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Connecting Face to Face

February 13, 2009 By 1 Comment

Heidi Campbell teaches at Texas A&M and has a new book coming out: When Religion Meets New Media (Routledge.) She was the keynoter at an interesting event last year sponsored by Alban on Church 2.0 and I especially remember something she said about social networking communities: People who connect on Facebook, Twitter, Second Life, etc. have the need to meet face to face eventually. Second Lifers now have conventions that rival anything Star Trek ever inspired.

Next week, several of us are meeting in Louisville to lay eyes on each other for the first time – or at least it will be the first time for many. Most of us will be part of the Presbymergent Coordinating Team. I am hopeful and prayerfully pumped to gather and look at the future of the church from a Presbymergent perspective. And I’d ask for your prayers as we gather.

It’s a great time to be a loyal radical.

Filed Under: Presbymergent Tagged With:

A Movement Indeed

November 21, 2007 By 2 Comments

Things are happening in the PCUSA. Just as Adam wrote on this post Presbymergent is not about saving the PCUSA. But there are contributions that many are making that make me excited for the church in general (i.e. not just for the PCUSA). It’s not about any one denomination. It’s just that we in Presbymergent happen to be PCUSA.

I am grateful to those currently in seminary or pondering seminary who are asking good questions and offering creative possibilities.

I am grateful to experienced church workers who, after spending time serving Constantinian churches, are working successfully to move churches into the 21st century.

I am grateful to thinkers and writers who offer pathways. And I very grateful to people of other denominations/no denomination who – like us – simply and passionately want to make disciples of all nations and bring God’s realm to this earth.

God is good. Happy Thanksgiving.

Filed Under: Emergent Tagged With:

Equipping Leaders Event at NCP

October 25, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Tony Jones and Sally Morgenthaler are keynoting the Equipping Leaders Event this Saturday, October 27th at Falls Church Presbyterian Church, 225 E. Broad Street in Falls Church, Virginia.
Registration is at 9:30 am and we finish up at 3:30.

If you happen to be in the DC area this weekend, or want to make a road trip . . . come on over. Registration – at this point – is free (which means it’s too late to reserve lunch, but there are several places to grab lunch.)

Filed Under: Presbymergent

Are Seminarians Trained to Lead the 21st c. Church?

May 2, 2007 By 23 Comments

I spoke with Adam at Emerging/Mainliners last January about the kinds of congregations some of the seminarians he knows hope to serve after graduation.  Are they looking for traditional Constantinian congregations?  Are they hoping against hope to find something within their tradition but beyond the box? 

A survey came to me recently from a seminarian in one of our esteemed PCUSA institutions requesting my insights for a worship paper.  I was snarkier than usual because the survey indicated no awareness – much less understanding –  of anything more than a 20th (or maybe 19th) century understanding of the church and the culture.

 

Example:  Which do you prefer to wear in the pulpit?

A) Suit.           B) Robe with clergy collar.     C) Robe w/o collar      D) Cassock

Note:  there was no “none of the above.”

 

This came from a woman who entered seminary as a second career, and maybe this explains her limited possibilities for clergy wear.  It goes without saying that she assumes that preaching will take place “in the pulpit.” Is this an anomaly?  Or are most seminarians being trained to serve the Constantinian Church? 

Does anybody know where we might find a seminarian who longs to serve Jesus outside that box?

Filed Under: Presbymergent

Why I am Presbymergent

February 12, 2007 By 4 Comments

I’m evidence that The Emergent Conversation is not just for twentysomethings. I’m a middle aged, lifelong Presbyterian who approached my 20th year of ordination realizing that something had to change in the way I was serving the church. (Was I merely serving “the church”— acting as a chaplain to long time “church men” and “church women” or was I still serving God in a Biblical understanding of ministry?)

After five years as pastor of a small rural congregation in upstate New York, and then over 15 years serving as co-pastor and pastor of a medium-sized congregation just outside Washington, DC, I found myself wondering why ministry felt so far removed from “real life.” In my 21st year of ordained ministry, something clicked. (Okay, I’m a slow learner.)

Via many “emergent voices”, I heard some things that would forever alter my ministry. I’d never previously learned these things in any Sunday School class, sermon, Bible study, seminary course, Presbytery meeting, or continuing education event but I found them to be true and to breathe new life into my calling:

  • The pastor’s only responsibility, according to scripture, is to equip the saints for God’s service (Ephesians 4:11-12).
  • The church exists to serve the community not its members.
  • The role of Presbyterian elders is to be spiritual leaders, not to run the programs of the church.
  • The Constantinian Church is dead and gone forever.

And because I’ve never been particularly easy to peg theologically, a “generous orthodoxy” resonated with me. I’m not the only one weary of compartmentalized Christianity, theology wars, and power struggles. I long for a tribe that looks at the Big Picture, unwilling to spend valuable time arguing about who’s in and who’s out. I long for a different kind of church – one that welcomes tax collectors, adulterers, eunichs, tanners, and imperfect – but willing – followers of Jesus, along with post-modern day addicts, over-achievers, losers, and heretics. While on sabbatical in 2005, I heard a guest preacher at Cedar Ridge Church share this quote:

“Artists are simply people who are passionate enough to imagine things that do not yet exist.”

By this definition, I was an artist – but a starving one.

I found that the emergent conversation feeds me. I like that one size doesn’t fit all. I appreciate that progressives and evangelicals are coming together to serve God’s kingdom on earth. My passion is increasingly for those who are not yet with us. And knowing that the mainline church – my home – must be transformed, the emergent movement strikes me as the best venue for faithfully moving into a new era.

written by Jan Edmiston
A Church for Starving Artists

Filed Under: Emergent, Presbymergent