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The Emergent matrix: a new kind of church?

Christian Century, Nov 30, 2004 by Scott Bader-Saye

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The convention tipped its hat to the ancient by constructing a portal to the past in the form of a prayer labyrinth. Conventiongoers passed from the fluorescent daytime of the convention hallway into the darkness of the sacred space, dimly lit by candles. The labyrinth filled the room. One by one participants filed in to walk the path of prayer. But unlike the ancients, these postmodern pilgrims carried portable CD players which guided them through the journey and provided ambient music. Along the way, walkers paused at stations to engage in spiritual exercises. A stone and a bucket of water, a map and a compass, bread and wine all became instruments of prayer and meditation.

More Articles of Interest: 'Loose' Emergent churches to add more structure; Learn lesson from 'emerging church' movement; An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches; FAITH IN TENSION; Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures

Despite the undeniable power of these retrieved practices, one must wonder if the incense, candles, labyrinths and all the rest are being retrieved simply because they've become cool Tangible, multisensory worship has a currency among younger generations, and this is all to the good. But if this recovery is linked only to generation and style, what will happen when styles change?

"I think the major problem is that you may be rediscovering the ancient as a new gimmick," comments Webben "If you don't do the theological thinking that stands behind liturgy and sacrament and all the kinds of things that are part and parcel of the classical tradition, this will just fade out. It will have no staying power. The next generation is going to come along and do something different.'"

If a practice is reintroduced simply because it meets the needs or desires of a generation, it will only reinforce the modern penchant for novelty. One test for the emerging church will be whether ancient practices are retrieved as practices or simply as preferences.

Unlike the megachurch and church growth movements of the 1980s and '90s, emerging churches resist models and templates the franchising of church life. Instead they tend to emphasize the particular gifts of the local community and the creative involvement of the laity. Karen Ward, pastor of Church of the Apostles in Seattle, wrote in a recent blog, "In the emerging church the people shift from being consumers of church to producers of church."

HOLLY RANKIN ZAHER, a member of the Emergent Coordinating Group, and her husband, Jim, are founding members of Three Nails, an Episcopal church plant near Pittsburgh. Jim describes it as "a cell group thing that looks incredibly different from other Episcopal churches. Right now we have six cell groups, and that's where the core is. People ask us where our church is and we say, 'Well, it's not,' because we have groups meeting all over Pittsburgh. We don't own a building, we just rent a place where we meet as a group once a month."

Reflecting on what makes Three Nails a new kind of church, Jim immediately points to the communal sharing of ministry. "At our corporate meetings the liturgy really is 'the work of the people.' You could come in sometimes and ask 'Is there a priest here?' There is a priest, but the people aren't just plugged into set roles--acolytes, readers; for us it changes each week." The laity is involved not just in leading worship but in creating worship.

The Emergent matrix: a new kind of church?

Christian Century, Nov 30, 2004 by Scott Bader-Saye

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