By Troy Bronsink The reverberations continued at day two of Emergence Christianity 2013 in Memphis… I’ve heard somewhere that the echo decay in a cathedral the likes of St. Mary’s can be as much as 20 seconds. In other words, if you are completely silent and you clap, high tech instruments may be able to pick up sounds for as long as 20 seconds (that’s one pecha kucha slide, in case you’re wondering). Phyllis Tickle’s work recounted claps from across... 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

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

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