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The Emerging Church. Rising from fallen foundations. The Emerging Church. Presented at: Presbytery of East Iowa RTA Leadership Summit October 20 th , 2007 Jim Bonewald. Emerging from What?. Evangelicalism Liberalism Protestant Exclusivism. Emerging from What?.
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The Emerging Church Rising from fallen foundations
The Emerging Church Presented at: Presbytery of East Iowa RTA Leadership Summit October 20th, 2007 Jim Bonewald
Emerging from What? • Evangelicalism • Liberalism • Protestant Exclusivism
Emerging from What? • Foundationalism & Rationalism • Hierarchalism • Pride of place in society
The Emerging Church One definition: Emerging churches are communities that practice the way of Jesus within postmodern cultures. (Bolger/Gibbs)
Postmodern Questions • The certainty of knowledge • The objectivity of knowledge • The inherent goodness of knowledge
How (not) to Speak of God • Postmodern Christians don’t deny the existence of truth, they just seek to hold that truth differently. • “Truth is God and having knowledge of the Truth is evidenced not in a doctrinal system, but in allowing the truth to be incarnated in one’s life.” • Pete Rollins
Emergent Churches: 1.) have a significant interest in "community," communal living, and renewed monastic practices* * This list is by Mark Scandrette from a chapter in Emergent Manifesto of Hope.
The Jesus Dojo In Japanese, a dojo is literally, "a place where you learn the way.” The setting where you learn to follow Jesus should be more like a karate studio than a college lecture hall.
Emergent Churches: 2.) have an open-source approach to community, theology, and leadership that encourages flatter structures, networks, and more personal and collective participation.
Emergent Churches: 3.) have a revitalized interest in the social dimensions of the gospel of Jesus, including community development, earth-keeping, global justice, and advocacy–with a particular emphasis on a relationally engaged approach to these issues
Emergent Churches: 4.) have a renewed interest in contemplative and bodily spiritual formation disciplines that have, historically, been important Christian practices
Emergent Churches: 5.) have a renewed emphasis on creation theology that celebrates earth, humanity, cultures, and the sensuous and aesthetic as good gifts of the Creator to be enjoyed in their proper contexts
Emergent Churches: 6.) cultivate and have an appreciation of the arts, creativity, artful living, and provocative storytelling
Emergent Churches: 7.) re-examine and rethink vocation, livelihood, and sustainable economics
What about us? • What are the implications of all this for Presbyterians? • www.presbymergent.org • Christianity for the Rest of Us • Tribal Church