Caught this on the “Presbyterians in Their Local News” section of Presbyweb yesterday:
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First Presbyterian Church Launches Emergent Worship for Young Adults
By HNN Staff
Huntington, WV (HNN) – On August 5, 2007, First Presbyterian Church of Huntington will launch The Crossing, a cutting edge, Emerging worship gathering designed by and for young adults. The Crossing is a unique worship service in the Huntington area. The style of the worship gathering is Emerging worship, the newest movement in worship, which reflects the postmodern perspective of 18-35 year-olds.
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Get the full article here
I do find it interesting that as much as people have tried to say “emerging isn’t a style” it has become one – and if we’re being honest when we hear someone say “emerging worship” most of us have a pretty good idea what is being talked about.
About Brian Wallace
Brian,
I agree with your comments. I also find it interesting how, in the article, “Generation X” is defined with only a 12 year span. The “Millenials” (sic) are given a 22 year span. I guess the Baby Boomers would then cover the post-WW2 era all the way up to 1964. As one who was born in Dec. ’64, I find it odd to be grouped with people who were 30 years old when I was in elementary school! I guess that’s what happens when we try to speak authoritatively for entire generations.
yeah. I’m ready to let that word go. It didn’t take long for it to mean so many things. I haven’t used the word with my congregation yet–our focus is just on being a church.
If all we are doing is worship in a new style, then “emerging” is just a marketing buzzword. But if we are building community and relationships, engaging the whole local community in mission, holding each other accountable for how we live our lives in the Kingdom of God, and telling and listening to each others stories; then just possibly we are the church emerging.
Perhaps we need to look at worship as the last thing, not the first thing we do in building an emerging gathering. Let the worship rise up from the grass roots community’s joy and awe at what God is doing in their midst…
If we use this as a traditional church growth strategy, or if we start to script an emerging worship structure, style and liturgy and then try to duplicate it and market it, we have failed…
Bob Pearson