Once upon a time, there was a Roman general, in charge of a garrison on the outskirts of the Empire. It was the middle of the fourth century, and he could feel the earth shifting under his feet, so he called his lieutenants together and said, “Things are changing. The hordes are approaching, and the people are afraid. They’re losing trust in our ability to protect them, so we’ve got to sharpen our methods, and sharpen our spears. I’ve investing... Read more
If you’re within driving distance of the Twin Cities, please consider joining us for JoPa’s Social Media Boot Camp for Pastors and Ministry Leaders this Thursday, February 4, from 9am-4pm. It’s a great way to get off the scheid and into Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and YouTube, if you find those things somewhat intimidating. (If you’re reading this, you probably don’t, but maybe your pastor, priest, or rabbi does…) More info here. Read more
In 1998, I voted for J.G. Janos for Governor of Minnesota, and I was thrilled when he won. I had hoped that it would pave the way for a three-party system in my state (and beyond), and start to make room for political independents like me. He held lots of interesting and some controversial political positions, but most of them were common sense. There was a budget surplus, so he returned money to the taxpayers rather than raise entitlements; he... Read more
That’s the question I will attempt to answer in March when I deliver a paper to the Society of Pentecostal Studies. I’m no expert in Pentecostalism, but I’m sure that some of you are. And others of you can probably conjure up some opinions on the matter, too. So, what does the emerging church have to learn from Pentecostalism, and what does Pentecostalism have to learn from the emerging church? Read more
I’ve just spent another few days with Philip Clayton, and once again been impressed with the evangelical zeal with which he approaches progressive theology. He is a force of nature. Which, I imagine, is why the Ford Foundation gave him a grant to “transform theology for church and society” (read, make progressive theology popular and populist again). I’ve been involved with him in that, particularly with Tripp “Sancho Panza” Fuller. Well, Tripp’s posted another video from a former gathering and... Read more
For all of us who fret about such labels, Zach has a good word: In a way, I can truly relate to those who are find the descriptor “emerging” to be troublesome. In Jimmy Eat World, we’ve always struggled with the word “emo.” While we’ve never once called ourselves “emo” and have always loathed the term, we have continually been linked to the term by journalists and well-meaning fans. As a band, we just chose to ignore it. Our hope... Read more
This week, I’m at Columbia Theological Seminary (PC(USA)), at a continuing education event called, Emergence NOW. Yesterday, Phyllis Tickle gave an updated version of her Great Emergence talk. And I presented a funny little talk, 10 Myths about Emergence. Today, Philip Clayton is speaking (as I type) about how emergence is, in his words, “God’s way of creation.” And later this morning, Bruce Reyes-Chow will address the future of denominationalism. It’s that last question, and the future of the mainline... Read more
That’s the title of my talk this week at Columbia Theological Seminary’s mid-winter conference, Emergence Now (Twitter feed here). What are the misperceptions about the 21st century emergence of Christianity that I should highlight? Read more
This is part of a series of posts in which I’m reflecting on Christian Smith and Patricia Snell’s new book, Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults. Over the past couple of weeks, I looked at Christian Smith’s latest addition to the excellent corpus of sociological research on religion in America that he’s developed. Souls in Transition charts the religious affections of “emerging adults,” Smith’s term for 18-23 year-olds. Scot did a nice job blogging through... Read more
David Fitch, a pastoral theologian, or theological pastor, is usually a voice of reason. He’s lent that reasonable perspective to all of the recent balderdash about the death of this movement and that. When we see things fall apart, split into factions, or splinter off personalities, we should not worry. What is of substance will last if it rooted on the ground in real life communities. What was a fad needed to die anyway. Let those people move on with... Read more
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