tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597247557769342502.post4739561864075848671..comments2012-02-07T16:09:11.424-06:00Comments on eastern iowa emergent cohort: Our First GatheringUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597247557769342502.post-11459477886769226082007-06-27T22:04:00.000-05:002007-06-27T22:04:00.000-05:00Nan, you promised I could borrow that book. ;)Nan, you promised I could borrow that book. ;)Lon Marshallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13917569197587678285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597247557769342502.post-80567465921200014602007-06-27T10:14:00.000-05:002007-06-27T10:14:00.000-05:00Here's some of our conversation on this topic from...Here's some of our conversation on this topic from Monday and maybe some of my extended thoughts too...<BR/><BR/>One word that gets tossed around to describe this phenomenon is "liminal space". It is the time in between, the phase where what was doesn't work anymore and what you are becoming is not clearly defined.<BR/><BR/>For many of us, what "was" in regards to our understanding of faith, Christianity, and church doesn't work anymore. We have moved from a modern epistemology to a post-modern epistemology - in other words, we make sense of the world in a different way; instead of "knowing the truth", having the answers, believing in a set of propositional doctrinal statements - we articulate our faith in more organic, relational ways, and questions are often more important than answers.<BR/><BR/>This new space we live in can be unsettling at times (again, if you haven't read A New Kind of Christian you'll find a familiar story of the process of undoing modern faith), especially if you have been brought up in the church of modernity.<BR/><BR/>Which brings me to a recent observation - a lot of the writers of the emergent discourse and a lot of the people I connect with are around my age, 41 +/-. We're the generation on the cusp. We see and feel the shift. We are in the midst of this epistemological crisis.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps for the emerging generation, they reject the church because it has been a modern construct and the rest of their world is post-modern. They need to create churches/faith communities that are post-modern, but the power is still held by the modern/older structures and persons. We older persons, who are often in leadership positions, are trying to make this shift and create new faith communities as we learn to articulate Christianity in the language and culture of post-modernity.nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11984341854386138814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597247557769342502.post-45482082300968275452007-06-27T07:42:00.000-05:002007-06-27T07:42:00.000-05:00Hi! I was excited to see a group like this is form...Hi! I was excited to see a group like this is forming. I hope to be able to join you at your next meeting. <BR/><BR/>Peace. <BR/><BR/>Stephen PradarelliStephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18310883199139862258noreply@blogger.com