"Let life enchant you again." - Fernando Gros
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Blog // Thoughts
February 13, 2006

Submerging Church

I enjoy reading Eclectic Itchings because Matt keeps asking very good questions. His latest, on emerging being about more than just liturgical rediscovery got me thinking. In particular this line stood out, “we need a submerging church more than an emerging church.” Interesting thought. As an outsider and co-traveller I have often found myself asking […]

I enjoy reading Eclectic Itchings because Matt keeps asking very good questions. His latest, on emerging being about more than just liturgical rediscovery got me thinking. In particular this line stood out,

“we need a submerging church more than an emerging church.”

Interesting thought. As an outsider and co-traveller I have often found myself asking the question “how emerging is emergent.” Without doubt the clamour for attention (book contracts, seminars, debates et al)doesn’t quite seem right to me (at times). Maybe I am wrong (hopefully I am wrong) but not an insignificant amount of attention seems to be being spent on attracting the attention of the exisiting church.

But surely the target for a missional church is not the structures of Christendom, but the spiritual yearnings of those outside those structures. Surely an emerging church that is really emerging would not feel the need to justify itself to those structures (or appeal to them for revenue streams).

I’m far from an expert on this and even further from having solid conclusions. However, I have a hunch Matt is going to continue to ask some good questions that we should be pondering. Maybe instead of looking for something that arises out of culture, we should be looking for things that bore down into culture.

[tags] Emerging Church, Submerging Church, Missional [/tags]

Tagged
5
Responses
Brandon 19 years ago

Some good thoughts, Fernando. I think it is a bit of a strange tension. Most who are passionate about the church want to see the whole church healthy, effective, and together, even those parts most fully immersed in Christendom. I think if “emerging church” dialogue can persuade the leaders of Christendom on an ecclesiological level and also “bore down into culture” and extend to those outside Christendom structures, it’s an ideal balance. At what point do you give up trying to persuade those in Christendom? At what point does it only distract from being missional? Do we ever stop trying? Dunno. Seems like a messy process to me, but well worth it to align ourselves with Divine activity.

Toni 19 years ago

Good thoughts, and I’m going to try to digest this.

IMO the churches need to rise up from what they are to reach the world, rather than just changing what they are. God’s church working in unity, rather than coming together as different churches that have temporarily agreed to cooperate.

ubertech 19 years ago

we need people who will do what God tells them to
when
and how
he tells them to do it
then we start to see what (we claim) we believe

Fernando Gros 19 years ago

ubertech and toni,

can’t argue with that at all.

brandon,

i will post a follow up to reflect a little more on you comments. you’ve rasied a very good question there.

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