,000 years of religious and Christian history… from the Hebrew prophets to Babylon to Early Church, the Great Schism, Luther, and even, somehow, including you and me and Daniel Faraday. The first day of Emergence Christianity 2013 was such a ride! St. Mary’s Cathedral’s 150-year-old old nave was complete with everything from a relic from the original pool of Bethesda... Read more
By Terry Smith This weekend, I am in Memphis with 450 of my closest friends celebrating the release of Phyllis Tickle’s new book, Emergence Christianity: What It Is, Where It’s Going, and Why It Matters. This is a weekend celebrating Phyllis’ life and her contributions to Emergent theory. It is a weekend in which many beers, many stories, many smiles and many tears will be shared. This morning (Friday the 11th), Phyllis Tickle compared the Emergent movement to two natural... Read more
Editor’s Note: Emergence Christianity ’13 has convened in Memphis. Some 450 people are gathering this morning at the St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Memphis, TN. The room is abuzz with conversation, catching up, meeting new friends, and generally angling for a spot near a power strip or the coffee table. I’ve invited a handful of folks present to blog throughout the event here at Faith Forward. This first entry is from Ben Howard, a writer and accidental iconoclast living... Read more
This weekend, popular Emergent Christian leaders Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt are hosting a National Conversation on Emergence Christianity in Memphis, TN — in large part to celebrate their good friend Phyllis Tickle’s new book, Emergence Christianity: What It Is, Where It Is Going, and Why It Matters. Read my post here about the event, and what you can expect to hear from the gathering over the next couple of days here at Faith Forward… In the midst of planning BBQs, panel discussions,... Read more
If you want to know what a nerd I am, I’m going to tell you. About 80% of the status updates in my newsfeed on Sunday were from friends engaged in a “Downt-down.” (I crack myself up). That is, a countdown to the season 3 premier of ‘Downton Abbey.’ The other 20% were something to the effect of, where is Downton Abbey, and why do I want to go there? I’m never quite sure what to tell people about it, except that once... Read more
Most Sunday afternoons between our College Coffee Hour (at Starbucks) and heading off to the Ashland Youth Collective, I’m able to be home and hang out with Caleb. This past Sunday, we were playing with some Legos when I noticed that Doug Pagitt posted that the Solomon’s Porch service was being live-streamed. I thought I’d check it out, so pulled it up on my iPhone and then used AirPlay to send it to the TV via AppleTV (isn’t technology grand).... Read more
I’m headed to Memphis this week for the National Conversation About Emergence Christianity with Phyllis Tickle and Friends (EC13), and about 450 other progressive Christians from around the country. The city of Elvis’ Graceland seems an appropriate place for an event celebrating the ground-breaking inroads that have been – and continue to be – happening in the Church in the 21st Century … albeit with a lot less substance abuse (unless you place Memphis BBQ in that category). EC13 is a follow-up... Read more
Traditionally this is a time to learn from our mistakes and commit ourselves to do differently in the new year. I wonder what resolutions Jesus would have made? For some, it may seem shocking to suggest that Jesus had room for self-improvement. But it’s hard to miss his sins if you read the New Testament gospels. The idea that Jesus was perfect came after the gospels were written, as the early church developed its doctrines. By the fourth century, the... Read more
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