Spiritual awakening: How young Christians are changing the face of church
Speaking in a kindly Southern drawl, University of Indianapolis medical student Todd George, 25, explained why most traditional churches turn him off.
"You're supposed to know the answer to every question about God," he said. "And if you don't, you're somehow inferior."
When he left his hometown of Spartanburg, S.C., to attend Brevard College in North Carolina, George discovered what he called a "community church." "It was so much more laid back," he said. "A lot of the religious jargon that you would normally hear -- 'Salvation comes to those who repent' -- wasn't used. What they said didn't have to be decoded."
When George moved to Indianapolis last summer, he bought a house in the Eastside neighborhood of Irvington. Within a couple of months, he found a flier for a new church on his doorstep. Its name, Mosaic, caught his eye, and George decided to go to the church's inaugural meeting in the Irvington Lodge.
"It was in this old Masonic temple," he remembered. "I had to get on this old, rickety elevator to get up to the service. I thought, 'This is going to be interesting.'"
What George encountered stood in stark contrast to the antiquated building that housed it. The pastor wore jeans and a T-shirt. He spoke in a casual, conversational tone. People ate during the service. Best of all, questions weren't frowned upon, but welcomed.
"It really spoke to me and my situation as a student," George said.
George has been attending Mosaic ever since, often hanging out with fellow members throughout the week.
"Sometimes we'll have conversations where the more conservative people, you can see in their faces when they are getting stretched," he said. "But that's the cool thing about Mosaic and the whole movement -- it gives people the permission to agree to disagree."
The "movement" George refers to is what many Christian leaders are calling the emerging church movement -- a response to the rigid traditions and rote rule-following of many mainstream Protestant and Catholic churches.
"Emerging" churches tend to be relaxed, relationship-based and flexible. They engage rather than preach, prize friendship over hierarchy and have worship styles that are organic and interactive rather than routine and institutional.
Indy.com recently spoke to four young leaders from local churches that share emerging qualities. We also spoke to the founder of the Indianapolis cohort for Emergent Village, an international network of people interested in the emergent movement.
Kasey Newbold
Mosaic Church, 5515 E. Washington St., (317) 509-5653, www.indymosaic.org.
When the Mosaic Church opened its doors in September 2007, teaching pastor Kasey Newbold, 29, kicked things off with a six-week lesson called "My Sacred Disbelief."
"We wanted to let people know it's OK to doubt," Newbold said. "That was something from my upbringing. I always felt like I was being told, 'You have to believe this.' We wanted people to know that doubt isn't always a bad thing, and that, in essence, doubting is searching for truth."
Why do you call yourself a teaching pastor rather than a preacher?
The word "preacher" has some connotations we didn't want to buy into. In a lot of my experiences, preaching means three points and a poem -- and if those three points can rhyme or all start with the same letter, even better. That's not my teaching style. Very rarely will I tackle a passage and say, "This is how to understand this." I will usually teach two or three ways a part of Scripture has been interpreted. I might share the one I lean toward, but I think it would be arrogant to tell people that it is this way.
Would more traditional preachers be uncomfortable with that?
When I suggest a couple of different interpretations for scripture, I'm not saying that anyone can make it say whatever they want. I am saying that this is how the original heirs would have understood it, and this is how we in America understand it. The latter way may be good and true, but it's not how it was originally understood.
What are the benefits, if any, of not meeting in a church building?
We can focus on getting people to be outwardly focused. We want to engage our community. Instead of expecting them to come here, we want to go to them, so we don't do a lot here. Reaching out to people who have never made a commitment to Christ is going to happen in the context of a relationship, and not with somebody showing up and being wowed by what I say.
Daron Earlewine and Ryan Brinson
The Crux, 9030 E. 96th St.,(317) 576-1467, www.cruxministries.org.
When Daron Earlewine, 30, and Ryan Brinson, 29, walk into a room, the last thing you expect the duo to do is start talking about God. Expectations, however, are what the pair is least interested in meeting.
Earlewine is the lead pastor and Brinson is creative director at Crux Ministries, where they perform in Paradigm, a modern rock band that plays at every Sunday service. Earlewine knows their edgy approach to the Gospel might turn some traditional Christians off. "I know there have been people who think we are a little out there, or that we must preach a watered-down version of the Gospel," he said. "But when people get here," Brinson chimed in, "they are surprised."
What is the Crux's core message?
Earlewine: It's not that we come to church. We are the church. Church is people; it's not a thing we come to. We want to make people grapple with the question of whether or not they have a relationship with Jesus that changes the way they live, love, forgive and serve -- or do they just show up and hear me or Ryan talk for an hour? If that's what you do, you're not really a Christian. You are just a spectator at a weekly event.
What is your attitude toward those with lifestyle choices at odds with the Bible?
Earlewine: I don't spend a lot of time preaching against stuff. The church has made that mistake for far too long. All you hear about is what they are standing against. Anti-this, anti-that -- what are you for? We are for love, we are for faith -- but we are also for the word of God and we teach directly from that. But does that mean we are going to preach at or condemn people? No.
Brinson: With church, the idea used to be that you had to conform first. Our stance is, "Come on in." Somewhere along the way I hope God would inspire you to live the life he is calling you to live. With me, I think it is presumptuous to say what that might be for you. I am going to tell you what the Bible says and how I interpret it, but I understand I am interpreting. It bothers me when people say it's not subject to interpretation. It's the written word. It's language. It's subject to interpretation.
Aaron Story
Indy Metro Church, 425 Massachusetts Ave., (317) 632-0956, www.indymetro.org
Tucked away among the boutiques and bars on Massachusetts Avenue, the office for the new Indy Metro Church -- which also houses an art gallery -- fits right in on one of the trendiest strips in the city. Started by Dan Pride, a Florida transplant and founder of Heart of the City Ministries -- a Christian fellowship devoted to planting churches in urban areas -- Indy Metro Church meets every Sunday in the American Cabaret Theatre.
Executive Pastor Aaron Story, 32, often can be found working in the Mass Ave. art gallery, which he says the church hopes grows into a meeting place for people looking for art, conversation and community.
"It's a place where people can come and not be judged," Story said. "We won't be getting out a bullhorn trying to convert people. Conversion happens through relationships."
Why start a new church Downtown?
There is a general spiritual longing in the urban cores. Twenty or 30 years ago, people left for the suburbs. Now folks are moving back into the city, and there needs to be churches established for people to come and explore, and do so in a relevant way. That's our heart: How can we communicate in a relevant way; a way that it is not antiquated?
You put a lot of emphasis on relevance. Why?
Say you grew up in a smaller town where there was a church on every corner, like I did. I couldn't relate to those churches. I had this perception that, if that's what it takes to be a Christian or a Christ-follower, I couldn't be one. I didn't fit that mold. And as I've grown, I've met a lot of people and realize I'm not alone in that.
What is Indy Metro providing that the traditional church doesn't?
People long for relationships. When you can't find deep authentic relationships in the old institutional church, that's a problem. Our generation rejected that. And yet, this is the most spiritual generation of all of history. Look at TV, books, music -- when you pick up a Dave Matthews CD, he's not an evangelical, but a good chunk of his songs are openly spiritual. You leave his concert thinking, "I just had a spiritual experience." There is a need, a longing to find a spiritual connection. As a kid, I thought there was only one way to worship; that I had to find God in this box. Now I realize there is something so much bigger I can be a part of.
Shane Fuller
The Dwelling Place, 7440 Michigan Road, www.dwellingplaceindy.com (317) 280-0156.
When Shane Fuller, 33, helped launch the Dwelling Place two years ago, he wanted to create an answer to the drive-thru phenomenon he saw in so many other churches.
"We're trying to escape the habit of people driving in and then just slipping out afterward," Fuller said.
A nondenominational worship space, the Dwelling Place doesn't discriminate when it comes to religious rituals and teaching tools. Attendees are just as likely to find themselves watching a segment from a horror film as they are to be taking communion. The goal, Fuller said, isn't to meet the criteria for what a church "should" be, but to meet people's spiritual needs.
"What we do during our gatherings is designed to help people be more fully formed spiritually," he said.
Why do you use movies to complement Scripture?
Movies are stories, and that's what the Bible is about. For example, we were doing a series on different psalms, so I showed a clip from "Signs" because it deals with this guy wrestling with his faith. He goes through all these different phases, at one point saying, "God, I hate you," but in the end his faith is restored, and it said exactly what the psalm was about.
How do folks react?
I think some newer people come and think, "OK, this is kind of weird." But a lot of churches have this dualism, where at church people pray and read the Bible, but it doesn't have anything to do with their lives outside the church. My goal is to be holistic rather than dualistic. And for some churchgoers, their church world and nonchurch world is so divided that when you do combine them, they get confused.
What are the demographics on any given Sunday at the Dwelling Place?
We're all over the map. Probably the most of what we have are younger couples. I also lead a small group where young couples get together, eat food, hang out, play cards. This group is even talking about moving into the same neighborhood and embracing that neighborhood. Not that we will go door to door to sell Jesus to anyone -- we just think we're better together.
You don't follow the old notion of evangelism.
It's such an abnormal thing to go to someone's door and have this presentation -- you get to the point where you are selling Jesus. I know old-school churches say, "Are you scared to talk about Jesus?" I don't think I am at all. But I don't think the way is to go door to door. You have to know someone, be in someone's life and almost work for the opportunity to speak to them about Jesus.
Sarah Notton
Emergent Village Indianapolis Cohort Founder, www.emergentvillage.com.
Sarah Notton isn't much for church. When she does go, she often attends Lockerbie Central Methodist Church Downtown. It was there that Notton met several homeless individuals who had been sleeping at the Wheeler Mission. It wasn't long before three of those individuals were living in Notton's home, with her and her husband.
Notton admits it's unusual. But she explains it like this: "I want to follow Jesus," she said. "And if you are going to follow Jesus, why do it half-ass?"
After deciding that most traditional churches are "a waste of time," Notton discovered www.theooze.com, a Web site designed to "encourage the Church to engage our emerging culture by developing relationships and resources." There, Notton learned of Emergent Village, an online network of regional groups engaged in the emergent conversation. Notton started an Emergent Village Cohort in Indianapolis, which gets together for dinner, coffee or beers every couple of weeks to discuss -- what else? -- Jesus.
Did your feelings on church come in an epiphany?
It was a slow process. I was reading books and asking questions that you really couldn't ask in church, like "If God is nice, does he really send people to hell?" From my tradition, that's not a question you can ask. But I think questions have to be a huge part of your faith, and if you don't have a space where you can bring these things out into the open, you're just an automaton studying for a heavenly SAT, and I don't think that's what it is all about.
What has been your experience with the Emergent Cohort?
I have come into contact with a lot of people around Indy who are in the same place: disillusioned with church, don't know where to go, want to have a place to ask questions where they won't be judged. A lot of them have given up on church and want a place where they can deconstruct, with the hope of eventually moving on and not being like "I hate church and everything about it."
What would be your ideal church?
For me, it would probably be me having people over to my house on a Thursday evening for a big pot of soup, some crusty bread and some wine, and we would ask each other questions like, "How is your week going? What do you need help with? What are you struggling with, what decisions are you facing?" To me, it's not about traditions or rituals or a sacred Sunday morning thing. That's what the cohort is about: a place where people can ask those questions.
Melodies of emergence
Indiana Wesleyan researcher and professional church consultant Bob Whitesel spent five years visiting young congregations all over the United States and England. His research culminated in the book "Inside the Organic Church" (Whitesel prefers the term "organic" to "emerging"), which details traits shared by churches that successfully connect with young people. Whitesel calls these traits "melodies." Here, Whitesel explains the characteristics of each melody.
Melody 1: Engagement. "This is with regards to both social engagement and spiritual engagement. These churches really want to reach out to people's physical needs before talking about their spiritual needs. This is exactly what Jesus did in the New Testament. He would heal people first, because their need for salvation was secondary to being healed. The boomer church has moved away from meeting these needs."
Melody 2: Authenticity "Organic churches believe in being authentic both in worship and in spiritual encounter. Boomer churches tend to be artificial. When I was growing up we had the Beatles, the Stones and the Who. Then, we had the Monkees. They were prefabricated, artificial. And that's how much of the worship feels in these boomer churches to young people. They feel it's overproduced, overstaged and overmanipulated. They want something more authentic, more from the heart and more led by the Holy Spirit."
Melody 3: Orthodoxy "These young churches have good theology. I expected I would find a lot of them to have weird theology that was anti-Christian and even heretical, but by and large they follow their own denominational theology."
Melody 4: Missional church growth "A missionary learns a culture's language, and sets up a service to serve a culture. A missionary doesn't come in with a haughty or proud attitude; they come in with a passion to change and reach out to the community. A missionary knows it's a long-term process before you can talk to someone about their spiritual life. A missionary takes the Bible and translates it into the language of the culture. And the youth culture of today likes narrative and wants to debate and ask questions. Older churches will die if they don't adapt to these changes."
Church, Faith, generation x, Christianity, generation y, worship
nicoleyonkman : RE: Spiritual awakening: How young Christians are changing the face of church More..
Thanks Indy.com for doing this story. I have gotten to know Sarah Notten in the Emergent Cohort and have visited most of the churches mentioned in the article. As a college and grad student I have done research on the impact on postmodernism on religious practice and have been waiting to see what would happen. I believe emergent Christianity is the response to a church structure that no longer makes sense for many followers of Jesus. I am a pastor of a new church start, but I also grew up in an unchurched home where my parents had a negative view of the church due to their childhood and young adult experience during the 1960's. I find myself having some of the same frustrations with institutional church as unchurched people. The world is changing so fast and the snail's pace of church change just isn't going to cut it. Although I love the church, I love Jesus more and wonder what the future will be. Nicole Yonkman
Very good article! As a former conservative Evangelical pastor snd Biblical literalist with a charismatic twist, I am very excited for the emerging conversations about God, Jesus, church, the Bible, culture, history, and social justice. I was first introduced to post modern philosophy and its impact on younger generations of American Christians in Indiana Wesleyan's new ministry leadership master's program. The classes about contemporary theological trends and Bible interpretation helped me see a much broader view of historic Christianity and the cultural influences that permeate a very syncrestic church. One of the best things emergents have going is the "safe" environments they create for critical thinking and deconstructivist theology. After reading Brian McLaren's book "Everything Must Change" I am ready to shift not only from my ultra conservatiive theology but even my political moorings. Hey, I might even vote for Barak Obama! Now I know I'll be on my way to hell according to some of my evangelical Republican friends. Politics is jsut another real life arena with real life consequences that the emerging conversation is affecting. The good news is that emergents seem more concerned with their neighbors around the world and the quality of life for future generations on this planet than merely saving some ethereal mystical segment of an individual called the soul.
ronlewhorn : RE: Spiritual awakening: How young Christians are changing the face of church More..
Great article matt. I love the Crux. It's been hard transistioning and finding a new church having grown up in and attended the same church for 22 years. This place is so welcoming and un-intimidating! Daren is an amazing speaker and Ryan is a worship leader that can hold his own with professional musicians. thanks.
Great work, Matt. Thanks for the overview of what's happening in Indy.
Bob Anderson Executive Presbyter Whitewater Valley Presbytery
Mike_Oles_3 : RE: Spiritual awakening: How young Christians are changing the face of church More..
Don't believe the hype 'cause this aint no revolution.
It is more like a mutation. Like the way a strain of bacteria becomes drug resistant. Peel away the cool logos, funky setting, good music, and hip pastors and all you got is same fundamentalist theology that sucks.
Profiled are four churches (Mosaic, The Crux, The Dwelling Place, and Indy MetroChurch.) Like the unmentioned but wildly popular Common Ground, all of them have roots in large, conservative, evangelical churches. With the exception of the Dwelling Place, all four still seemingly share their parent churches' extremely conservative theology.
It's like moving out of your parents' basement only to bring their James Dobson, Rush Limbaugh and Left Behind books with you.
These church's for the most part were created to reach out to the God-challenged young adults. We (I was born in 1977) don't like going to church. It's boring, our parents are still in charge, and it is not socially relevant and/or politically conservative.
So give them some ironic art and some good indie rock, the thinking goes, and maybe they'll show up. It worked to some extent. If Post Road Christian Church can't get the younger folks to attend worship, let's give them Mosaic.
Fundamentalist theology.
But, the hitch is that the theology is still fundamentalist. For instance, Post Road Christian church spun off and financially supported Mosiac. Here is both congregation's take on the bible:
Mosiac:
We believe that the Bible (both the Old and New Testament) is the Word of God, and is therefore completely true as it was originally revealed by God to its human authors. 2 Timothy 3:15-16, 2 Peter 1:20-21
Post Road:
The Bible is the inspired word of God, without error and relevant for today. It serves as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. (See also 2 Timothy 3:16.)
People are free to believe what they want. But when basic scholarship proves that the bible is not "without error" or "completely true as it was revealed to its human authors," how is this revolutionary? It's simply bad theology.
All of these other "revolutionary" churches also do not allow women to be pastors from what I can tell. All of these churches governing boards (or elders) also seem to be all male or dominated by men. So at the end of the day, you have churches who still use the bible in a fundamentalist way and you still have a church that won't give women the same power as men.
While these churches are a phenomenon, please spare us the hyperbole that they are "revolutionary" or "changing the face of the church."
I think Mike has made a great point in his comment here! Anybody from these churches want to respond? I actually agree with Mike that some of the so-called "emergent" or "organic" churches are just what he has described. But I do know that after reading the McLaren books my view of the Bible and church and fundamentalist doctrine has TOTALLY changed! Can you believe that some within the emergent community are even having dialogue about the value and validity of different metaphors for the atonement of Christ! I don't think you'll find that going very far in the "counterfeit" emergent churches. Seems to me the real radical changes are taking place in homes, coffee shops, and book stores. I, for one, am very tired of the institutional church and the political games they play. Too bad some may be trying to capitalize on true emergent conversation and theological deconstruction just to keep younger generations in their own folds. If anything, I would say a lot of what I have observed in the few emergent communities I've participated in and read about is some of the same old "liberal" thinking and social gospel approaches I used to fear.
This is Kasey, the Teaching Pastor at Mosaic Church. I will gladly respond to Mike's comments, particularly about Mosaic. For starters, yes, I grew up at Post Road Christian Church and then I served on staff there for six years. Post Road did NOT however plant Mosaic. Mosaic is a vision that God gave me and a small group of friends a couple of years ago to try things a bit differently than we were used to, and we approached Post Road about leaving to start a new church. The leadership at Post Road was very gracious as we left that church and did give us some financial support to help us get started (as did several other churches and individuals). I perceived from your post that the idea of new churches being spun out of existing churches is a negative thing. I don't think that any church planters background in an existing church is a negative thing though, as a matter of fact, it is highly unlikely that someone without a church background of some sort would ever plant a new church.
We are an autonomous, self-governing church (no denominational structure or leadership of another church has 'authority' over us). That said, the leadership of Post Road fully released us to develop our own belief statements, mission, vision, values, where we would be located, etc.
Secondly, though this article may refer to the emergent movement, and though I have read McLaren and many others, we have never claimed to be a part of it. As a matter of fact, we reject the labels of emergent, postmodern, whatever denomination, fundamental, evangelical or whatever...we are simply followers of Christ on a journey together.
So as to not write a book, I cannot fully or adequately respond to each point in this post, but here are a couple more thoughts. Our stance on the Bible: Yes, we believe the Bible is true as it was originally revealed by God to its human authors. We were deliberate in the language of that statement because we are not afraid to admit that through history some errors have been made in translations from time to time. As followers of Christ though, we make no apologies for believing the Bible to be true as it was originally revealed by God.
As to women in leadership or male dominated structures. We do not currently have an eldership, we have been functioning with a leadership team for a couple of years (since we began praying and planning). Our leadership team has, from the beginning, been made up equally of men and women (currently 6 married couples). As we mature as a church and eventually have an eldership, we are considering, praying, and discussing what role women may have in an eldership.
And I completley agree that we shouldn't buy into all of the hype, we are not revolutionary, nor are we changing the face of the church. As I said at the beginning, we are simply followers of Christ on a journey together, and we have found a place and a way of joining together on that journey that works for us.
Mike, you clearly have some knowledge of churches and church movements around Indy with your comments about us, Commom Ground, and others. And I appreciate your willingness to raise what some might perceive to be difficult questions. Thinking through the issues helps make us all better.
i'm an occasional attendee of the dwelling place and i have nothing but good things to say about shane fuller and my other co-dwellers, if you will...but like kasey, i don't think shane thinks too highly of labels like "emergent" or "post-modern"
i like the blend of traditional, more liturgical elements with a contemporary, casual feel...i sometimes play drums for the music portion of the service, but sometimes we just sing a few hymns with piano or acoustic guitar accompaniment
we recite the nicene creed but i haven't heard much in the way of fundamental theology...and as for the spawning church, college park, i'm not sure they have too much to do with this 2-year-old congregation
the thing i like most is that we share meals together at least twice a month and communion is a regular sacrament...plus shane and cary are very approachable, friendly and down-to-earth...not a preachy bone in either of their bodies
plus, i love that we support Outreach, Inc. and have been actively involved in helping Indy's homeless youth
Hey Mike. That is a great question about revolution? A bit of an overused word in culture today anyways. As it pertains to a movement of people following Christ that question intrigues me... but maybe we can get a drink and chat about that on another day.
However, give Matt props. He did a fab job in research. You might want to follow his lead before making statements about faith communities you've never attended and people you've never met. Just a thought.
I'm not in the James Dobson club, personally puke in my throat when I hear Rush talk about his version of Christianity, and have never read any of the Left Behind series. There are many women that carry a great deal of influence in decisions made at IMC.
And there are a good many Jesus followers that don't fit in the box you're describing too. For real.
Not trying to be trendy, emergent, postmodern..blah blah. Just trying to be who God made me to be, trying to follow Jesus, trying to love God and love others the very best I can with God's Spirit in me every single day. Put whatever label on that you feel led to I guess. Most importantly, all I know is what my life was like before following Jesus Christ and what has happened with it since.
I'm an atheist in the target age group, but I can tell you right now that dogmatic acceptance of Bible is something I can never adopt. It's still just religion.
I find myself in agreement with Mike's comments above and would add in response to Craydavi that after reading the Bible, my view of McLaren changed.
I find it highly ironic that any of you would go so far as to slam Mike for making statements about faith communities he's never attended and people he's never met when it's obvious you've thrown the baby out with the bath.
As usual, you're making church about you. Here's a news flash: We are the church and we're here for the world.
Oh, well. Never mind. Go your own silly way. I'm less than impressed.
bmkulenkamp : RE: Spiritual awakening: How young Christians are changing the face of church More..
Thanks for the great article! I really enjoyed reading about different churches that I had no idea were out there. I am a member of Common Ground Christian Church, which was mentioned in the comments section. I guess it wasn't mentioned in the article because Intake has already done one in the past, and also because it really isn't a baby church anymore.
As a 20-something I am glad that there are churches out there trying new things. This has been going on on campuses for a long time, but it's great to see it branch out to the suburbs. After leaving college, I struggled with finding a church where I felt I could relate to the message and to also find others to fellowship with that were around my same age. Most churches in the Indy area are either too big or too "old school", and I found it hard to connect and to fellowship. I found that Common Ground allowed me to do just those two things. It isn't for everyone, that is why there are so many churches out there (and so many different religions)! You have to find what you are comfortable with.
There isn't anyone that should tell you one way or the other is right or wrong. It is just that CG was the right choice for me. I'm glad the article sparked discussion and allowed for others to know that there are different places out there, in case they are looking for just that.
The redhead with the orange cat is cute...wait...what's this thread about again?
You don't need to attend a service to critique a congregation's approach to scripture when it posts it in plain words on its website. Mike is right: we're not "emerging" from anything if fundamentalist theology remains intact. Modern scholarship is devastating to premises such as "the Bible is inerrant and/or infallible." For anyone interested in creating something a bit more intimate and intellectually progressive (for example, accepting of the contributions of modern science) check out the Alternative Church. We aren't funded by any parent organizations or mega-churches. We will reflect who we are, but we will build upon some common propositions that can be viewed on both our web-sites (myspace and facebook). Our fundamentals are quite different from the churches discussed in the Indy.com article. So if that sounds appealing to you, check us out.
Matt.Gonzales : RE: Spiritual awakening: How young Christians are changing the face of church More..
Being a non-churchgoer myself, I sought out help from folks in the religious community in my quest to identify youth-oriented Christian churches that have "emerging" qualities. I was surprised when most of the ones I encountered turned out to be rather conservative in terms of their interpretation of the Bible. Having said that, it's using a bit too broad a brush to say that none of them accept the contributions of modern science, to say the least.
However, when it comes to elephant-in-the-room issues like homosexuality, most of them unapologetically side with the traditional conservative Christian view that it's a sin. However, contrary to many traditional churches, none of them seem to make it an agenda to condemn that particular sin more harshly than other sins. But to be fair, I didn't discuss this issue explicitly with everyone I interviewed.
Matt,
You did a great job with the article. I just don't think these churches are truly "emergent". At any rate, I bet no one in leadership from any of these congregations, perhaps with the exception of The Dwelling Place, will say here that evolution is a legitimate explanation of human origins. Maybe I'm wrong, but when a group holds to biblical inerrancy, they basically always reject the consensus of modern biology, that is, that the earth is billions of years old and that homosapiens evolved from increasingly complex organisms.
Kyle_Schlenz : RE: Spiritual awakening: How young Christians are changing the face of church More..
I think the confusion comes because of a semantic issue between "the emerging church" movement and the "Emergent Church." The Emergent Church is a new denomination of sorts spearheaded by Brian McLaren. The emerging church movement is a looser term. It generally includes new groups like the Emergent Church, but also includes the growing population of house churches and start-ups like the Mosaic who are seeking reach out intentionally to their surrounding community. See the Wikipedia article on "emerging church" for an excellent explanation.
For my own part, I am excited about Christians who are thinking outside of the box of the 1900's paradigm. However, it's not really about doing something "new" or abandoning the Bible. It's actually about going back 2,000 years and asking the question "do our current church practices make sense with the vision outlined in the New Testament?". Personally, I think most modern churches are bloated with unnecessary doctrines and practices and could use a good streamlining back to "love God" and "love others." This doesn't change who we believe Jesus is or our reverence for Scripture. Taking a low view of Scripture wouldn't be new anyway. The Gnostics were doing that 2,000 years ago.
anomymousjohnny : RE: Spiritual awakening: How young Christians are changing the face of church More..
You can't change the way you worship or mold your Christian ways to fit your lifestyle and make you feel comfortable - you can't change what the scripture says to be more "cool" and "relaxed" - God is the same always and forever - never changing - If you really wanted to experience God - or live like a Christian - then actually listen to what he says in the Bible - and don't try to change it - If you truly do that - then you'll realize you don't want to change it -
If God never changes, then why is the Old Testament God and the New Testament God so different?
serigraph73 : RE: Spiritual awakening: How young Christians are changing the face of church More..
2 words: King James
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