What does Emergent Village believe? According to their Web site they state: "We believe in God, beauty, future, and hope – but you won’t find a traditional statement of faith here. We don’t have a problem with faith, but with statements. Whereas statements of faith and doctrine have a tendency to stifle friendships, we hope to further conversation and action around the things of God.
"Our dream is to join in the activity of God in the world wherever we are able, partnering with God as God’s dreams for our world come true. In the process, the world can be healed and changed, and so can we."
They encourage "Cohorts" which are meetings with others to discuss theology. It seems they like to talk and "be friends." Apparently they also have churches, but the link to "find a church" wasn't working.
Nothing is said about the Bible. I don't know about you, but I base my Christian faith and beliefs on God's Word. His Word is truth, not what I believe or think about.
3 comments:
Me too. It's all about His living and active word.
Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not unto your own understanding.
Thanks for doing the research and posting on this movement. It is scary that they don't mention the Bible. What better way to connect with God and than through His Word. The thought hit me as I read your other posts: Is this movement going to end up just being a fad that won't last?
I'm not a big expert on the subject of emergent/emerging churches, but my best friend Betsy is on the ministry staff at a church that was founded by Brian McLerin, one of the guys who writes on the subject a lot.
Their church is Christian, definitely, but my understanding is that it is geared more toward "seekers" and people who are turned off by conventional "churchy" churches with stuffy services and exclusionary beliefs. This would probably include my church (Lutheran) which uses a formal liturgy and is totally traditional, as well as your church (Baptist) which comes off as exclusionary.
I'm sure you realize that I don't mean to offend you, because I certainly don't think you personally would be exclusionary, and I'm sure that there are many churches that are more "inclusive." But in general, the Baptist churches I've attended (quite a few since I was in choir and ensemble) were all projecting the same underlying message: if you don't attend a Baptist church, you aren't a Christian! There were a lot of people at the school we attended who acted this way, that's why I didn't widely advertise that I was raised Lutheran.
(Also, I didn't tell anyone that my parents were separated, even though it was beyond my control, as this was a big taboo also. Bet you didn't even know, and you were one of my bestest friends.)
I was reminded of the exclusionary mind-set a few weeks ago while chatting with an old friend via facebook. I mentioned that my daughter's boyfriend and his family are devout Catholics and she asked me if they were Christians!
Now, my friend didn't intend any offense or accusation at all, she is an absolutely loving and delightful person, without a mean bone in her whole body. But the fact that she would question whether Catholics were indeed, Christians really floored me for a moment. Then I remembered how exclusionary the church she attended was--and realized that this automatic mind-set was just how she grew up.
Getting on my soap box, I talked to her about the Catholic beliefs a little and how the basic doctrine/faith is the same as what she and I believe: God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that sinners are redeeemed by Christ's blood. I also mentioned that some of the differences, such as celibate priests, praying to the saints and Virgin Mary are all just supplemental to the Christian belief and are part of a different method of worship. And we talked about how there could also be non-Christians at any church, too, cause you can't tell what's on the inside of someone just by seeing what church they sit inside!
I imagine she thought I was quite the pompous windbag, but it was just one of my pet peeves--the whole idea that one type of church can "corner the market" on how to be a Chrisitan. (Believe me, you don't want to get me started on whether Seventh Day Adventists are Christians--short answer: YES THEY ARE!!!) It was quite a deep conversation for just starting out chatting on FB!!!!!!
Anyway, here is a link to my friend's church in MD, then you can read their mission/faith statement and all that, then look at their Founder's page, which has a bio of Brian McLerin with lots of links about the emerging church in the article.
Not sure if this will be a link or if you will have to copy and paste it inyour browser:
http://www.crcc.org/index.php
Hope this helps you figure out what it all means!
Beth Werrell
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