The Emergent Church

Over the next days/weeks I am going to attempt to post my thoughts on what is often referred to as the emerging church (also refered to as the emergent conversation, church in emerging culture, emergent movement, Emergent, etc.). In all honesty, it is difficult to summarize the goals/beliefs/practices of those within the emerging church for a number of reasons. First, those involved in the emerging conversation come from various denominational/ecclesial backgrounds (conservative, liberal, charismatic, non-charismatic, calvinist, arminian, baptist, methodist, presbyterian, etc). Second, many of those who oppose the emergent church fail to recognize/acknowledge the distinctions that do exist among those within this movement; therefore, their comments can be misleading. Yet, despite these difficuties in discussing the emerging church, I believe that many issues do need to be address. So, I will attempt to highlight some of the strengths and weaknesses of the movement. In case you are totally in the dark about the emergent church, I am going to list some links to various sites (both pro-emergent and anti-emergent) that directly/indirectly address the emerging church. Please note the following: First, I have only listed these sites in order to aid those who are interested in investigating this movement for themselves; I do not nessessarily endorse or agree with the all of information/assessments/beliefs contained on these sites. Second, I have not taken the time to indicate which sites are pro-emergent as opposed to anti-emergent because some of these sites cannot be broken up into such distinct categories. (For instance, the Monergism site contains both pro and con material) Third, most of these sites contain links that will help you continue your research. With all of that said, here are some links: Wikipedia, Monergism, Emergent Village, Emergent No, The OOZE, Challies Dot Com, Emerging Church.