Monday, January 12, 2009

Is the Emerging Church a Sexy Topic?

I'm just wondering.

Turns out panels work different than we thought, so I'm trying to cobble my piece together. Just sent it off to team Heather for feedback. We might have to host our own conference to do what we wanted. :-)

Anyway, thoughts on the sexiness of the Emerging Church?

I think that from a popular stand point, perhaps it is waning. But academically there is a fair bit of notice going on - but will it be sustained? For that matter what will be the emerging church that emerges next? Is it the Bruce Malone post-liberal stuff? Not quite sure but for sure it is coming.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you like 30+ white metrosexual males, it is!

Mark Driscoll is a different phenomenon. He represents an urban alpha-male form of the emergent movement that is quite different from the likes of Rob Bell, Steve Chalke and Brian McLaren.

I believe the emerging church is largely a publishing, media-created phenomenon that is as epheremeral as blogging.

One of Freedom said...

That's interesting Paul. It has been well noted that it is primarily a white male phenomenon - but that isn't so unexpected. Funny you should say that about Mark, he's one of my least favourite EC personalities. For me though the real EC stuff isn't accessible through the published material - but rather is the lived experience in congregations trying to understand who they are and how that can make a difference in a world that is obviously (to them) changing.

At the same time it also shouldn't surprise us that those folks are of mixed opinion about being called part of the emerging church.