Thoughts on the Emergent – Part 7

This will be my final post on the emergent movement (because seven is a holy number).  I have come to the conclusion here that the emerging movement sprung up largely as a result of missionally focused churches frustrated with the American church (or churches as we talked about in part 6).  I came to the conclusion that missional is a confusing word (from articles like the one from CT) and the “modern church” is also a confusing word (for more information of “modern church” Baylor has done a wonderful study).

In short, we discovered that the movement (if you can call it that) is complex, ambitious, and hard to pin down.  I discovered that I still have a lot to learn about the roots of the movement.  Finally, I have great respect for the movement.  I think that it is in a difficult place because it is trying to set forth where the church is going in a very unpredictable and quickly changing world.  Their predictions may be correct or incorrect, but they are at least trying and this is more than we can say of many churches who are trying the same failed plans again and again.  I look forward to continuing debate on these issues.