The Emergent Church
What Is The Emergent Church?
The above question doesn’t have a simple answer only because there is
both the “emergent church” and the “emerging church.” Some will say that the
two are completely opposite; others will use the terms as
synonyms–basically declaring both to be the same thing.
Frankly, there isn’t a real big difference between the two terms.
“Emerging” is more part of a “movement” while “emergent” (often associated
with the Emergent Village with Brian McLaren) is more limited.
One reason why some will say that “emerging” is completely different
from “emergent” is because the “emergings” don’t want to be identified with
McLaren’s emergent group. This understandable. There is now a blog – The
Emergent Village Voice – that has more than 50 “emergents” who participate.
It is advertised as, “The voices will come from a wide range of Christian and
Jewish traditions. There will be people who are in established congregations and
those who are more “free-range” in their spirituality. You will hear from people
familiar to the Emergent Village community and many new voices.” [See
emergentvillage.org]
While it is quite apparent that the “emergents” are becoming ecumenical
in nature; the “emergings” are becoming just that, as well. They differ in that
they have boadened their horizons to include New Age Eastern Mysticism and
Gnosticism into the church.
It's a fact—emergent/emerging churches are bringing more and more
people of different religious persuasions into the fold. They express their own
“spirituality,” which is accepted by all. No one questions, no one discerns. As
a result, the “emergents” and “emergings” have brought falsehood into the
church. While they credit God for doing a “new thing,” they are,
simultaneously, diluting the message of God’s saving grace. This, and more,
we shall see in the articles provided in this section.
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