At our little meet-up a couple of weeks ago, one of the interesting things we talked about was how we got involved in the emergent conversation.
What was your entry point? emergent worship? theological conversations? secular postmodernism? books by Brian McClaren?
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My first entry point into this conversation was the beginning of a young adult worship experience in my downtown church.
We wanted to provide something authentic, lay driven, and spirit filled. And as a team of young people got together and began to create worship that came from our own experiences, a pastor friend of mine pointed out: hey - you are doing emergent church!
One of the first principles that we lifted up in our service was that truth isn't black and white... life isn't black and white... there is a back story to everything and the lines separating you and me are blurry. That worship experience led me deeper into philosophical postmodern thought and back into the life of the church, narrative theology, contextual worship, and leaving room for the Holy Spirit.
For me it started through listening to podcasts. In 2004 I got an iPod and the first podcast I downloaded was "Wired Jesus Podcast". That podcast led to others and then to books, initially, Brain McLaren's "A Generous Orthodoxy". Going to the Emergent Village conference with Jergen Moltmann last fall was also a wonderful experience and an affirmation that this great emergence is exciting appealing to me.
Mine came by way of theological education...I grew up fairly conservative evangelical, but was always questioning...
I got to seminary and felt freedom to explore other avenues. I wasn't too keen on old school liberalism, but the emergent conversation that was just getting started was right up my alley.
The book I suppose that did it for me was Pete Rollins "How (not) to Speak of God."
For me it was out of some frustration with the "ecumenical movement" as it exists today. I ran across a young graduate student serving an internship with the World Council of Churches. He was involved in the 'emergent conversation' and I loved the idea of getting past "the church wars" into a kind of post-liberal, post-conservative place of gracious conversation and learning and mission. From there: books by McClaren, Jones, the Emergent Village web site etc. have fed my soul!
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