Andy Rowell | Church Leadership Conversations

Excellent analysis: Ed Stetzer on the Emerging Church

In the The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry, there is an excellent article on the Emerging Church Movement by Southern Baptist missiologist of North America, Director of LifeWay Research, Twitterer, and prolific author Ed Stetzer.

[Download PDF].

"The Emergent/Emerging Church: A Missiological Perspective"
Dr. Ed Stetzer
pp. 62-95
Fall 2008
Vol. 5. No. 2.
The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry
The Baptist Center of Theology & Ministry: A Research Institute of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Andrew Jones, Tall Skinny Kiwi, also recommends the article, "Dr. Stetzer has an outstanding paper on the American emerging church just released on The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry.  Well researched and worth the read."

Stetzer does an excellent job of telling the history of the movement drawing on many good sources: Tony Jones, Scot McKnight, Brian McLaren, and Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger.

He concludes by expanding on his taxonomy: Relevants, Reconstructionists, and Revisionists.  He explains further that this based on a missiological assessment.  I think all of this is very helpful. 

Essentially, he is arguing that it is important for all churches to adapt to their culture in order to communicate with them.  However, they should not accomodate to the culture too much.  He tries to identify some ways that the emerging church movement is doing the former and some ways they are in danger of doing the latter. 

Stetzer's work is mapping the terrain.  Others who are leading churches will need to do the constructive work on what precisely this looks like.  I think my paper on Rowan Williams's missional ecclesiology does some helpful work in this regard--arguing that there are four practices that cannot be lost in contextualization if the church is to remain faithful. 

But if you want to get a basic idea of how to evaluate the emerging church movement and to understand its breadth, you cannot do better than reading Stetzer's analysis. 

The missional ecclesiology of Rowan Williams

I have posted below for download the paper I finished recently on the missional ecclesiology of Rowan Williams, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Anglican Communion.  The question I was asking was, "What would Rowan Williams be thinking about if he was a church planter or emerging church pastor?" 

Download Rowan_Williams's_Theology_of_the_Church_as_Missionary.pdf

I look forward to reading your comments.  I am not an expert on Williams but I have read eight books by him.  If you know of any place I might consider publishing this, I would be open to advice.   

Three benefits of my paper:

This paper has three main benefits.  First, Christians might use the four “practices” as a guide for evaluating their own churches.  Does our church embrace fully the four practices in Williams’s work that can help ensure our faithfulness to the gospel? 

The terms “practices” and “standards of excellence” are borrowed from MacIntyre and are not used by Williams but I think they are an enlightening way of organizing his arguments related to the mission of the church.

Second, Christians might use the “standards of excellence” for the practice of communicating the Good News to evaluate their own church’s outlook toward mission.  Does our practice of communicating of the Good News adhere to the standards of excellence which should characterize that practice according to Williams?

Third, this paper brings together in an organized way the diverse thought of Rowan Williams for the edification of the church.  Williams tends to be misunderstood as the recent furor over his comments about Sharia exemplify.  His writings have different audiences and content so that one could get a skewed understanding of Williams’s thought if they are unaware of the scope of his work.  For example, if someone only read Lost Icons, they might be unaware of his explicitly Christian writing such as Tokens of Trust.  This paper allows both liberals and conservatives, critics and fans, to better appreciate and understand Williams.  By organizing it in these categories and explaining it, I hope to set Williams’s work “on a lower shelf,” that is, making it somewhat more accessible than it might otherwise be.  I have also quoted liberally from Williams in order to point readers toward the places in Williams’s writing where he makes these arguments so that further research can be done.

When one understands Williams’s work in its breadth, it is difficult not to appreciate the beauty and sensitivity and brilliance of his writing.  His writing truly can help churches who are attempting to do innovative mission work to do so with faithfulness to the Christian tradition as well as great effectiveness and flexibility.  The difficulty in reading Williams is that his essays tend to be so occasional, that is, trying to address a specific situation.  Therefore, it is possible to misinterpret them if they are taken to be representative of Williams’s approach to related issues.  I think this essay helps to relieve some of those possible misconceptions by framing the issue in terms of practices and standards of excellence and bringing together eight of Williams’s works.

A few websites with Anglicans thinking about new forms of church:
Anglimergent
Fresh Expressions

Jonny Baker

Emergent UK:

Emergent UK

Jason Clark

 

• 

  Rowan Williams: Resurrection: Interpreting the Easter Gospel

• 

  Rowan Williams: Writing in the Dust: After September 11

• 

  Rowan Williams: Lost Icons: Reflections on Cultural Bereavement

• 

  Rowan Williams: A Ray of Darkness: Sermons and Reflections

• 

  Rowan Williams: Wound of Knowledge: Christian Spirituality from the New Testament to St. John of the Cross

• 

  Rowan Williams: Why Study The Past?: The Quest For The Historical Church

• 

  Rowan Williams: Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief

• 

  Rowan Williams: On Christian Theology

Archbishop Rowan Williams: How is emergent church viewed in the Anglican Communion?

Archbishop Rowan Williams: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the emergent church? Archbishop Rowan Williams - What is church?

Tony Jones, N.T. Wright, Richard Bauckham, Scot McKnight, James K. A. Smith, Robert Bella and John Milbank - Audio from SBL and AAR

In the past, I have been enormously helped by people who recorded audio of various lectures and conferences and then kindly posted it on the web.  I have recorded a few of the sessions from the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and the American Academy of Religion (AAR) annual meetings November 17-20, 2007 in San Diego.  See my previous post about attending the meetings.  There are literally thousands of lectures at the meetings but I thought I would give you a sample of the ones I attended.  At each time slot, there are about 30-40 choices to choose from.  Sometimes I bounce from one to another.  Other times I find someone to talk to and skip the sessions.  So some of the talks are not complete.  But I still thought I would post what my little MP3 player recorded and see if anyone was interested.

For the next couple of years, SBL and AAR will not meet together.  Some AAR people led this divorce but people in my circles are hopeful that after a couple of years people will reconsider.   Typically theologians, historians, practical theology, and people who study other religions than Christianity attend AAR.  Biblical studies people attend SBL.  But in the past these have occurred together so that many of us have enjoyed sessions from both. April 28, 2008 Update: the AAR has decide to begin meeting with SBL again when they are able to work out the logistics in a few years again.

Other places to find great audio: 

If you like audio, see my now outdated Best Audio for Church Leaders (Aug 2006) but still useful list of MP3's on the internet and my instructions about listening to podcasts in my also outdated post Best Podcasts for Church Leaders (Oct 2006). 

Also Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) has this on their site:

As in previous years, ACTS, inc. will be recording all sessions at the conference. Online orders for these recordings may be placed on their web site at the following address: http://actsonline.biz/ets_21_ctg.htm.  The entire conference costs $149.00.

I do not think AAR and SBL record their sessions at all. 

If you dislike my low quality recordings, check out christianaudio.com which has quite a good selection of Christian books on audio.  For example, you can download the unabridged 6 hour audiobook of Eugene Peterson's Eat This Book for $20.98.  (This is the book Duke Divinity School first year students were required to read this year).  That would be a very rich six hour car drive.  They also offer a free download each month.  This month (November) it is The Religious Affections (Unabridged) by Jonathan Edwards.  In December it is Dark Night of the Soul (Unabridged) by St. John of the Cross. 

Instructions for playing MP3's:

I have given you MP3's which play on any computer.  You just right click on it and click "Save Link As . . ." or "Save Target As . . ." and you can save it to your desktop (and it will be on your computer and you can listen to it whenever you want).  If you have an MP3 player, you just plug in to your computer like a memory stick and move the MP3's from your computer to your player. 

I have pasted below the SBL or AAR description of the session (S is for SBL and A is for AAR) and then put a note in italics with my comment about the recording.  I'm sorry to say that I have not listened to these recordings nor edited them.  If you are interested, I thought you would appreciate them anyway. 

Let me know in the comments if you appreciated them or if they were too poor quality to be helpful.  I haven't done this before so I just thought I would give it a shot.   I have emailed the speakers to let them know I have posted these and I will take down the talks if any of them wish.  But I do think this is good publicity for AAR, SBL and each of the speakers.
      

Without further ado, here are the MP3's I recorded from 9 presentations I heard at SBL/AAR this past weekend. 

AM17-28
________________________________________
Emergent Church Forum
11/17/2007
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 29 C – CC
The panelists are Tony Jones, Diana Butler Bass and Scot McKnight and the moderator, from Azusa Pacific University, is Keith Matthews. 

I missed the first ten minutes of this one.  Tony was speaking when I arrived.

Emergent Church Forum.mp3 (131 MB; 2 hrs. 19 min.)

Update: December 18: The first hour of this lecture is also available now on the Emergent Village podcast website but honestly you didn't miss too much in the 10 minutes I missed but Tony's recording is a better recording.  I would expect that they would put up part 2 (the second hour) at the end of December.

AM17-53
________________________________________
Mission and Biblical Interpretation: toward a Missional Hermeneutic
11/17/2007
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 28 C – CC
What would it mean to read the Bible with an explicit methodological starting point in an ecclesial location understood as fundamentally missional? Join us for our sixth annual session focused on such questions, as Princeton Theological Seminary professors Darrell Guder and J. Ross Wagner present their work on missional hermeneutics in the seminary classroom. We anticipate a thought-provoking and productive discussion.

I only taped Ross's brief comments about Philippians.  The first two minutes are the end of Darrell Guder speaking.

Mission and Biblical Interpretation - toward a Missional Hermeneutic.mp3  (12 MB; 13 min.)

S17-79
________________________________________
Synoptic Gospels
11/17/2007
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: San Diego C - MM
Theme: Panel Review of Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006)
Jeffrey Peterson, Austin Graduate School of Theology, Texas, Presiding
John Kloppenborg, University of Toronto, Panelist (20 min)
Adela Yarbro Collins, Yale University, Panelist (20 min)
James Crossley, University of Sheffield, Panelist (20 min)
Richard Bauckham, University of St. Andrews-Scotland, Respondent (25 min)
Discussion (65 min)

I only recorded Bauckham's response.  The room was packed.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses - The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony.mp3 (23 MB; 24 min.)

A18-122
Scriptural Reasoning Group   
Sunday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
Steven D. Kepnes, Colgate University, Presiding
Theme: Pragmatism and Biblical Hermeneutics: A Discussion of the Work of Peter Ochs
Panelists:
David Lamberth, Harvard University
Leora Batnitzky, Princeton University
James K. A. Smith, Calvin College
Nicholas Adams, University of Edinburgh
Responding:
Peter Ochs, University of Virginia

Abstract
Scriptural Reasoning Group
Theme: Pragmatism and Biblical Hermeneutics: A Discussion of the Work of Peter Ochs
The session will discuss the theoretical contribution of the work of Peter Ochs in terms of its contribution to the field of American pragmatism and to theoretical advances in biblical hermeneutics as well as in contemporary analyses of religious community and inter-religious dialogue. In particular the session will discuss the impact of Professor Ochs' work on the recently developed set of practices referred to as scriptural reasoning. Panelists will speak from the perspective of their various disciplines including, philosophy of religion, Christian theology and contemporary Jewish philosophy.

I recorded until from the beginning of the session until Smith was finished (the first three speakers).  Ochs was not present because he had to do a eulogy at a funeral.

Pragmatism and Biblical Hermeneutics - A Discussion of the Work of Peter Ochs.mp3 (72 MB; 1 hr. 16 min.)

A18-106
Sunday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
William Schweiker, University of Chicago, Presiding
Theme: Living in a Secular Age: Charles Taylor and the Philosophy of Religion
F. B. A. Asiedu, Middlebury College
The Post-Secular Condition: The Usefulness of Belief in the Philosophy of Charles Taylor
Jennifer A. Herdt, University of Notre Dame
Secularization, Recomposition, and Bad Faith in Contemporary Christian Ethics
Joseph Prabhu, California State University, Los Angeles, University of Chicago
Re-examining the Secularization Hypothesis
Robert N. Bellah, University of California, Berkeley
Taylor on Religion and Modernity
Responding:
Charles Taylor, Northwestern University

I only taped Taylor's response and I was sitting in an area of the room where the sound was terrible.  The room was absolutely packed.

Living in a Secular Age - Charles Taylor and the Philosophy of Religion.mp3 (44 MB; 47 min.)

A18-200      
Sunday - 1:00 pm-2:30 pm
Sponsored by the Public Understanding of Religion Committee
Lawrence Mamiya, Vassar College, Presiding
Theme: The Marty Forum: Robert N. Bellah
Panelists:
Robert N. Bellah, University of California
Randall Balmer, Columbia University

Abstract
Special Topics Forum
Theme: The Marty Forum: Robert N. Bellah
Sponsored by the Public Understanding of Religion Committee
The recipient of the 2007 Martin Marty Award for contributions to the public understanding of religion is Robert N. Bellah, Elliott Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bellah has authored or co-authored numerous influential books and articles in the sociology of religion, including Beyond Belief, The Broken Covenant, The New Religious Consciousness, Varieties of Civil Religion and Uncivil Religion, Habits of the Heart and The Good Society. The Marty Forum provides an informal setting in which Dr. Bellah will talk about his work with Professor of American Religion Randall Balmer and will engage in discussion with the audience.

I taped all of it except the last ten minutes when my battery ran out.  This should be a very good recording.

Interview with Robert N. Bellah.mp3 (70 MB; 1 hr. 15 min.)

A18-251
Sunday - 3:00 pm-4:30 pm
Paul Oslington, Princeton University, Presiding
Theme: Theological Readings of Economics
Panelists:
Alasdair John Milbank, University of Nottingham
Albino Barrera, Providence College
Kathryn Blanchard, Alma College
Rebecca Todd Peters, Elon University

Abstract
Wildcard Session
Theme: Theological Readings of Economics
This session is about religious voices in political economy. Deeper theological engagement with economic theory is needed because (a) much contemporary religious discussion of economics is ill-informed and superficial (b) economics dominates contemporary culture. In the session panel members will consider a number of recent theological readings of economics, followed by discussion. The emphasis will be economic theory rather than particular economic issues because religious engagement with particular issues depends on our view of the relationship between theology and the economic tools we use to consider the various issues. At the end of the session we will discuss the proposal for a new AAR group on religion and economics and its relationship to the Religion and Social Sciences Section.

I taped Milbank and Barrera.  Barrera told me he listened to my recording and could make it out.   

Theological Readings of Economics.mp3 (36 MB; 39 min.)

S18-117
________________________________________
God in Public?
11/18/2007
4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Room: Salon C - MM
N. T. Wright, Durham Cathedral
God in Public? The Bible and Politics in Tomorrow’s World (45 min)

I taped all of this.  The room was packed.

God in Public - The Bible and Politics in Tomorrow’s World.mp3 (44 MB; 58 min.)

S19-50
________________________________________
Pauline Epistles
11/19/2007
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 20 A - CC
Theme: Paul and Empire
Papers by John M.G. Barclay, Durham University, and Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, with a response by Robert Jewett, University of Heidelberg
Alexandra Brown, Washington and Lee University, Presiding
John M.G. Barclay, Durham University
Why the Roman Empire was Insignificant to Paul (40 min)
N. Thomas Wright, Church of England
Paul's Counter-Imperial Theology (40 min)
Robert Jewett, University of Heidelberg, Respondent

I taped this in two parts as there was a five minute break after Barclay and Wright presented.  The first part has Barclay and Wright.  In the second part, Jewett responds and Barclay and Wright respond.  They then took some questions but I skipped out at that point.  Many New Testament scholars were there.  There is lots of talk on the blogosphere about this one.  If you google, Wright Barclay Paul Empire, you'll get lots of hits.

Paul and Empire - Part 1 of 2.mp3 (84 MB; 1 hr. 30 min.)

Paul and Empire - Part 2 of 2.mp3 (30 MB; 33 min.)

Bonhoeffer / Emerging Church paper and AETE

[I have revised this post].

At the last minute I was asked to be ready to present my paper on Bonhoeffer and Emerging Church movement at the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education meeting.  But as it turned out, they didn't need me as all four presenters showed up.  The AETE met this year in Ashland, Ohio at Ashland Seminary. 

The paper I was going to present was the one I wrote for my Duke Th.D. application.  It has been on my blog for six months and I have made the changes people suggested there.  You can see it at: Bonhoeffer and the Emerging Church: Ph.D. Application Paper

"Who is the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education?", you might ask.  The professors on the board are United Methodist, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, evangelical Anglican and Southern Baptist.  The theme of this annual meeting was "engaging the emerging church." (Download AETE publicity.pdf).

The presenters this year were:

Bob Whitesel - who is a church consultant, author, adjunct professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, and is finishing his Ph.D. at the School for Intercultural Studies at Fuller Seminary.  Bob tried to describe the way organic / emerging / missional church leaders think.  He tries to help older church leaders understand this mindset.      

Paul Chilcote - who is a visiting professor of evangelism at Duke Divinity School shared a paper comparing various positive aspects of the emerging church movement to the work of John Wesley. 

Bryan Stone - who is a E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at the School of Theology at Boston University, pointed out that though the emerging church may appear at first glance disgusted by the institutional church, it is deeply focused on seeing people connected into community. 

Len Sweet - who is E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University also presented comments about the emerging church movement.

There were also a couple of papers presented by Southern Baptist pastors, Adam Greenway and William Henard.  Henard is an adjunct professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY and Greenway is a Ph.D. student.  They both have concerns with Brian McLaren's view of Scripture, doctrine, atonement, evangelism, and ethics. 

The United Methodist E. Stanley Jones Professors of Evangelism from various United Methodist seminaries sometimes attend this meeting and then meet afterward together.  The Foundation For Evangelism which funds the E. Stanley Jones professors of evangelism are also funding my doctoral program.

Book Review: Off-Road Disciplines by Earl Creps

Today I received my copy of the Winter 2007 issue of Leadership Journal entitled "Going Missional."  My abbreviated book review of Earl Creps's book Off-Road Disciplines appears on page 76.  I have posted the full 1000 word review below.  Earl has a website.

Earl Creps. Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2006. 240 pp. $23.95 (cloth), ISBN: 0787985201. 

Reviewed by Andy Rowell, Christian Educational Ministries and Biblical Studies, Taylor University

Over the last few years, Earl Creps, director of doctoral studies at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, has interviewed hundreds of young innovative church leaders.  In his first book, Off-Road Disciplines, Creps takes the very best of their insights, adds his own wise reflection, and describes twelve ways pastors can keep their ministries relevant and healthy.  Pastors will greatly benefit from this book for three reasons. 

First, Creps tackles relevant and important issues.  For example, he brings up how to cope with feelings of failure when your church doesn’t grow as fast as you had hoped (ch. 1), how to assess how your church is doing (ch. 7), and how to resolve issues of young vs. old in the church (ch. 8, 11-12).   

The second strength of this book is that Creps looks at the issues with a balanced perspective.  Often books on church ministry are written by practitioners who inform us what worked at their church.  We immediately think of twenty reasons why it couldn’t work in our church.  Creps makes conclusions after consulting a variety of perspectives.   

Third, pastors will appreciate this book because the writing is so accessible.  Creps is a pastor’s pastor.  He graciously dispenses empathy, stories and appropriate challenge.

Below I have given a short description of each chapter with a few lines that struck me as particularly insightful and convicting. 

In the first chapter, “Death: The Discipline of Personal Transformation” Creps tells the story of bringing his “ministry paradigm of tidy principles” (8) to a small church in Maine and fully expecting attendance to boom.  He had been taught that the paradigm worked except in cases “of poor execution or weakness in leadership” (9).  “But our Mainers seemed to have missed a meeting somewhere” (9).  Creps calls this experience a “small crucifixion” (4). 

Then Creps describes the different ways pastors are responding to the coming “post-Christian generation” in his chapter “Truth: The Discipline of Sacred Realism.”  In chapter 3 “Perspective: The Discipline of POV” (point of view), he helpfully outlines a ten-tier scale to depict the varying degrees of how people are affected by postmodernism (36).

In chapter 4 “Learning: The Discipline of Reverse Mentoring” Creps describes the rich educational experience of humbly asking young people questions about things he “doesn’t get.”  He gives this advice: “don’t limit yourself to one person or format” and “check your attitude at the door. . . Remember, you are being crucified, not just educated” (49).

Creps urges pastors to develop relationships with non-Christians, whom he calls “the sought,” in chapter 5 “Witness: The Discipline of Spiritual Friendship.”  He reflects on the positive changes in his preaching style after he began to compose his sermons in a coffee shop where he built friendships with the non-Christians owners.  “The length of my talks dropped by a third, concepts and vocabulary grew simpler, and text on PowerPoint slides gave way to images or nothing at all” (69).               

Chapter 6 “Humility: The Discipline of Decreasing” invites pastors to wake up to our tendencies to: fake humility with a little self-deprecating humor (74), deliver infomercial monologues about ourselves (76), and bluff that we have read books we haven’t (78). 

Next, Creps reflects on “Assessment: The Discipline of Missional Efficiency.”  He urges leaders to evaluate things that deserve it, “not just the things that are easiest to count” such as bodies, bucks and buildings.  He briefly describes today’s Traditional, Contemporary and Experimental churches in chapter 8 “Harmony: The Discipline of Blending Differences.”  He sets forth a basic model for theological reflection in chapter 9 “Reflection: The Discipline of Discernment.” 

In chapter 10 “Opportunity: The Discipline of Making Room”, Creps describes how to create evangelism-friendly opportunities where the Spirit might move.  He critiques programs that imitate large successful churches but also criticizes those who would dismiss all forms of intentionality (143).  As a Pentecostal, Creps has done extensive thinking about the role of the Holy Spirit.  That pays dividends in his insightful description of the Spirit’s role in ministry.  The Spirit is not some “depersonalized vague form of divine background radiation” nor the “battery used to power big-personality leaders” (152).  Rather, the Spirit “fills individuals to make the mission of Christ a reality” and “reveals Christ to the sought” (153).

Chapter 11 “Sacrifice: Surrendering Preferences” is the only chapter in the book that seems particularly directed to younger pastors.  Creps shares his pain of being discriminated against by younger people (158).  He explains that young pastors may need to sacrificially give up some of their preferences, as Timothy agreed to be circumcised, for the sake of broader mission.  Chapter 12 depicts the role of the older pastor in this process.  It is entitled, “Legacy: The Discipline of Passing the Baton.”  Here Creps casts the vision for loving younger leaders and having enough faith in them to share power with them. 

You will enjoy reading this book more if I give you one piece of advice.  Don’t pay much attention to “disciplines” in the book’s title.  Though titled Off-Road Disciplines, the book has nothing to do with spiritual disciplines.  Don’t read this book if you are looking for insight into Christian practices, discipleship or spiritual formation.  The chapters make sense independently without that overarching structure. 

If you are a pastor from the Baby Boom generation, this book is primarily written with you in mind.  If you read this book, you will better understand the convictions driving younger pastors and will come away a more gracious, thoughtful pastor.  All church leaders will benefit from the wise and gracious coaching of Earl Creps. 

Spring 2007: Program and Curriculum Development Textbooks

Update: February 1, 2007

I have placed the syllabus below. 

Download syllabus_ced352_ver_2.doc

Original Post:

I thought I would list here on the blog what books I am requiring in my Taylor University Christian Educational Ministries 352 course this spring which starts next Wednesday, January 31st.  I have 26 students in the course spread out over two sections.  They are all juniors and seniors. 

We will begin the course by attending a workshop at Granger Community Church next Friday, February 2nd called First Impressions: Creating Wow Experiences at Your Church with Mark Waltz who has a book by the same title and also has a blog.  If you are near South Bend, Indiana, come check it out and we can chat about it!   

I told the students this about the workshop:

The reason we are going is that Granger does programming better than most any church in the nation.  They are known for their excellence and expertise.  They were rated in a recent Outreach Magazine survey as the #2 innovative church in the nation (though one of their pastors helped organize the survey).  In this workshop, we will see many of the principles of the course demonstrated: goal-setting, strategic planning and evaluation.  I hope you will be impressed by Granger's zeal for evangelism and its programming excellence.  This trip will also launch us into a semester-long discussion about what we can learn from the megachurch and what we might question.

COURSE TEXTS (We will be using the six books in this order). 

1. Stevens, Tim and Tony Morgan. Simply Strategic Stuff: Help for Leaders Drowning in the Details of Running a Church. Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2003.  $13 (Required last year so there are a number of CEM seniors with this book).

The Stevens/Morgan book is excellent for becoming a wiser, more competent church leader.  They both are pastors at Granger Community Church where will be visiting but we will not be attending their workshop. (Later correction: Actually Tony is leaving mid-February to take a position at a church in South Carolina).  If you are excited about reading before the semester begins, your assignment will be to read any 100 pages in this book.  You will be reflecting about what you learned at the workshop and from reading this book in a three page paper.  You will need to write how many pages you read.  Tony and Tim both have blogs: http://www.tonymorganlive.com/ and http://www.leadingsmart.com/ and a podcast www.simplystrategicshow.com    

Optional instead:

But if you are strongly interested in business and not as interested in church ministry, you may read the following work. (Tim and Craig, I am thinking about you here). Instead of reading 100 pages of Stevens/Morgan, I am requiring that you read 150 pages of Collins. I have not ordered the Collins book for the Taylor bookstore.  I hope and expect most of you will read the Stevens/Morgan book.  Though Good to Great is the most influential business book in many years, it has also been read by many pastors.  If you are excited about reading before the semester begins, read any 150 pages in this book.  You will write a three page paper reflecting on this book and the Granger workshop.  You will need to write how many pages you read.  You can also find audio to listen to Collins at http://www.jimcollins.com/  

Collins, Jim. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.  $17.

2. Olson, Ginny, Diane Elliot and Mike Work. Youth Ministry Management Tools. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2001.  $28.

               We will use this book to help design a ministry and build programming skills.

3. Stanley, Andy, Lane Jones, and Reggie Joiner. Seven Practices of Effective Ministry. Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2004. $15.

               We will be challenged by Andy Stanley, one of the most influential pastors in America, and the insights he has gleaned leading one of the fastest growing churches in America today.  Andy, Lane and Reggie have a podcast on this book at http://www.practicallyspeaking.org/  

4. Kimball, Dan.  The Emerging Church.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003.  $13 (Required last year so there are a number of CEM seniors with this book).

This book will serve as an alternative to the megachurch model.  Kimball’s book is an excellent introduction to understanding the emerging church movement which is the most important young adult ministry movement in America today. Dan has a blog: http://www.dankimball.com /

Optional instead:

But if you are strongly interested in counseling, you may read the following book instead.  (Mary, I am thinking about you here).  But instead of reading 100 pages of Kimball, I am requiring that you read 200 pages of Scazzero.  I have not ordered the Scazzero book for the Taylor bookstore.  I hope and expect most of you will read the Kimball book.

Scazzero, Peter with Warren Bird.  The Emotionally Healthy Church: A Strategy for Discipleship That Actually Changes Lives.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003.  $13.

But if you are strongly interested in social-justice or ministry to the poor, you may read the following book instead.  (Shanna and Carly, I am thinking about you here).  But instead of reading 100 pages of Kimball, I am requiring that you read 150 pages of Sider.  I have not ordered the Sider book for the Taylor bookstore.  I hope and expect most of you will read the Kimball book.

Sider, Ronald J., Philip N. Olson and Heidi Rolland Unruh. Churches That Make a Difference: Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002.  $15.

5. Peterson, Eugene H.  Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity.  Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987.  $11 (Required last year so there are a number of CEM seniors with this book).

This book will serve as an alternative to a high emphasis on programming.  The Peterson book talks about the importance of prayer, Scripture and spiritual direction in the life of the pastor.  Peterson is one of my heroes. 

Optional instead:

But if you are strongly interested in charismatic prayer ministry and are less interested in church ministry, you may read the following book by Cymbala.  You will be required to read all 200 pages of Cymbala as opposed to only 100 pages of Peterson. I have not ordered the Cymbala book for the Taylor bookstore.  I hope and expect most of you will read the Peterson book.

Cymbala, Jim.  Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997.  $13.

6. Frazee, Randy. The Christian Life Profile Assessment Tool Workbook: Discovering the Quality of Your Relationships with God and Others in 30 Key Areas. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005.  $11.

               We will use this workbook to learn about how to evaluate spiritual growth – something notoriously difficult to measure. 

Bonhoeffer and the Emerging Church: Ph.D. Application Paper

Update January 31, 2007.

I have posted below the revised paper.

Update December 31, 2006
I have posted below the revised paper.You are still welcome to give me feedback for later deadlines though the immediate deadline is passed.

Original post December 23, 2006
It is crunch time now and I'm getting my application materials ready for Princeton, Luther, Fuller and Emory in about a week.  Duke is a month later.  See my quick update about the Ph.D. here.
I would love it if any of you wanted to read my paper and give it some feedback.   
The paper is about Bonhoeffer and the Emerging Church movement.  I think it is worthwhile stuff but I would appreciate your advice about things to change.  Not academic enough?  Work on the writing? Focus more? 
I have attached it below. 

Download bonhoeffer_and_emerging_church.doc

Download bonhoeffer_and_emerging_church.pdf

Thanks so much.  Thanks for your prayers.  I hope you are well.  Merry Christmas.
andy

Scot McKnight's Excellent Lecture on the Emerging Church Movement

If you can only read one thing on the emerging church, read this. 

Scot McKnight gave a lecture Oct 26th entitled "What is the Emerging Church? and Misnomers Surrounding the Emerging Church" at a forum at Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia area).  It is excellent.  It is 30 pages but is pretty easy reading. 

I think Scot gets it right on.  Scot is a prolific and wise blogger here.  He is a professor of New Testament at North Park University. 

I have pasted the paper below.

Download scot_mcknight_what_is_the_emerging_church.pdf

Here is a link to the audio. 

Here is Scot's own reflection on the day. 

I was pleased to see David Black, Greek professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, responding positively to McKnight's talk here. 

Here is where you can buy the series. 

I have recommended Scot as a good source for understanding the emerging church movement before.  See here. 

Scot, and everyone else it seems, recommend the book Emerging Churches by Ryan Bolger and Eddie Gibbs because it lets the movement speak for themselves.  I reviewed that here.   

Scot will be at ETS and SBL if you are attending them this week. 

I found an article entitled More than a Fad: Understanding the Emerging Church by Walter Henegar of the PCA which shows quite a good grasp on the emerging church movement and responds quite fairly to it.  Most PCA folks tend to be suspicious of it.  Henegar was one of the speakers at the Westminster conference.

You can also read Scot McKnight's article based on the paper for Christianity Today at "Five Streams of the Emerging Church."

ETS Paper: "Emerging churches in dialogue with Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A fresh practical theology of discipleship for the church"

Update December 23, 2006.

I have updated the paper here.

I just thought I would let you know that I am presenting a paper this Wednesday at the Evangelical Theological Society in Washington, DC.

The title is: "Emerging churches in dialogue with Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A fresh practical theology of discipleship for the church."   

Here is a summary of what to expect.

According to UNC sociologist Christian Smith, evangelical teens tend to view Christianity as “feeling good, happy, secure, and at peace” (Soul Searching, 164).  And yet Jesus said "If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also" (Mt 5:39 TNIV).  We've got an educational problem here.  How do we bridge the gap?  We need to take a multi-disciplinary approach to tackle this issue.  I use the practical theology reflection paradigm described by Princeton Theological Seminary's Richard Osmer.

If we are going to reach young adults, it will be instructive to investigate what emerging churches are doing.  I suggest that these emerging churches should properly be seen as laboratories where innovative Christian practices are being explored.  I then present some insights by Dietrich Bonhoeffer on discipleship and innovative Christian practices.  I then look at the meaning of "turning the other cheek" according to New Testament scholars.  Finally, I suggest how a few emerging church practices could be utilized to teach young adults about turning the other cheek.

Here are the details of when and where I'm presenting.

Wednesday, November 15 // Afternoon

Lincoln East
3:20-4:00 PM
Andrew D. Rowell (Taylor University)
Emerging Churches in Dialogue with Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Fresh Practical Theology of Discipleship for the Church
(replaces paper by John S. Hammett, which is moved to November 15 in C-356 at 11:00 am)

I am on the "program changes" page which you can find on the conference page here.

I had written earlier about the ETS conference here.

December 1, 2006 Update

Due to your kind requests, I have put the paper I presented below.  I have been reading a lot more Bonhoeffer and have decided to completely restructure my dialogue between Bonhoeffer and Emerging Churches in another paper.  But, if you are interested, here was my first stab at the whole concept. 

Thanks Steve Knight for the link at Emergent Village. 

Best Podcasts for Church Leaders

Here are the best podcasts for church leaders that I have found. 

The ITunes links will only work if you have the free ITunes software installed on your computer.  See below for more directions.  I have also put the MP3 location for each link in case you don't want to bother with ITunes. 

Catalyst Podcast (ITunes): MP3 location.  The Catalyst Conference was this past weekend.  It is this cool conference for pastors under 40.  See my preview of it here.  There are good interviews with Rob Bell, Erwin McManus, Andy Stanley, Eugene Peterson, and Donald Miller.

Defining Moments Podcast (ITunes): MP3 location. These are samples of the Willow Creek Association Defining Moments audio CD's.  They are good 10 minute interviews but really leave you wanting more.  And that is the point.  They want your church to become part of the WCA and then the pastor will get the full CD's.   

Emergent Podcast (ITunes): MP3 location.  The Emergent Village is the main organization of the Emerging Church movement.  These podcasts are usually just plain good theological discussion.  You will enjoy them even if you aren't "emerging."  The first seven are with Yale theologian Miroslav Volf. 

Mars Hill Bible Church (ITunes): MP3 location.  Rob Bell, of the NOOMA DVDs, Velvet Elvis author and author of spring 2007 book Sex God, has more people download his sermons than anyone. 

Mosaic (ITunes): MP3 location. Erwin McManus, author of The Barbarian Way, and numerous other books, and pastor of Mosaic in LA. 

MPPC Sermon-Cast (ITunes): MP3 location.  John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, and author of The Life You've Always Wanted and other books, is an outstanding teacher. 

North Point Ministries: Life Rules (ITunes): MP3 location.  This is a series on relating with one another.  This is with Andy Stanley, pastor of the #3 influential church in the nation according thechurchreport.com and author of the new book Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication. North Point only podcasts their most recent sermon series. 

Practically Speaking (ITunes): MP3 location.  This is a series for church leaders based on the Seven Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley and friends. 

Covenant Worldwide of Covenant Theological Seminary has thirteen classes that are podcast.  They actually have many more for free at their website here. Below are the ITunes links. 

1. Old Testament History with V. Phillips Long (now at Regent College).
2. Biblical Theology with Gerard Van Groningen.
3. Life & Teachings of Jesus with Daniel Doriani.
4. Life & Letters of Paul with Hans Bayer. 
5. Ancient & Medieval Church History with David Calhoun.
6. Reformation & Modern Church History with David Calhoun. 
7. Calvin's Institutes with David Calhoun.   
8. Christian Ethics with David Jones. 
9. Apologetics & Outreach with Jerram Barrs.
10. Youth Ministry with Mark Davis. 
11. God and His Word with Michael Williams. 
12. Humanity, Christ and Redemption with Robert Peterson. 
13. Spirit, Church & Last Things with Robert Peterson.

See also my post about the best audio on the internet which is my most popular post. 

Other ITunes podcast links:

The below ITune links either aren't as strong as the ones above or are not directly related to church leadership.  But I thought I would place them anyway for your to see what is available and what I'm listening to.  The links below will only work if you have ITunes installed on your computer.  If you don't, I'm sure these MP3's are available but you will probably have to google them.  I don't want to take the time to find them right now. 

NYT Op-Ed Podcast (New York Times and other NYT is good.)
NPR (Anything at NPR.org or podcast is good. National Public Radio)
Moyers on America (PBS)
Nature (Science journal)
Science Talk: The podcast of Scientific American (Science journal)
Relevant Podcast (Relevant Magazine for Christians in 20's)
Jesus Asked (Book by Conrad Gempf; Zondervan, 2003. Read by the author in 15 minute segments.  "In the Gospels, when people asked Jesus a question, he often replied with one of his own. This book looks at the questions Jesus asked and how they can enrich our understanding and faith.")
PeterKreeft.com (Christian Catholic philosopher)
wiredparish.com (interview with Rob Bell is pretty good)
Willow Creek podcasts (not much there right now except a few random sermons)
Leadership Network  See my posts about listening to these video venue audio segments here.
Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
Gordon-Conwell Chapel
Donald Miller a few posts from a while ago
BusinessWeek - Climbing the Ladder
Christian Audio podcast - Devotional Classics
Duke Chapel Podcast including Richard Hays and Walter Brueggemann
USA Today's Pop Candy - on pop culture

Here are some basic instructions to get you started using ITunes for podcasts.

Basically, you download ITunes here.  It is free.  I would recommend doing it.  You might as well learn what people are talking about and it is free and convenient to have ITunes download your MP3's for you. 

Basically, ITunes like Internet Explorer doesn't work unless you are connected to the internet. When you open ITunes and see the ITunes store, go to the right side of the page under "Quick Links" and click "Power Search."   On the next screen, click "Podcasts" which is on the right side of the page.  Under Title, put "Mars Hill Bible Church" and then click "Search."  You will have found the podcast for Rob Bell's church.  Click on Mars Hill Bible Church.  Then you can see the main page for the podcast.  At the bottom, all of the episodes are available.  If they are not in the right order, click on "Release Date" to have them organized from most recent to least recent.  You can either "Subscribe" at the top so that you get each new sermon as it is posted on the net each week or you can just click "Get episode" and download the past sermons that you want. 

You can click on "Podcasts" under Library on the left side of your screen.  This will show you all the podcasts which you have downloaded and subscribe to.  Right in front of the title of the podcast you have downloaded is a little triangle pointing right or down.  If it is pointing down, you can see all the details of what episodes you have downloaded.  If it is pointing right, the details are hidden.  When you click on the name of the podcast, it is highlighted and a little arrow appears to the right of the title.  You can click on this arrow to go to the ITunes home page for that podcast.  You right click on the icon of the podcast on its ITunes home page to get its ITunes link (url). 

If you want to get back to searching for more podcasts, just click on the left side of your screen where it says "ITunes store."  In the ITunes store, you can always click back to the ITunes front page by clicking the little house at the top of your screen. 

The podcasts you download are audio computer files called MP3's.  Podcasts are generally free.  You can also download audio books or songs but you have to pay for them. 

Unlike the Apple song files, you can play the podcast MP3's on any computer and MP3 player. You can also burn them on CD's and play them on some CD and DVD players. 

For convenience, you might want to be able to access your ITunes MP3's without ITunes.  Here is the default location where podcasts are downloaded to your computer:

C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Podcasts

If you want to make a shortcut, go to My Documents, My Music, ITunes, ITunes Music, Podcasts.  Then right click and click Create Shortcut.  Cut that Shortcut folder and paste it on your desktop. 

You can grab the MP3's there if you want to transfer them to your MP3 player or a CD.  I

You can double click the photo on this post to get a bigger photo of what my ITunes looks like. 

Should we be worried about Contemplative Prayer?

A fellow professor asked about what the contemplative prayer movement is and if we should be concerned about it.  Here is how I responded:

Critics of contemplative prayer are particularly worried that Christians will accept Hindu or Buddhist practices.  When Christians speak of “meditating” or “meditation” or “Lectio Divina” (spiritual reading) or what we can learn from Catholic mystics such as Teresa of Avila, these critics start getting very concerned about these manifestations of contemplative prayer influencing people toward eastern mysticism.  For example, Richard Foster has a chapter on “meditation” in his book Celebration of Discipline. These critics worry about the continued influence of that book.  They worry that Christians will do Eastern mysticism practices and dismiss Scripture.  In reality, most people including Richard Foster are simply showing people what Biblical prayer and Scriptural meditation is all about. 

A number of Christian writers including Robert Webber and Tony Jones have decried our lack of historical knowledge. They have tried to remind modern Christians that Christians throughout history have memorized Scripture and prayed in solitude.  Some people within the emerging church movement (such as Jones) have encouraged these “ancient” practices as a response to the harried and consumeristic modern life-style.  You won’t be surprised to learn that contemplative prayer is not spreading like wild fire because it mostly entails mediation on Scripture and times of prayer in solitude!  This is not easy for any of us! 

It is appropriate to listen to the warnings about contemplative prayer but I would assume the best about Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Larry Crabb, Tony Jones, Robert Webber, James Houston and any others who urge us to meditate on Scripture and spend time in prayer!  This is the right kind of contemplative prayer. 

I would be happy to hear if there is more I need to know about this movement. 

Update February 2007:

See also a well known church Church of the Open Door (Maple Grove, MN) that has a Response to Emergent Church & Contemplative Movements (PDF) that sounds a lot like my response. 

What is the Emerging Church Movement?

I have been asked to brief a fellow professor on the Emerging Church Movement.  Here is how I responded. 

In my opinion, "The Emerging Church Movement" is a description for the new styles of evangelical churches that are being led by younger pastors who are between the ages of 25 and 40 today (who we used to call "Generation Xers").  (There are people younger and older but I’m trying to give you a ballpark sociological description).  Most used to be youth pastors and are now senior pastors.  They are using their youth ministry experience to help create churches that better reach younger people.  Of course any changes in church structure or practice could become heretical and deserve reflection.  But, it seems to me that all of the main "emerging church" writings would easily fall within the boundaries of the National Association of Evangelicals statement of faith.  The most controversial things some emerging church writers have questioned include how to best reach out to homosexuals (see an example from Brian McLaren at Leadership Journals’ Out of Ur blog 1, 2, 3) and whether hell has been biblically taught correctly within evangelicalism (See again McLaren at Out of Ur 1, 2, 3).  In my opinion, these are standard conversations within evangelicalism.  (As you can see, they are happening on Christianity Today’s website). 

As theological educators, I think we should view it this way:

the emerging church proponents = innovative evangelical youth pastors

They will make some mistakes in their enthusiasm for changes and relevance but they are trying their best to reach young adults and teens.  These are not enemies to argue with but rather people to cheer on, put your arm around, and offer guidance.  They will also challenge us in good ways and keep our churches fresh. 

Below I have provided some resources.  Let me know if you have questions or concerns.   

andy

Resouces:

The proper term is "The Emerging Church Movement" not "emergence" or "emergent."  And it does fit the sociological definition of a "movement."  The "Emergent Village" is the most organized group within the movement.  You can read their "statement of faith" which they call an "order" here.

You can read a decent description at Wikipedia on "Emerging Church."  (Wikipedia is a user generated encyclopedia that anyone can edit and both critics and supporters of the emerging church have basically agreed upon this description). 

The best scholarly book on the subject is:

Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures
by Eddie Gibbs, Ryan K. Bolger

Baker Academic (November 1, 2005)

You will be interested to know as well that the highly respected Trinity Evangelical Divinity School New Testament professor D.A. Carson has written a book that is mostly critical of the movement. 

Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church : Understanding a Movement and Its Implications
by D. A. Carson

Zondervan (May 1, 2005)

Carson tries to analyze the movement by analyzing Brian McLaren's epistemology.  It is a theological and philosophical analysis of what is really a practical phenomenon.   

See especially North Park New Testament professor Scot McKnight’s review of D.A. Carson’s Becoming Emergent with the Emerging Church

Parts: 1 2  3  4 5  6  7  8  Final issues: 1 1a 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Or if those links don't work, the first eight parts are here. 

Here is Scot McKnight’s description of the emerging church: 

What is the Emerging Church?

What is the Emerging Church? Protest

What is the Emerging Church? Postmodernity

What is the Emerging Church? Pro-Aplenty

I have my students read a book about the emerging church in Program and Curriculum Development.  They compare it to the megachurch movement.  We look at them as both influential church models within evangelicalism.

 

Church Leadership Free Audio Available

I have added four new sites to my list of great Christian audio. The full list of 60 links is here.

Two offer free seminary courses for depth:

Covenant Theological Seminary's "Covenant Worldwide" - free seminary courses.

Gordon-Conwell's Dimensions of the Faith free online theological education program. Listen to full Church History, Systematic Theology, and Biblical Studies courses.

Two discuss the latest trends in ministry:

Emergent Podcasts including LeRon Shults, Miroslav Volf and Scot McKnight.

Leadership Network resources - mission statement: to identify, connect and help high-capacity Christian leaders multiply their impact.

Image Isn’t Everything: the uneasy conscience of a GenX pastor

See my article (Part 1: "Image Isn’t Everything: the uneasy conscience of a GenX Pastor" here and Part 2" "Image Isn’t Everything 2: depth and transparency offer hope for GenX" here) that is being published in two parts at Leadership Journal's blog Out of Ur. I wrote it in 2004 as the founder and leader of a GenX ministry at Granville Chapel in Vancouver, British Columbia.

It bears similarities to my post about Andy Stanley and Leadership here.

I hope you can overlook my use of the term "Gen-X pastor." This term is rarely used anymore and very few people believe in the Generation X distinction. Willow Creek has a "Next Gen" Leadership Conference. I like that better. You can see my post about the Emerging Churches book by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger for more discussion about the confusing terms “emerging” and “emergent.”

I also affirm that this image issue is not limited to pastors in their 20’s and 30’s. My post simply tries to identify some of the issues I noticed in myself and my friends and how we have tried to address them.

Andy Stanley Says There is No Such Thing as Distinctively Spiritual Leadership

Here are my comments on the article: Is Ministry Leadership Different? Andy Stanley and Jim Collins in an unexpected point-counterpoint by Eric Reed at Leadership Journal's Out of Ur blog:

Andy Stanley, pastor of the third most influential church in the nation with more than 18,000 in attendance, is right in urging pastors to practice competent leadership regardless of its source. He says: “I grew up in a culture where everything was overly spiritualized . . . A principle is a principle, and God created all the principles.” He is right in saying that too often churches have permitted abuse, waste, and ineptitude in the name of forgiveness, family, and niceness. He is also right in declaring it makes sense to learn from others. We should be reexamining Scripture for wisdom as well as sifting through leadership and business management books for wise insight. (See my list of recommended business management books that are helpful for pastors here).

But Christian leaders are different from other leaders because of their Christian character (as Andy tacitly indicates in his words about the importance of prayer, counsel, and integrity when he speaks to church leaders). If leaders are not formed by Scripture, prayer and counsel [Eugene Peterson calls these the three angles in his book Working the Angles)], their vision and leadership will ultimately be shallow and self-serving. So I think Andy overstates the case when he says “There’s nothing distinctly spiritual [about the kind of leadership I do].” There is such a thing as spiritual (pleasing-to-the-Holy-Spirit) leadership that is often different from secular business leadership. Spiritual formation will actually change the way we do leadership. Some practices which would violate Scripture cannot be used even to meet seemingly good goals. In other words, Scripture restrains the use of some means. The ends do not always justify the means.

Eric Reed is right in pointing out that many young people are attracted to Andy Stanley but that he does not fit with the “emerging” leader profile which is also popular among young people. Reed writes:

“Stanley is becoming the model for the next generation of large church pastors [note Reed’s adjective large] . . . Because Andy connects well with younger leaders, who in general are bent more toward spiritual formation than church growth . . . I thought I’d hear something that backed up the pendulum swing we have heard prominent emerging leaders identify--that younger leaders don’t buy all the church growth stuff, that the models that built megachurches worked for boomers, but for Gen-X and younger? Fuggidaboudit.”

Many young suburban white young adults are attracted to Andy Stanley. He is what they want to be: attractive, making-a-difference, young, confident, and articulate with a gorgeous facility and a talented staff. But Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger describe in Emerging Churches a different set of young people who don’t want to copy management principles or accept megachurch assumptions. They want to emulate Jesus’ practices – wandering around talking to people, without a building, praying, telling stories, and helping people. Seeker churches like Stanley’s, on the other hand, want people to “meet Jesus” through getting them through whatever means to sit in the seats of their church.

My comments on the Gibbs and Bolger book Emerging Churches are here.

Most of the college students in my classes at Taylor University are attracted to both Andy Stanley and the Emerging church conversation. They are attracted to young charismatic leaders regardless of their ministry approach. Rob Bell and Erwin McManus are probably the two most popular among them since they have all the things Andy Stanley has (attractive, making-a-difference, young, confident, and articulate with a large facility and a talented staff) but also embrace some of aspects of the emerging churches: art, attitude, informality, stories, urban culture, and justice.

See my list of sermon audio links to listen to Stanley, Bell and McManus here.

For a scholarly presentation of how the apostle Paul dealt with secular ideas of leadership when they began to appear in Corinth, listen to New Testament scholar Bruce Winter's lecture "Secularization of First Century Christian Leadership - Inroads of Secular Models." Here is the synopsis.

Bruce Winter questions the word "leader" as the name we use when talking about church ministers. He says Paul intentionally does not use the Greek word for leader to describe the ministers in the early church. Winter also says Paul intentionally rejected the braggart, money-making, attractive orator image that was readily apparent in the culture at the time.

This must cause all of us to pause as we think of the kind of Christian leaders that are so often held up as "making a difference" in our culture. Most often they get famous as successful pastors because they are great speakers and attractive. Perhaps this is always the way to fame and there is no preventing it. But that does not mean we need to try to emulate the famous (as is so natural).

Jeffrey Fox lays out "the rules to rise to the top of any organization" in How to Become CEO. Here are a few out of the 75.

• Keep Physically Fit
• Dress for a Dance
• Be Visible
• Learn to Speak and Write in Plain English
• Say Things to Make People Feel Good
• Look Sharp and Be Sharp
• The Concept Doesn't Have to Be Perfect But the Execution of It Does

I am quite sure that Fox is right that if we applied these we could rise to the top of any organization including the church. The Corinthians would have sent Paul the book. "Work on your appearance, Paul. Don't do manual labor. Charge higher fees. Try to be a bit more polished."

We could work on those things or instead we could learn to pray the Psalms.

1 Sam 16:7. But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things human beings look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (TNIV).

May God give us wisdom to do our tasks well - gathering wisdom wherever we may find it - from secular and Christian mentors and books. But may God also form us as people after his own heart so that we do the right tasks in the right way.

Gibbs and Bolger's Emerging Churches Focuses Almost Exclusively On Small House Churches

Gibbs, Eddie and Ryan K. Bolger. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.

Disclaimer: I liked the book and I recommend that everyone read it. It articulates the ideals of the Emerging Church movement very well and gives practical examples of each ideal. Bravo! Now for the critique . . . which perhaps is no surprise considering the fuzzy nature of the movement . . . I didn't like how they limited the definition of "Emerging Churches."

It seems almost everyone agrees that Gibbs and Bolger have written the most responsible, comprehensive and current portrait of the Emerging Church movement. Their methodology seemed sound. They interviewed 50 emerging church leaders and tried to collate those responses into a report from the frontlines. I thoroughly appreciated the work and plan on writing more about its positive points. But today I have a warning for the reader: Gibbs and Bolger basically just focus on small house churches. Though there are large church pastors, traditional church pastors, youth pastors, and Next-Gen pastors “in the conversation” at any emergent conference or emerging church website, you will not hear from them in this book.

Gibbs and Bolger have made the crucial decision to exclude Gen-X megachurches and Gen-X/young adult services from their portrait of the emerging church. They admit that these forms of church are often what people think of when they use the term emerging churches. But apparently Gibbs and Bolger have decided to try to change that. They write, “Popularly, the term emerging church has been applied to high-profile, youth-oriented congregations that have gained attention on account of their rapid numerical growth; their ability to attract (or retain) twentysomethings; their contemporary worship, which draws from popular musical styles; and their ability to promote themselves to the Christian subculture through websites and by word of mouth” (41). Though most people consider these youthful expressions of church part of the emerging church movement, Gibbs and Bolger dismiss these expressions as hopelessly “modern.” They write, “Taking postmodernity seriously requires that all church practices come into question. In contrast, Gen-X churches involve simply changes in strategy from what came before (e.g., adding stories, video, raw music, vulnerable preaching, art, and candles). However, to be missional is to go way beyond strategy. It is to look for church practices that can be embodied within a particular culture. In other words, theologies given birth within modernity will not transfer to postmodern cultures” (34). I think they are wrong to dismiss the possibility that Gen-X churches are missional. (Popularized by Darrell Guder’s The Missional Church, this term simply means a fresh application of the techniques of missiology to Western culture. There is no reason only church plants or house churches can do this. In fact, the book is written by Guder who is a PCUSA person with the intention to shake up the mainline churches especially). They are also naïve to assume that “emerging churches” can possibly remove themselves from the influence of modernity. Emerging churches will still likely use modern inventions such as printed Bibles, automobiles, public transit, computers, phones, etc.

Because of their definition, it seemed to me that the description by Gibbs and Bolger of “emerging churches” sounds a lot like “house churches” to me. A small group of 10-100 people come together, discuss some Scripture, care for one another, stress participation in worship, eat a meal together, share leadership, do good to those in the community, and do friendship evangelism. They write, “When emerging churches meet in a large congregational setting, they widen their community ties and build on the intimacy developed in their small groups. These networks of small groups may gather together on a monthly basis. However, the large group meeting is of secondary importance” (112). There are a lot of church leaders which are not specifically house church-oriented that have been highly involved in discussing how to minister to postmoderns.

It seems to me most of the leaders of the emerging church they interviewed would consider the Gen-X church leaders part of the “emerging church conversation.” Listen to these definitions.

a. Jonny Baker: “Church, as we have inherited it, is no longer working for vast groups of people. The world has changed so much. So I think the term emerging church is nothing more than a way of expressing that we need new forms of church that relate to culture” (41).

b. Ben Edson: “So emerging church for me is quite simply a church that
is rooted in the emerging context and is exploring worship, mission, and
community within that context” (41-42).

c. Karen Ward: what is “coming to the surface that is new, unformed,
still happening, emerging” (42).

d. Mark Scandrette: “The emerging church is a quest for a more
integrated and whole life of faith. There is a bit of theological
questioning going on, focusing more on kingdom theology, the inner life,
friendship/community, justice, earth keeping, inclusivity, and inspirational
leadership. In addition, the arts are in a renaissance, as are the
classical spiritual disciplines. Overall, it is a quest for a holistic
spirituality” (42).

e. Doug Pagitt: “He sees three types of responses to the current
context: (1) a return to the Reformation (e.g., Mars Hill in Seattle); (2) deep
systemic changes, but Christianity and the church are still in the center and
theological changes are not needed (e.g., University Baptist in Waco and Mosaic
in Los Angeles); and (3) seeing the church as not necessarily the center of
God’s intentions. God is working in the world, and the church has the
option to join God or not. The third approach focuses more on the kingdom
than on the church, and it reflects the perspective of Solomon’s Porch in
Minneapolis and characterizes what Pagitt would classify as emerging”
(42).

Gibbs and Bolger essentially decide to accept Pagitt’s most exclusive third approach as their working definition and ignore the more broader definitions articulated by Baker, Edson, Ward and Scandrette. (It should also be said that the third approach is not articulated well in the quote above. How is the church not the center of God’s intentions? I think what they are trying to say is that these churches have a fresh awareness of the importance of a kingdom perspective but this is overstated and unclear in the quote).

I understand that Gibbs and Bolger could not profile everyone who is part of the emerging church conversation. They have to draw the line somewhere. So they have decided to argue that the emerging church is very different from other expressions of church. But it seems to me their definition ends up excluding some of the leading voices in the movement: Brian McLaren, Chris Seay, Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, and Erwin McManus. McLaren, indisputably one of the leaders of the movement, is rarely quoted in the book and his church is never mentioned as an example of an emerging church. Rob Bell, who is not explicitly part of the movement but was featured in the Christianity Today article by Andy Crouch on the emerging church and is extremely influential among young church leaders, is never mentioned. Chris Seay, who invited Tony Jones (coordinator of Emergent) to speak at the anniversary of his church, is dismissed. The Younger Evangelicals by Robert Webber, The Church on the Other Side by Brian McLaren, and The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball have other weaknesses but they do not exclude these other voices. They include the fact that many pastors are trying to help traditional, seeker and modern churches become more adept at ministering in a postmodern context. For Gibbs and Bolger, if you haven’t planted it from scratch, then it doesn’t count as an “emerging church.” I would say there is a range of emerging churches who are involved in the conversation. I’m interested in what all of them have to say. However, Gibbs and Bolger limit themselves to just numbers 8-9.

1. Mosaic (Erwin McManus)
2. Mars Hill Church (Mark Driscoll)
3. Traditional churches that are being led by young pastors who are trying to adapt them to reach a postmodern culture
4. Gen-X/young adult services
5. Gen-X Churches
6. Mars Hill Bible Church (Rob Bell)
7. Cedar Ridge Community Church (Brian McLaren)
8. Solomon’s Porch (Doug Pagitt)
9. House churches / post-modern church plants

To be fair, Gibbs and Bolger intend to include the overhaul of traditional churches and also large churches in their analysis. They write, “Most of these emerging churches are new, while others represent the rejuvenation of long-standing congregations and ancient traditions. Some of these frontline churches are large, the biggest attracting crowds of several hundreds or even thousands, but the majority are small, consisting of independent groups of less than thirty or clusters of house groups totally less than one hundred” (29). But in the end I had difficulty identifying any churches that have “thousands” in attendance or are the result of a traditional church being adapted. They also try to distinguish these emergent churches from “house churches” (60). “Unlike the stereotypical house church, emerging churches do not exist in isolation but establish networks for mutual support and encouragement” (113). Still I think the churches they describe are very similar to house churches. I think it would have been more fruitful to pick out how all sorts of churches are trying to reach postmoderns.

Review of Preaching Re-Imagined by Doug Pagitt

I read Doug Pagitt's book Preaching Re-Imagined Zondervan (September 1, 2005) today.

Doug is the pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis and a member of the leadership of Emergent.

Summary:

He questions the value of 1-way lecture preaching. He calls it "speaching." He modestly presents his own model which he calls "progressional dialogue." Concretely this includes having a Bible study on Tuesday night regarding the upcoming Sunday sermon with a number of people from the congregation. He can learn from them and quote them in the sermon. He also gives 10 minutes of open-mic discussion time after his sermon so that people can suggest applications, ask questions, and hear from one another. He also encouraged people to blog about the sermon afterward.

Reaction to thesis:

As someone who is currently a college professor, this seems obvious in the classroom. Yes present content but don't always lecture the entire class period. Give some opportunity for some interaction and questions.

I also teach my students an interactive classroom and small group teaching method called "Shared Christian Praxis" by Thomas Groome from his books Christian Religious Education and Sharing Faith.

However, the sermon is a different thing and for a variety of reasons this 1-way lecturing is the norm. In short (this is my summary - not Doug's), there are people (especially Reformed) who believe this is the right way. Second, there is tradition. Third, it is impractical in a college lecture hall of 100 people (or a church auditorium of 1000) to have good discussion.

Pagitt says the 1-way lecturing model of preaching has a particular effect on the relationship between the pastor and the congregation. It cultivates a sense in which the pastor is admired, unquestioned, and isolated. He or she "the one who knows the Bible." He doesn't think that these effects are particularly biblical nor good for the community nor good for him in the long run.

Still, Doug advocates that the preacher should not just give into the whims of the congregation. The preacher is to prepare and speak courageously to challenge the community in the area of its blindspots. There will simply be times when they point out his blindspots as well and times when they will challenge one another.

Application of thesis:

For me, there have been times when I have listened to sermons that I badly wished it was appropriate to ask questions. Sometimes the preacher says something particularly insenstive and I want to be able to ask: "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you said . . . but I'm sure you don't really mean all the nasty implications of that if it were taken the wrong way, right? I just wanted to give you the opportunity to clarify."

Recently, I was at a conference at Granger Community Church and we were allowed to put questions in a bowl on our table. At the end of the morning and afternoon sessions, they tried to answer the questions. That was great!

When I led a young adult ministry, I invited in speakers and invited them to speak for 1/2 hour and then take questions for 15 minutes and then we would encourage people to stay around for dessert. The whole evening was around round tables (dinner, worship, speaker, Q&A, dessert) so that also facilitated discussion.

Similarly, I have done a lot of preaching and one of the first shocks in preaching is how little real feedback you get. During a sermon, people nod off and sleep. Very few people physically or verbally interact with you as you would if you were talking in a small group. (This is not true in an African-American church. I just visited Enon Tabernacle in Philadelphia in January and the interaction was incredible).

Afterward, people typically say, "nice sermon" but that's about it. To get some decent feedback, I eventually had some of my fellow preachers fill out a form for me each time I spoke: (1) what helped me hear was . . . (2) what would have helped me hear better was . . . (3) this sermon inspires me to . . .

I have loved studying the passage I will be preaching on with my small group before I give the sermon. They have reminded me where people are at and given me fresh approaches. I highly recommend that practice.

All in all, I think Doug's approach has much to commend it and I plan on continuing to push the envelope like Doug in encouraging interaction.

Recommendation of who should read this book:

If you have questioned the polished, manuscripted, impersonal, talking-down-to, zero-feedback, difficult-to-apply-to-everyone sermon, this book will be a fresh breeze. If you have forgotten those very real concerns, this book will be a good reminder to keep things fresh.

I think this is a great little provocative book to have students read in preaching classes. I think students in preaching classes are intuitively asking the questions Doug is asking and this book would give them a forum for dealing with those questions. They are asking:

Who am I to preach?
I don't want to use a manuscript - that's boring. I want to walk around and gesture.
How do I not manipulate people but keep them with me?
How do I apply this sermon to people I don't even know and who are at totally different places in life?

This is a must-read for preaching professors (if that needs to be said).

I read the book during my son's two 1-hour naps today so it is a pretty easy read. I only intended to read chapter 2 because Doug says this is the summary of the entire book. If you can't do anything else, do that.

This book is not perfectly written. The book has some quotes from people in his congregation which could probably have been condensed, etc. It is not meticulously researched as he cites just four outside sources in the entire book. But I don't think these things really matter.

This is Doug telling us why he does it the way he does it. I think it is valuable, fresh, honest, and in most cases persuasive.

Resources:

Here is Doug Pagitt's blog and the blog for the book and you can find discussion at North Park professor and New Testament scholar Scot McKnight's famous and outstanding blog: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Also, you can hear Doug on a panel at the Princeton Seminary Emerging Church/Theological Education Caucus (#2) if you like audio like I do. See also my preaching bibliography, teaching bibliograpy and use of media in teaching and preaching bibliography.

Listen here to Richard Holland of Master's Seminary who vehemently disagrees with Pagitt's take on preaching. If you would rather not listen to the MP3, see the notes Mark Shivers took here.

I love listening to sermons and lectures. Here is my list of some that are available on the net.

John MacArthur Attacks the Emergent Church For Questioning the Clarity of the Scriptures

I listened to John MacArthur on the Emergent Church today. Masters Seminary (whose motto is "We Train Men as if Lives Depended on It!") is doing a 5 week series of critique on the Emergent Church. You can find the series of lectures to listen to here.

The first talk was given by MacArthur who explained that the problem with the Emergent Church is that they question the perpescuity (or clarity or intelligibility) of Scripture. I think that is actually a good insight which I hadn't considered. And yet I would put a positive spin on it: that many emergent church folks are taking a fresh look at the Scriptures to make sure the texts actually mean what we think they mean before we construct doctrines with them.

The perpescuity of Scripture is a good solid reformed doctrine. The doctrine of the perpescuity of the Scriptures means "that the basic message of Scripture has been clearly revealed so that everyone can understand it" (Don Stewart of the Blue Letter Bible - italics mine). It does not mean that every issue is clear. The ideas is that the major tenets can be discerned by common people from the Scriptures without some other authority to interpret them. As far as I understand it was articulated by the Reformers in reaction to those who argued only priests or popes could understand Scripture.

It is possible to use this doctrine to squelch conversation about Scripture - "It is clear and there is nothing more to say!" The Bereans were praised for checking the Scriptures to see if what their leaders were saying was actually true.

Acts 17:11 (English Standard Version)
11Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

It seems to me that this is basically what the emergent conversation is all about or at least what I hope it is about. The emergent writers I'm enjoying listening to are asking these type of questions. What have we missed? What did our parents' generation misread? How are we to behave toward our government as Christians? How are we to treat the poor? How do we structure our worship services? How do we use technology? What is preaching? How can we look at all these issues freshly from a biblical perspective?

I agree with MacArthur that the Scriptures need to be the source and fuel and foundation for the church. I can see how the fact the talk by some of embracing those who do homosexual acts into leadership, the non-existence of hell, and ecumenical discussions with Jews could make him concerned about the movement's biblical foundations. However, I'm hopeful that the Emergent church conversation is essentially a "back to the Bible" discussion. For example, I have been inspired by Rob Bell to look at the Bible with a deep hunger to understand its cultural context so to understand it better - (though Bell does not necessarily consider himself part of the Emergent movement).

I agree with Brian McLaren that the Emergent Church movement is basically a "conversation." I'm simplifying here but most participating are youngish pastors in their 20's, 30's, and 40's. who have been leading youth groups for 10 years and are now filling positions of local church leadership and are asking - "what will we do differently? What will we emphasize?"

In contrast to MacArthur's declaration that the meaning of Scripture is obvious, I appreciate the point by Richard Hays and Ellen Davis that understanding Scripture may not be so easy. Often we are greatly helped by thorough study of the cultural background of a text and its literary cues to understand its meaning. Hays and Davis write this:

The bad news is that, like every other true art, reading scripture is a difficult thing to do well. Strangely, we do not often mention this difficulty in church, in sermons or in teaching. Our attitude seems to be that interpreting scripture is a cut-and-dried kind of thing. In most liberal churches, the issue hardly seems worth discussing. Even in more Bible-oriented churches, there is little acknowledgment of the fact that making good sense of the Bible and applying that sense wisely to our lives is hard to do. The disciplines of attentiveness to the word do not come easily to us, accustomed as we are to user-friendly interfaces and instant gratification. (It is worth noting that recognition of the difficulty of interpretation is one of the huge differences between Jews and modern Christians; Jews have always revered the reading of scripture as the greatest and most difficult of all art forms. (From Learning to Read the Bible Again - article available online).

This does not mean we don't read Scripture but rather we attack it with hunger to understand it. (See especially the writings by Craig Keener who is deeply passionate about the backgrounds of the New Testament). It also means listening for God's voice as we read. Eugene Peterson's question has been on my heart for the last few years as I read Scripture: "Am I looking for something or listening for a voice?" (See especially his book Working the Angles). What might God be saying to me through this passage? 

MacArthur's Concern Regarding Tom Wright and Why Emergent Folks Actually Like Tom Wright
MacArthur is concerned that many Emergent people are reading Tom Wright and praising him. He is concerned that N.T. Wright's view of the atonement is not orthodox. First of all, since about 1999, Michael Bird says that Wright has been much more careful about making sure to make clear that he believes the justification is about taking care of sin. Second, I don't know of anyone who likes Wright because of his unorthodox view of the atonement! They (we) like him because he is an incredible apologist for the Resurrection. They like him because he makes the Bible come alive because of his deep immersion in the Scriptures. I first became aware of Wright in a 1999 Christianity Today article available here (sorry not free) that talked about how he had personally taped himself reading the OT in English and the NT in Greek and that he listened to these audio tapes all the time. (See my post that includes Greek audio resources here). They like him because he is passionate about ministry - seeing the poor cared for, preaching, worship, and church planting. They like him because he stood up in the Jesus Seminar and said "no" and yet is still a widely respected scholar by his peers. They like him for his insight about the 5 act play in The New Testament and the People of God - that we know the end of the story (eschatology) and the previous acts (witness of the New Testament) but we must live in such a way that our actions are fitting between the times. Hopefully, none of us are swallowing everything Wright has to say whole. For example, many scholars believe he is seeing the New Exodus in too much of the New Testament. (Listen to James Dunn and Wright discuss the issue here). But they also agree that it is the New Exodus is an underlying theme at least.

MacArthur's Tone vs. McLaren's Tone
A couple other comments about MacArthur's lecture. I suppose if you are sure you are right and concerned that others are being led astray, you have the tone that he had. He is matter of fact and self-assured. Part of the reason for this is that he was preaching to the choir - speaking at Masters Seminary to people who have come there because they want to learn from him. But I can't help but appreciate Brian McLaren's tone in his lecture at Princeton Seminary. He was self-effacing about his own heritage (Brethren), delicate in his criticisms, inspiring, humble and gracious. No doubt MacArthur would say McLaren is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

MacArthur's Understanding of Emerging Churches
I agree with the comments here by Andrew Jones that the books McLaren referenced did not seem to be foundational emergent church works. MacArthur says he has read Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi by David Crowder (a worship leader) and Faith of My Fathers by Chris Seay (Crowder's pastor). He also mentions a review by John Franke of McLaren's book A Generous Orthodoxy. MacArthur makes Franke sound like a huge critic when in fact he wrote the foreword to the book and is a supporter of McLaren I believe! I think if he would have read Eddie Gibbs's Emerging Churches, or Robert Webber's The Younger Evangelicals, or even McLaren's The Church on the Other Side, I think I would feel like he understood the movement a bit better.

Who MacArthur Tears Down and Who MacArthur Loves
Finally, what I was also interested in was MacArthur's explicit criticisms of Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. He said we shouldn't call seeker churches "churches" because they neglect Scripture. He also explained how he had received a distubing email from David Wells informing him that Walt Kaiser had stepped down as president of Gordon-Conwell and that they had hired a "seeker" proponent as his replacement. See Gordon Conwell's announcement from 1/23/2006 here and more announcements about significant promotions in the evangelical world at Christianity Today's website here. MacArthur also mentioned his opposition to Jack Rogers at Fuller Seminary in the 70's over inerrancy and his opposition to the charismatic movement in the 80's.

MacArthur also talked about having a monthly conference call with some other like-minded theologians and pastors: Don Carson, Phil Ryken, John Piper, David Wells, Ligon Duncan, Albert Mohler, and Mark Dever. He also talked about being with Kent Hughes and Wayne Grudem the week before and that they had said everything that could be said about the subject at hand. It is just interesting to learn MacArthur's circles.

Recommended Academic Treatments on the Emerging Church movement

Carson, D.A. Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.

Gibbs, Eddie and Ryan K. Bolger. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures. Baker Academic, 2005.

McLaren, Brian D. A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004.

Webber, Robert E. The Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New World. Baker Books, 2002.

Recommended Works on Ecclesiology by Academics

Guder, Darrell L., ed. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.

Sweet, Leonard, ed. and Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Frederica Mathews-Green, Brian D. McLaren, and Erwin Raphael McManus. The Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives. El Cajon: emergentYS, 2003.

Volf, Miroslav. After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.