An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches
By Ray S. Anderson
InterVarsity Press (2006), Paperback

Author: Anderson received his PhD at the University of Edinburgh. He is senior professor of theology and ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Organization: The book divides into ten distinct chapters. Each chapter discusses a contrasted pair:

• Theology not geography
• Christ not just Christology
• Spirit not just spirituality
• Right gospel not just right polity
• Kingdom living not kingdom building
• Work of God not just word of God
• Law of love not letter of Law
• Community of the Spirit not just gifts of the Spirit
• Mission not just ministry
• Church ahead of us not just church behind us

Intention: To offer an emergent narrative theology to the Bible-teaching, Bible-reading community that is the emerging church, with the goal of helping to answer the question, what is the emerging church all about?

Tag: books

The Emerging Church
By Bruce Larson and Larry Osborne
Waco, Tex., Word Books [1970] 160 p.

Authors: Osborne is an ordained Presbyterian minister with a BD from McCormick Theological Seminary. He is Executive Director at Faith at Work. Larson is an ordained Presbyterian minister with a BD from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is President of Faith at Work.
(from the flap of the 1970 book...likely changed :-) ...I may update it later)

Organization: The book is divided into five parts, each having two chapters. Part one, Defining Goals, challenges churches to weed out inadequate goals and develop authentic goals. Part two, Discovering Resources, challenges churches to move from secondary resources like size, location, building, and leadership to primary resources like divinity and humanity. Part three, Developing Strategy, challenges churches to set aside strategies devised for immediate needs or historical nostalgia, and to develop strategies that recruit, train, and equip spiritual pioneers. Part four, Discerning Opportunities, challenges churches to seek diligently for opportunities to speak and to consider carefully the stories of other churches and adjust accordingly. Part five, Dreaming Dreams, challenges churches to nurture their capacity for change and to look forward to what God is doing and how the church might participate.

Intention: To challenge churches to discover the “new thing” God is doing and find their own “authentic form, life-style, and purpose” within it.

Tag: books

Emergingchurch.intro
By Michael Moynagh
256 pages
Publisher: Monarch Books (June 1, 2005)

Author: author of Changing World, Changing Church.

Organization: The book is divided into eight chapters. Chapter one introduces and describes the emerging church and related concepts and expressions. Chapter two, Seven Faces of God, describes values that might underpin emerging churches. Chapter three, “New world, new church,” places the significance of emerging church upon the fact of changing culture. Chapter four, “talking strategic sense,” places the practicality of EC on the fact of changing culture. Chapter five, “U-church for an I-world,” discusses EC’s potential to subvert consumerism. Chapter six, “Church! Get me out of here!,” describes EC’s challenge for Christians to rethink “church.” Chapter seven, “down to the local,” details some practical steps for local churches. Chapter eight, “fast-tracking new church,” offers suggestions for denominations and “streams” to respond to the challenge (33).

Intention: To inform those who want to know more, to “tease out the implications” for those who understand, and to encourage those who want to get started.

See the related, though not connected, website: emergingchurch.info

Tag: books

The Church in Emerging Culture
Edited by Leonard Sweet
272 pages
Publisher: Zondervan/Youth Specialties (October 1, 2003)

Authors: Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Frederica Matthewes-Green, Brian D. McLaren, and Erwin Raphael McManus.

Organization: After an introduction essay in which Sweet introduces the metaphors of garden, park, glen, and meadow, the book is divided into five essays (one by each contributor). Interspersed throughout each contributor essay are conversational comments by the other contributors. At the end of each essay, the author of the essay puts forth a rejoinder to the comments. The conversation in this book takes up what H. Richard Niebuhr started in Christ and Culture, considering the Christian faith along two axes: change in method and change in message. There is at least one contributor in each of the four quadrants.

Intention: To consider from four distinct perspectives three crucial questions:
What should the church look like today?
What should be the focus of the message?
How should it present that message?

Tag: books

The Radical Reformission
By Mark Driscoll
208 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (October 1, 2004)

Author: founding pastor of Mars Hill Church (Seattle) and Acts29 Network. Early participant in Leadership Network and the birthing of Emergent Village. No longer involved.

Organization: Two parts: Each seven chapters in the two parts consists of four sections: remember, repent, redeem, and reflect. (1) Loving your Lord through the gospel and (2) Loving your neighbor in the culture. The first part insists on following Jesus as the core of what it is to be Christian. The gospel is the story and explanation of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Our kindest gift to people is to connect them to Jesus and his people. The second part begins to equip the reader to enter the culture, proclaiming Jesus and clarifying his truth.

Intention: To inspire readers to enter the world’s culture in order to proclaim Jesus, envisioning Kingdom culture (189); to challenge readers to stay close to Jesus, who is the only way to stay free from the world, the flesh, and the Devil (189); and to examine theologically and practically the themes of gospel and culture.

Tag: books

Emerging Churches
By Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger
352 pages
Publisher: Baker Academic (December 1, 2005)

Authors: Eddie Gibbs is the Donald A. McGavaran Professor of Church Growth at Fuller. Ryan Bolger is assistant professor of church in contemporary culture at Fuller.

Point of View: Eddie has been researching and teaching “church renewal, leadership, and evangelization” for over thirty years. He is from the UK, and was ordained in the Church of England. Ryan is a participant in new paradigm churches, has been part of emerging church leadership in Southern California, and is a native of Los Angeles (8).

Organization: After describing current culture and the emerging church, Gibbs and Bolger guide their readers through nine missiologically significant characteristics of the emerging church leaders interviewed during the research:

1. Identifying with Jesus
2. Transforming secular space
3. Living as community
4. Welcoming the stranger
5. Serving with generosity
6. Participating as producers\
7. Creating as created beings
8. Leading as a body
9. Merging ancient and contemporary spiritualities.

Intention: To identify the essential practices of emerging churches in the US and UK in order to enable and encourage conversation with and among the emerging generations of Christians.


Tag: books

The Emerging Church
By Dan Kimball
272 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (March 1, 2003)

Author: Dan Kimball is one of the pastors of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz. He is part of the emerging church. Kimball espouses “Vintage Faith,” a return to the “vintage values of the original Christian church and teachings of Jesus.”

Organization: After an introduction that makes a case for the emerging church and sets out caveats for understanding it, Kimball discusses theology and praxis. Part 1 deconstructs the current situation down to causes and theological essentials. Part 2 reconstructs church by suggesting practical ideas for implementing the essential theology of missional church.

Intention: To inform his readers about the situation of post-Christendom and a biblical Christian response to this situation, and to inspire his readers to be the kind of Christians who have a reputation of faith and an “outward missional focus” (16).

Tag: books

They Like Jesus but not the Church
By Dan Kimball
272 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (March 2007)

Author: Dan Kimball is one of the pastors of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz. He is part of the emerging church. Kimball espouses “Vintage Faith,” a return to the “vintage values of the original Christian church and teachings of Jesus.”

Organization: After an introduction in which Kimball challenges pastors and leaders to stand up and transform their ministries into missions, he leads his readers through three parts. Part One describes the changing culture and the necessity of going outside the church to meet those who like Jesus. Part Two describes the various perspectives of those who like Jesus but not the church. Part Three challenges the church to respond in a way that maintains its identity as the body of Christ and creates bridges.

Intention: To make his readers uncomfortable, to encourage self-examination, and to inspire a hope and confidence in God that compels them to mission.

Tag: books

Soul Graffiti
By Mark Scandrette
272 pages
Publisher: Jossey-Bass (April 20, 2007)

Author: Director and cofounder of ReIMAGINE (a center for spiritual formation in San Francisco), founding member of SEVEN (a monastic community), minister-writer-spiritual teacher for 15 years, and senior-fellow with Emergent Village. (from backflap)

Point of View: Urban, peer learning, intense learning, whole life Christianity, ministry with-to-by.

Organization: The book is divided into four parts. The parts flow from four phrases in Mark 1:14-15.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

Part One explores Jesus as proclaimer. Part Two explores “the time has come.” Part Three explores “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Part Four explores “repent and believe.” The book integrates conversation and praxis throughout.

Intention: To address the question of how to live the kingdom—the way of Jesus—in wholeness and community. He approaches theological questions from a whole life, whole self perspective.

NOTE: I've finally posted that summary I promised.

Tag: books

Reclaiming the Center
Edited Millard J. Erickson, Paul Kjoss Helseth, Justin Taylor
368 pages
Publisher: Crossway Books (November 9, 2004)

Editors: Erickson is a Distinguished Professor of Theology at Western Seminary. Helseth is Associate Professor of Christian Thought at Northwestern College. Taylor is Director of Theology and Executive Editor of Desiring God.

Point of View: The movement-mood known as post-evangelicalism (among a host of other names) both requires and deserves critical and respectful engagement.

Organization: The book is divided into five parts. Part One introduces post-evangelicalism and its primary voices (Grenz, Olson, Webber, and McLaren), provides an overview of this work, and critiques Renewing the Center. Part Two critiques post-evangelicalism on philosophical grounds. Part Three critiques its theological method. Part Four critiques its historiography. Part Five looks ahead to what ought to happen after modernism and postmodernism.

Intention: To debate and dialogue, denounce and describe, and to critique and learn from post-evangelicalism in order that readers might be equipped to navigate into the post-post-modern world.

Tag: books

The Mission-Shaped Church
By the Mission-Shaped Church Working Group of the Church of England
192 pages
Publisher: Church House Pub. (October 2007)

Authors: a working group of the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council (ix). The working group consists of eleven officials (bishops, vicars, directors, archdeacons, rectors, secretaries, and team leaders).

Point of View: Realizing that the Church of England parochial system was no longer fully effective, the working group recognized the need for a variety of ecclesial approaches (xi), also known as “fresh expressions.”

Organization:

• Chapter 1 describes England’s changing culture.
• Chapter 2 narrates changes since the 1994 publication of Breaking New Ground, in which church planting was first recognized as a valid mission endeavor.
• Chapter 3 defines church planting and its significance.
• Chapter 4 describes several fresh expressions.
• Chapter 5 explicates a theology of a missionary church.
• Chapter 6 offers principles and methodologies.
• Chapter 7 describes a framework by which the church planting aspirations of Breaking New Ground might be realized.
• Chapter 8 offers recommendations flowing from the insights and experiences described in Mission-Shaped Church.

Intention: To have Mission-Shaped Church studied/discussed at all levels of the Church of England and such groupings to be encouraged to respond appropriately (x).


Tag: books

Missio Dei
By Fred Peatross
116 pages
Publisher: Cold Tree Press (June 15, 2007)

Author: leader in a traditional church in Huntington, WV; former church planter in the Ukraine; living as a missionary to America; self-proclaimed renegade.

Point of View: The attractional view of mission misses the ways of Jesus and does not fulfill his mission.

Organization: There are two parts (deconstruction and reconstruction). The various chapters are organized under these two.

Deconstruction

• Attractional and Missional—the current culture demands a missional stance
• Forging New Gospel Communities—the missional church is polar opposite with the attractional, yet might influence the attractional to engage culture and transform into mission

Reconstruction

• Evolution of an Emerging—movements begin with conversation; emergent may become a movement, but either way, it has influence
• Missional Mechanism for the Attractional Church—an invitation to perpetually change and train
• Think Globally, Act Neighborly—indigenous, designed space; evangelism as a process involving ordinary attempts; cater to one niche
• The Importance of Perception—be friends; be friendly; be regular; be honest
• Determined—this transformation is a long journey; stay committed and travel together

Intention: To make the case for and show a way for attractional churches to become missional churches.


Tag: books

Inside the Organic Church: Learning from 12 Emerging Congregations
by Bob Whitesel
154 pages
Publisher: Abingdon Press (August 2006)

Scan Results

Author: "author, professor and speaker on the organic emerging church, non-profit management and church growth. He is Associate Professor in the College of Graduate Studies at Indiana Wesleyan University"

Organization: The book is divided into three general sections. The first section contains the conclusions (yes, the conclusions) and an overview of the author's journey. The second section contains twelve chapters. Each chapter describes an organic (emerging) church via five movements: First Encounters, Dashboard (people, place, etc), A Fusion of Rhythms, An Interview with my Tour Guides, and What Every Church Can Learn. The final section contains two concluding chapters. Chapter 13, Nurturing an Organic Congregation, suggests a series of four seasons through which a leader might nurture an organic congregation. Chapter 14, Final Postcards, contains Whitesel's acknowledgments.

Intention: To help the emerging church and their parent churches to "understand how the Holy Spirit is leading his church to growth and health" (xxi).

Tag: books

THE OUT OF BOUNDS CHURCH?
by Steve Taylor
176 pages
Publisher: Zondervan/Youth Specialties (February 1, 2005)

Scan Results

In this book, Steve Taylor reports back from the emerging edge of the church and explores the issues biblically, traditionally, and culturally.

The book is divided into four parts: Culture Shapers, Emerging Firestarters, Emerging Mission, and In Advance. In each "part," Taylor has placed one or more postcards, posing various questions followed by a chapter discussing each postcard.

Tag: books

An Emergent Manifesto of Hope
Edited by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones
320 pages
Baker Books (April 1, 2007)

SCAN RESULTS

Doug Pagitt earned an MA at Bethel Seminary. He is pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis, MN and is the author of Preaching Reimagined, Church Reimagined, and BodyPrayer.

Tony Jones earned an MDiv at Fuller Seminary and is a PhD student at Princeton. He is the national director of Emergent Village (EV) and author of Postmodern Youth Ministry, The Sacred Way, Divine Intervention, and more.

Both editors have been involved EV since before its inception. They are practitioners, thinkers, friends, and conversationalists.

The book opens with an introduction by Tony Jones, giving some background and setting the stage for the remainder of the book. The body of the text is divided into five parts: A People of Hope, Communities of Hope, A Hopeful Faith, A Hopeful Way Forward, and Hopeful Activism. Each part is introduced by either Doug or Tony. The book ends with an afterword by Doug Pagitt.

Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones intend to communicate and extend the friendship that is EV. This book is intended to be a good, meaning it is a product of EV, it is to be a discussion starter, it is--hopefully--desirable for its own sake, and it is filled with essays that provide good ground for growing. This text is intended to put forth the hopes and dreams of some of the voices in EV and, with God's good grace, be fodder for a good legacy.

NOTE: current study requirements prevent me from reading this book--and, yes, I'm quited bummed. It goes now to the summer reading pile--which pile is getting quite large.

Tag: books

LISTENING TO THE BELIEFS OF EMERGING CHURCHES
Gen. Ed. Robert Webber
240 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (February 2007)

Spring 2007 reading...more later

SCAN RESULTS
General Editor: Robert Webber is Professor Emeritus of theology at Wheaton and Myers Professor of Ministry at Northern Seminary. His interest in ancient-future worship, and other topics, involves him in the fringes of the emerging church.

This is a “five-views” book wit that standard format. Webber introduces the book, providing a historical context for emerging churches and introduces the contributors and their theologies. Next are chapters by each of the contributors: Mark Driscoll, John Burke, Dan Kimball, Doug Pagitt, and Karen Ward. Each chapter is followed by a response from each of the other contributors. Webber concludes the book, asking three assessment questions (Who are these conversationalists? What are they saying? What do we need to hear) and mentioning some of the dangers that lie ahead.

Webber intends to provide a historical context for understanding the emerging church and to provide space for the reader to hear more accurately, and possibly join in, the emerging conversation.

UPDATE: 020107 scan results added

Tag: books

THE COMPLEX CHRIST
Kester Brewin
192 pages
Publisher: SPCK Publishing (August 23, 2004)

Spring 2007 reading...more later

SCAN RESULTS

Kester Brewin is an academic in urban London and writes on education. He was involved in Vaux.

The book has two parts and an interlude. Part one discusses the complex Christ in relation to advent, incarnation, and emergence. The Interlude describes the character of the emergent church. Part two discusses the complex Christ in relation to the city, gift, and dirt.

Brewin intends to show the essential need for systemic ecclesial change through the application of empowerment and the science of emergence.

UPDATE 020107 scan results added

Tag: books

IN SEARCH OF AUTHENTIC FAITH
how emerging generations are transforming the church
Steve Rabey
224 pages
WaterBrook Press; 1st edition (January 16, 2001)

In Search of Authentic Faith is a journalistic exploration and profile of the churches and ministries emerging in postmodern USA. Rabey intends "to provide an intriguing and inspiring guide that contributes to the renewal of the church by surveying hundreds of churches and ministries" (pg 12).

Thesis: The emerging church is the most recent generational-cultural modification of the church.

Part one explores the larger postmodern cultural context. Part two explores the emerging values of emerging churches and ministries. Part three explores the responses of organizations and leaders to these ecclesiastical changes.

There are some end notes, but no bibliography or indexes.

Tag: books

HOUSES THAT CHANGE THE WORLD
Wolfgang Simson
316 pages
Paternoster Publishing (March 6, 2001)

Houses That Change the World is an argument for house churches as basic ecclesiology. Through an investigation of the nature, structure, and functioning of house churches, Simson intends to make a case for the structural reformation of the church to house church.

Thesis: The house church is God's intended ecclesial structure and is the most efficient and effective means of fulfilling the command to go make disciples of all nations.

Chapters 1-2 argue that house church design is basic, yet throughout history it has been opposed. Chapters 3-5 describe house church as family-centered, neighborhood-based, organic, and natural. Chapters 6-11 contend that planting and developing house churches requires that apostles and prophets behave as such.

The "Suggested Materials" section is small (2 pgs), though helpful. An index, bibliography, and footnotes would increase the usefulness of this text.

NOTE: As with the books by Robert Banks (here and here), Simson's book seems to allow the argument to cloud rather than explicate biblical data. There seems to be an agenda.

Tag: books

CHURCH ON THE OTHER SIDE
Brian McLaren
240 pages
Zondervan; New, Expanded Ed edition (January 1, 2003)

This strategic, practical-ministry book, McLaren suggest thirteen strategies for doing ministry in postmodern culture.

Thesis: Postmodern culture requires Christians to do ministry differently.

1. maximize discontinuity
2. redefine your missions
3. practice systems thinking
4. trade up your traditions for tradition
5. resurrect theology as art and science
6. design a new apologetic
7. learn a new rhetoric
8. abandon structures as they are outgrown
9. save the leaders
10. subsume missions in mission
11. look ahead, further ahead
12. enter the postmodern world
13. add to this list

The appendix includes exercises to help the reader implement the strategies. There are reference and explanatory end notes, but no index.

Tag: books