We don’t spend much time, if any, talking about creating conversions. For as long as I’ve been involved with the INN, I have not felt there was a strong pull towards creating "faith decisions" in our students, but rather there is a strong emphasis on experiencing community and a sense of belonging that therefore drives deeper spiritual reflection and commitment. The focus of our programs, activities, and even the speaking on Tuesday nights is more centered on helping students understand what it looks like to live a life as a Christian, as a Christ-follower, rather than leading them towards a single-moment decision. I think we tend to agree that faith is more of a process than that style of thinking allows.

"Author and spiritual director Evan Howard suggests that spiritual conversion, rather than being a singular event, is more accurately described as a series of distinctive epiphanies (for example, conversion to the role of the Spirit, a conversion to social justice, a conversion to contemplative practices, and so on). These are not conversions from one system to another; they make up the gradual complementary and holistic renewal of the soul."
- Mark Scandrette, from An Emergent Manifesto of Hope

So what function, if any, do our small groups serve in a community that does not seek to necessarily create a single conversion experience? Simply, they are a place for these "distinctive epiphanies" to be happened upon and developed. A small group is a perfect place to experience a realization of the power of group prayer. It is a wonderful place for learning how to serve alongside others. It’s a place to be confronted by the demands of salvation in practical ways, by people you know and trust. I’ve spent this last year working with small group leaders, trying to encourage them to develop communities within their groups, to be challenging and be challenged by the way God has created their group. One piece I think I’ve not emphasized enough in my own thinking, though, is the simple relationship aspect. Conversations, rather than conversions, are driving our community at the INN. It’s the simple "holy moments" that help students discover who they are in Christ. It’s the cups of coffee or even a good pint together with a close friend that help them find their connection to the greater story God is developing in Bellingham, at Western, at the INN.

What if our small group leaders were not encouraged so much to have the right answers or to plan the best weekly studies? What if instead, they were pushed to simply spend time with those God has placed in their care? Are there ways to help encourage purposeful connections that seek to help direct and encourage that kind of community? Some of my most significant interactions this year have been stirred up out of nothing. A sit-down with a student/friend/both that turned into a drawn out, deep conversation. It’s not been the times that I’ve planned out what I’m going to say or had a motive behind my meetings that I’ve learned the most about the person or learned what God is doing in their lives. It’s the serendipitous moments, where nothing is planned but a conversation.

Could it be possible that small group leaders need to learn how to have better conversations with their groups instead of stressing out about reading a chapter from whatever book? I think the greatest conversion stories we will hear will be those that come out of groups the found commitment to each other. They will come from small cohorts who invested time in each other. They will come from places where leaders encouraged openness, rawness, and messiness, in place of point-by-point topical studies. Conversions or life changes will come from honest conversations about what students heard at the INN on Tuesday night or from their pastor on Sunday morning. They will come out of disagreements over the message or out of disappointments from life.

Let us choose to be real with each other and the people we are called to serve. Let us be relieved of a burden to prove an idea or argue doctrine and instead be freed to be honest about our garbage and seek a community that breeds forgiveness. Let all things be done in the name of faith that bleeds into everything we do, every word we speak, every breath we take.

My hope is that as I read, I can have a chance to reflect on many (probably not all, but who knows) of the chapters, giving some of my own thoughts to these new ideas and views on faith, ministry, and the conversations this group of people are having. I should say, we’re having. I feel like I’ve become a part of this conversation with my small contributions to the Presbymergent group, an outgrowth of some of the ideas in this book. Presbymergent is a community of Presbyterian members and pastors who are engaging the emerging church conversation within their PC(USA) churches and trying to embrace the tension of living as what some have described as "loyal radicals" within this mainline denomination.

So, I’ll start with my thoughts on Tony Jones’ introduction, a good primer to what I’m hoping will be a very interesting book and challenging conversation. Jones traces the history of his involvement with Emergent, the "friendship" of people from varying church backgrounds and denominations who have steered the conversation since the late-90s. Tony talks about this idea of friendship being central to this group, a binding piece that holds together many different perspectives and ideas with faithful relationships. He describes the first meeting of young pastors in Arlington, TX back in 1998:

The room positively crackled. I think that’s because we had the feeling, even back then, that we were on to something. Even as we struggled to determine what that ‘something’ was, we talked about an element of the connection that was seemingly even more important, and surely more elusive, and that was and is friendship.

As I have wrestled with this first year of ministry, I have been struck by the need for community and friendship with people who are willing to discuss and work through the concepts and experiences I’m having with me. I see the desire to have these friendships of faith, where we can discuss the way we see God working in our lives, talk about the challenges we face as we see him interacting with the people we are serving, and work towards a better understanding of how we do our ministry and live our lives in light of what we learn. I’ve found this in my small group of post-college, post-INN guys that I meet with every week. I have found something like this with my former roommates, when we have a book discussion. I’ve experienced a deeper "friendship" in faith with Stacy, as she and I work out our questions about faith and life and marriage together. And I’ve also experienced this "friendship" within our unique staff at the INN, where we are always talking about the questions God is confronting us with and the challenges we face in our work.

It’s exciting to know that there is a wider circle of friends who are willing to step out and try new things, work through new challenges, and engage fresh perspectives on where God is leading his people. If it’s not clear, I’m excited about this book and about what Emergent is doing to help people learn and work out their faith in their own settings. I’ll look forward to sharing more thoughts as I read through.

I’ve attempted to place a finger on the exact reason I feel called to be a part of this Presbymergent community, this emerging conversation about faith, theology, and our tradition. I’ve thought about my own background, growing up in a Presbyterian church, going through membership as a youth, and understanding the great community I was joining as something of significance and as a place where God had been active for years and was continuing to be active. I’ve also examined the way my faith has shifted over the last 5 years, as I went off to college, where my world view and perspective developed and I was challenged to reflect on what I believed, who I was. All of these things shape my engagement into this emerging conversation. I doubt my story is that unique from others out there who are starting to engage these new ideas within their own traditions.

Earlier this week, I sent some of my thoughts about this new community, Presbymergent, to my pastor and asked for his input on what I have been thinking. He responded to my thoughts and to the question of being emergent within our mainline, PC(USA) denomination by recalling Jesus’ parable of the new wine and new wineskins. He mentioned that the wine skin of the PC(USA) might have room for some new wine from the emergent movement, some room for evaluating our ideas and seeing Jesus in new and exciting ways within our communities. His caution was that we focus on the wineskins alone and forget to focus on the wine, Jesus, in light of working out all of these details.

Our conversation needs to center on Christ and how he impacts our churches in ways that shape our future and open the doors to a world in need. I’m excited to think that I belong to a church and denomination that has such a rich tradition and a strong theological base that would allow us to ask new questions and be willing to see our ways of doing church in a new light. It’s exciting to see that people of the PC(USA) are finding themselves asking "emerging" questions and being willing to honestly evaluate the way the Holy Spirit is being active in their communities with a willingness to develop new forms of worship and learning.

So, what does it mean to be "Presbymergent"? How does one practice emergence in their PC(USA) community? Clearly, from all the discussion on this site, from all the books and articles and conferences we’ve all taken in, there are many ways, many "right" ways, of engaging emergence into a new kind of community. We need to be Presbyterians who seek the best for our congregations. We need to be active in our churches and not let the "old ways" frustrate us or stifle our creativity. We also need to honor those who have founded and been faithful to our communities and teach each other how to ask questions about where God is leading our churches over the long run. And we need to exercise grace and humility as we face challenges along the road to becoming Presbymergent churches. As God leads this reformation of our theologies, our ways of doing church, and the ways our churches impact the world, there have and will continue to be hiccups and setbacks, as well as encouraging breakthroughs and exciting moments of divine presence.

I believe this dialogue that begun here at Presbymergent is a positive step for all of us. We have begun to lay out ways in which we will be faithful to our church and denomination, but also be willing to ask new questions. I really like this term "loyal radical" that has been brought up in our discussion. I feel very loyal to the people who have shaped my life in church, in the PC(USA) church. And yet, I feel a radical call by God to move forward and open wide for the new wine of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing action to flow through us and continue to make all things new. It is a pleasure to journey out in this with all of you.

Pagitt claims that the role of preaching has been taken over by what he calls "speaching" in many church settings. This act of "speaching" involves well-prepared sermons, created behind closed doors, with little or no input from the church community, by the resident theological expert (aka: the pastor). Because the sermon has devolved into a lecture-based presentation form, our communities are held back from engaging in dialoguing the sermon and engaging the ideas for themselves by being able to ask questions, use their own knowledge, and contribute to the teaching and learning going on at church. Instead of "pastor as loudspeaker", Pagitt argues that a dialogue can take place in our worship settings that helps us engage the topic as a group and discover the implications of the Word in life.

What does this look like? Basically, the argument is that by allowing members of the congregation to have a voice in the service, we allow a deeper learning to take place. What if it were possible to approach a topic by hearing a prepared piece by our pastor and then have time set aside to ask questions, voice disagreements, and respond vocally to what we’ve just heard? Instead of sitting quietly and listening each week, the idea here is to jump on the ideas while they are fresh in our minds and respond to their implications and meanings for our community.

Stacy and I talk about one of the education techniques she employs a lot in her classroom: turn and talk. Students read something as a class or get a question and then turn to their neighbor and talk about what they think about it. This allows them to hear each other’s opinions, actively engage what they are learning, and put words to their thoughts. If teachers are using this to help kids learn more effectively, why aren’t we using it in church, where we claim the lessons to be more eternal significance than reading, writing, and arithmetic?

A diversity of opinions can be daunting to engage in a church setting, but I think there is room to open up further dialogue than a single loudspeaker "speacher" up front. I think this can play out with a coordinated small group program, if it doesn’t work in the normal Sunday service. It can work in community sermon preparation, an idea Pagitt engages in each week as he meets with members of the church to talk about ideas for the sermon in the days leading up to it’s "presentation" (oh, I think I hate to use that word now).

I think a good example I’ve seen in my life of the progressional dialogue approach is at the Sound Community. Each week, Ryan and members of the church meet to do exegesis on the chosen passage for the week. Coming with multiple translations of the Bible, concordances, dictionaries, etc., members of the community talk about what the passage is saying to them, how it resounds, what it might mean, all in hopes of engaging the topic in the mind of the community early in the week, in preparation for Sunday. I’ve visited one such exegesis and I really enjoyed the feeling that I was a part of the creation of Sunday’s message. It wasn’t just Ryan preparing a sermon in an office somewhere. It was people actively engaging a topic together as the Holy Spirit led them. It was exciting.

The question posed now is how we make this a part of the INN community.
How do we allow students to dialogue the topics we bring up on Tuesday
nights? Do we allow for a discussion time following the "talk"? Do we
offer more times throughout the week for students to engage in
conversations about what we’re covering, topically? I’m open to flexibility on form if it means we engage what God is teaching the community in a more effective way.

I’ll pose a couple questions: What would it look like for your church service to not only listen to a sermon, but engage in a dialogue on the teachings together each week? Would it work? What forms of the service might need to be changed to allow this to work?

Adam Walker Cleaveland and Karen Sloane came up with this new website/community called Presbymergent. The idea behind the site is to provide a place for PCUSA members, lay people, pastors, etc. who are interested in the "emergent" conversation to communicate, share ideas, and collaborate. They started it up this week, I think with the Mainline Emergent/s conference in Georgia next week in mind.

I’ve registered and contacted Adam about getting involved a bit. This sounds like a great idea and a cool place for sharing ideas about what’s going on in our churches and ministries, as well as what kinds of questions, struggles, and excitements we’re experiencing as we grapple with some of the ideas of emerging theology. Check it out: http://www.presbymergent.org/

The book approaches the broader theological issues that the "emerging church" confronts as churches like Ikon, where author Peter Rollins attends, work out what it means to be church in the postmodern, post-Christian world. While it’s hard to pin down a theological stance on this movement (because it’s filled with people from every denomination and non-denomination) I feel like Rollins does a great job of distilling some of his ideas about church and faith into some clear philosophical and theological points. Not arguments, not doctrinal statements, just points of conversation.

Using practical service examples from his own community, Rollins
wrestles with issues of belief and disbelief, the presence of God, the
language of our religious expression, and a variety of surrounding
topics that are thoughtfully discussed and humbly presented. His
approach to the theistic/atheistic dichotomy of faith was particularly
fascinating. It struck me as a different way of perceiving God — we have the ability to experience God and know God, while at the same
time lacking proper ability to describe him and therefore our
ideas/images are inherently inaccurate. We must therefore approach the
God we know with some form of atheism, knowing that our ideas are insufficient and maybe wrong. Check the book out if that doesn’t make
sense, because I had to read it a few times and I’m less articulate
that Rollins.

The other piece to the book that makes it valuable is the use of real
service examples to display the theological concepts in practice (the
orthopraxy). The service meet in a pub-style location, with live music
spun by a DJ. The small room is often described as lit by candles, with
a projection screen displaying either some piece of artwork or a
poem/song that fits the service. It seems like it would be one of those
uber-hip churches, but with a very purposeful approach in each aspect
of art or sound in the room, all combining to create a church
experience that is multi-sensory. Each service described in the book
reflects a previous chapter or idea out of the orthodoxy (theology)
section. It is great to see illustrations of the linkage between the
two ortho’s (-doxy & -praxy) because more often then not, it’s easy
to talk about good, new ideas for church, or be open to reinterpreting
the way we commonly choose to go about worship, but in actuality let
little change. While some of the services are a bit more radical than
some may find comfortable or palatable, they all seem to be humbly and
honestly carried out in hopes of create an open, authentic place to
worship and experience God.

It has been great discussing this book with a couple of guys who lead
small groups at the INN this last quarter. They have been challenged
and excited by the ideas and it will be interesting to see how we each
choose to apply or wrestle with the praxis as well.

A lot of my knowledge of the changes the Church is beginning see and experience comes from two authors: Brian McLaren and Dallas Willard. I wouldn’t count Willard in the Emerging camp, but his ideas seem to set the philosophical groundwork for more popular writers like McLaren to run with. McLaren’s works are more conversational and simplify some of the deeper philosophies and theologies of our time into accessible and understandable statements.

Both authors, and others surrounding this developing theological movement address the inklings of change that rustle in the pews of the Church. Much of the discussion that I’ve read deals with how we, Christians, are at an impass where re-envisioning the way church looks in action, the way we approach God, and the way the cold absolutes of modernity have left us feeling disconnected victims of a Gospel that was less about Spiritual Formation and more about Sin Management (Willard).

Instead of continuing to look at God in the same way,  I seem to see a pattern of review in the works of the postmodern theologians I’ve read. It’s about re-examining our buildings, our worship, our "orthopraxy" (correct practice) and our orthodoxy (right teachings) in light of the failures that the Church in its current disarray have left us with.

One point that is difficult to reconcile in this reawakening is the seeming departure from the absolute truths of God and His nature. In my opinion, I’ve never looked at the analysis and critique as something that questions God’s nature or His truths (salvation, His omnipotence, His creation). I view this discussion as a rethinking of how WE perceive those aspects of God. How the church views Creation, in light of scientific evidence, is incredibly important to reconsider, for example. When we found out the earth wasn’t flat, they argued and burned people, and then finally came to accept this change. Heretics they may have seemed, but these people who claimed it was round actually helped people see God’s Creation from a new perspective and in a new light that allowed God to become bigger in the minds and hearts of His people.

So what do we do with these new ideas, sometimes dangerous ideas that wreck the way we’ve done things for centuries? Beats me. Seriously, I’m not sure that any of the people out there, talking about this new Church, the Emergent Bride, will ever come to an answer in their lifetimes. And that’s really the beauty. I think one of the coolest things about this movement towards rethinking and rediscovering Christianity is the amount of trust its followers have to place in prayer, study, and the Holy Spirit. Because we could just go in circles trying to figure out new answers, or we could just define a new systematic theology that reflects a postmodern worldview, but that would still leave us in the same place as we are with the modern church. It’s not about an answer, a formula. I really believe, at least in what I’ve seen and experienced, it’s about leaving the door open just a little wider for the Holy Spirit to really work in our lives and show us new ways to see God.

Like I said, I hate even trying to answer even one question about what this movement means to me. All I know is that thinking about new ways to experience God and church excite my heart in a way that it has never been. To think there is a community that is OK with not having the answers is really reassuring. So don’t let me be a spokesman for anything, just let me be a sojourner (buzz-word alert) on the path to pursuing God. Let me try to show you what I’ve seen and let’s move together, because I know He’s got tons of good things for us to find ahead.

Brian McLaren Interview Part 1
Brian McLaren Interview Part 2