I am working on a doctoral project that seeks lessons the emerging/missional church can teach the mainline about local mission; especially in answering the question “who is our neighbor?” I have a questionnaire that I would love for folks to fill out and e-mail back to me. If you are interested, let me know. Thanks.
A blog about (not) blogging, and other experiences that take my breath away
July 21, 2009 By 4 Comments
For all of my twittering, facebooking, g-mailing, blogging and blackberrying, and so forth, the truth is that I most often find myself in sacred space, in the presence of God Himself, when I dare to put that all away, step away from my techno-centered routines, and simply be. At the risk of sounding like a Luddite, I most often see God when I stop texting and start looking around at the world God made with the eyes God blessed me with, tasting the air on my tongue and taking in the world around me rather than confining my experience of the world to that which appears on a small, digital screen.
* * * * *
Most recently, it has been the reality of the summer—a warm breeze picking through the branches and leaves of the live oaks, the whirring of bugs and beetles high above me, the taste of honeysuckle and thyme in the air—that has brought me back to myself. There isn’t much cell phone service worth using on the streets near my parent’s northern California home, so I have been forced to set down my phone and amuse myself with my surroundings instead, packing away the email, facebook, or catch-up calls that are so often a feature of my more urban hiking adventures in Philadelphia. As I walk down the dusty trail that lines highway 130, my ears prick to the gentle rustle of oleander and wild turkey, and I find myself reeling with the recognition that I am a part of something bigger than myself, that the signs of life around me are small reminders of something deeper and grander than anything I could imagine, something that could so easily go unnoticed and then suddenly bowl me over in a instant of blazing clarity.
When John Calvin wrote of the glory of and specialness of creation, I heard what he was saying. And I recognized myself in his remark that we too often fail to see the beauty that is before us. Every once in a while, however, a thin space, as the Celts called it, opens before our eyes, and the truth of the world and God’s presence in it is clear to us. As Calvin would put it, we find that in God we are given spectacles to see the sacred quality of all things, which hide in plain sight before me.
So what are the things that stun me back to the recognition of the Sacred? There is no pattern that I can discern, no perfect formula for figuring it out. While I am often bowled over by that which is natural, I also find that God can strip me of my ignorance of the sacred around me in the most mundane or even complicated of circumstances. I see it in the pattern of a quilt made by my own hands and a well-written poem, or even in the midst of the fray as much as the beauty of a mountain range. And I could argue that it takes practice to see the sacred with more clarity, and yet even that isn’t always the case. I have learned that the world will surprise my fuzzy eyes into focus as shockingly when I am looking for the sacred as it will when I am doing everything but.
Ultimately, these moments of recognition are both a mystery and a gift, for like God they are beyond my ability to grasp them, and filled with grace and wisdom. They surpass knowledge and understanding and are filled with Truth. They bring me closer to God, to myself, and to my fellow inhabitants on this great, sacred sphere that we call home. For that, I am thankful.
Race and Emergence
July 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Anyone who attended the first gathering/convening/clumping together of Presbymergent earlier this year in Louisville would have noticed something striking. It wasn’t just that an almost cultish number of the circle of laptops had little glowing apples on the back. It was that the group, for a significant portion of the gathering, was pretty much a monoculture. It was mostly men, and almost entirely Caucasian or Anglo or Honky-American or whatever it is we’re calling whitish-pinkish people these days.
This is, unfortunately, fairly reflective of our denomination as a whole.
It is also reflective of the emergent movement, which for all of our talk of relational faith and embracing the other, tends to be whiter than a polar bear drinking milk in a blizzard.
There’s an interesting pair of blog posts exploring the relationship between the emergent movement and the African American religious tradition put up by Rev. Byron Wade, the current vice moderator of the PC(USA) General Assembly.
He writes:
What would be the attraction/pull for African-Americans to worship in these places [emergent communities] knowing that most of us have grown up in a culture and heritage of strong black churches? Even those who are youth/young adults tend to gravitate towards congregations that are similar to what they are used to.
It’s a good question, and one he endeavors to answer in part one and part two of his post.
Good Shabbas
July 10, 2009 By 1 Comment
Figuring out a way to cobble out a day of rest in our 365/24/7 hurly burly culture is sometimes more than we can manage.
That’s as true for Christians as it is for the rest of our society, and it may be doubly true for pastors. There are some interesting reflections on this subject over at Journeyman Preacher this week, where we can hear Doug say things like:
Keeping-Sabbath–as I understand it–is not a legalistic requirement as much as it is finding our strength and purpose in God. It is also simply enjoying God’s presence in our lives.
Go give it a read!
After that, there’s more Sabbath thinking out there for those of us Jesus people who can’t seem to stay away from Twitter and Facebook. Rhett Smith asks:
So why don’t we have sabbath patterns built into our routines? What is it about being engaged in social media and technology that keeps us from setting the proper boundaries?
Got an answer for that one?
Evangelism as Honesty
July 8, 2009 By 5 Comments
This is the first post in another summer series for Presbymergent called “Evangelism: What is it good for?” My answer: The Integrity of the Church. We aren’t authentic followers of Jesus unless we’re honest about who he is. And we aren’t faithful to His mission unless we’re willing to share honestly about him with people who aren’t his followers. But often we’re hesitant to do so, and we tend to make evangelism much more difficult than it really is. Stereotypes of pushy evangelists with contrived illustrations of the Gospel haunt us. We’d rather keep silent than be perceived as the angry fundamentalist preaching turn-or-burn. So we usually choose silence. Or we use the word “evangelism” to speak of bringing new members to our congregations. A certain program or event may put more people in the pews on Sunday, but it’s not necessarily evangelism.
What if evangelism were simply about honesty? I believe evangelism is honesty about Jesus and what the Church has believed about him for two millenia, as well honesty about our own failures individually and collectively as the Church. First, honesty about Jesus. If someone asked you to tell them about a friend, would you launch immediately into an apologetic to prove something about your friend, or make-up some metaphor to explain why the person you’re talking to has to meet this friend? Probably not. You would simply tell them who your friend is. Likewise, we don’t need any contrived or forced presentations of the Gospel. Jesus said to his disciples, “You will be my witnesses.” Witnesses are generally expected to tell the truth of what they saw, nothing more, nothing less. That makes the commission fairly simple: be honest about who Jesus is. Honesty about Jesus also means telling his whole story, not reducing his life to his death. We have tell the truth about his teachings, his deeds, his confrontation of principalities and powers, his death, and his resurrection. That leads to honesty about the Kingdom of God, which in turn leads to honesty about the mission Jesus passed onto his disciples. When we look at evangelism this way, the pressure’s lifted off our shoulders; we’re just responsible for reporting what we’ve seen and experienced in Jesus, not for converting someone under our own power.
We can’t be honest about Jesus, though, without being honest about ourselves: our individual failures to become authentic disciples, the Church’s frequent betrayals of the mission of God throughout history. In a culture that feeds on plastic and advertising all day, authenticity and integrity speak with power. In my ministry context, I encounter a number of de-churched people, many of whom have been deeply wounded by people or things bearing the Christian label. One told me this weekend that when he was in the Church, Christians were the most immoral people he knew. We lack integrity. The first step to regaining that integrity is confession: admitting to the world our failures to be authentic followers of Jesus. On the one hand, we’re admitting that we’re human. People within the Church have screwed up often since day-one and won’t cease screwing up until the Kingdom of God comes in its fullness. But our humanity isn’t an excuse not to seek integrity. How often do we buy into lies that make it easier for us to stop following Jesus? How often do we distort Jesus’ teachings to make them easier for us to swallow? A life authentically lived as a community following Jesus will speak more powerfully than words, and that’s the next step toward regaining integrity. What does it look like to live individual and communal lives that give substance to what we say is truth about Jesus?
Who is “My Jesus”
June 22, 2009 By 10 Comments
I call myself a Christian. I believe that Jesus was the son of God, as in that he was sent by God and that he fulfilled God’s destiny set for him. I have a hard time with literal interpretations of the story. I don’t know if I believe in the virgin birth, the physical resurrection, or in all of the miracles exactly as they were witnessed in the Bible. The trinity escapes me. I do believe Jesus is a part of God, but that he was separate while he was here. I believe he had the free will to not follow God’s wish for him, which is why he was tempted. And why he prayed to the father. He could have gone another way, which would make him a separate entity from God.
I definitely don’t believe that non-Christians are going to hell. I do believe in an afterlife, and consequence of one’s actions during life, but I don’t think God cares if people don’t quite get it. I do believe in God.
In order to stay on track with my faith, I can’t over think the theology behind it all. I feel like it loses meaning as I pick it apart. As far as the story of Christ goes, he was the son of God, came to teach about God, he did just that, he had the answers on how to live a life of faith, and we killed him for it. The resurrection to me represents his life and teachings surviving his crucifixion. Whether the corporal resurrection happened, I don’t believe or disbelieve. I think it’s not likely, but I do believe in the possibility of something happening. I can’t lie about believing it because to me that would be worse than questioning.
So, if I’m not in it for the miracles and the resurrection, and don’t really think Jesus was God Himself incarnated as a person, but that he was sent by God, then how can I call myself a Christian? My reason is because I choose to follow Jesus. I believe that living by the principles he taught is what he meant when he said “the only way to the father is through me.” I do believe he is the savior, in that he can forgive us and bring us to God. That is where my faith lies. I take my faith very seriously, and when I am on track with my faith my life is so much better. He was more than a prophet to me, and I do believe he was divine. He was also a teacher of how to live. If I follow his teachings, my bases are covered. I can live in peace, without bitterness, without undue worry, and in complete freedom spiritually. I am not by any means fully successful with this, but I am learning. I can apply his teachings to every question in my life.
Seeking Organizing Pastor for Presbymergent Community
June 1, 2009 By 2 Comments
A new CIF has been approved and funding grants are in place for a new community/church development in Bend, Oregon. This new vision for reaching the 18 to 35 year olds in our community offers the opportunity to build a missional emerging community of Jesus followers in the dynamic and growing city of Bend Oregon.
Bend sits in the midst of millions of acres of national forests and wilderness offering world class nordic and alpine skiing, rock climbing, mountain biking, white water kayaking, golf, hiking, camping, fly fishing, boating, etc. This is a great opportunity to build a church for the 21st century from scratch. For more information contact Bob Pearson, bobpear@bendcable.com.
Welcome to the new Coordinating Group 2009-2010
April 24, 2009 By 13 Comments
On behalf of the Presbymergent Organ(ic)izing Group I would like to welcome the Presbymergent Coordinating Group for 2009-2010. We enter in to an exciting phase of our journey as Presbymergent. We shall journey together to expand understanding of “church”, be challenging as we are challenged, covenant together to bear witness to what God is doing in the church in & through us, & to support each other as were wrestle with common purpose, vision, and hope in transforming the denomination and the larger church to serve the emerging generations of sleeping geniuses.
The Presbymergent Coordinating Group for 2009-2010 is as follows.
Adam J. Copeland
Adam Walker Cleaveland
Andrew Seely
Bob Pearson
Carol Howard Merritt
Chad Andrew Herring
Charles Wiley
Chelle Honiker Yarbrough
Chris Brown
Chris Harrison
Dannah Walter
David Parker
David Williams
Drew Tatusko
Heather Grantham
Jan Edmiston
Jen Reiff
Jenny Warner
Jim Howland
John Franke
John Gulden
John Vest
Joseph J Dorociak
Jud Hendrix
Karen Sloan
Landon Whitsitt
Leon Bloder
Melissa Lynn DeRosia
Meredith Kemp-Pappan
Monica Hall
Nanette Sawyer
Neal Locke
Quinn Fox
Ryan Kemp-Pappan
Sarah Glass
Scott Kinder-Pyle
Seth Thomas
Thomas Brown
Tom Livengood
Tom Robinson
Tony Sundermeier
Troy Bronsink
Wendy Bailey
Presbymergent Has [gasp!] an Organizational Structure
March 25, 2009 By 6 Comments
Many wonderful things “emerged” from the first gathering of Presbymergent’s Coordinating Group last month in Louisville, and hopefully you’ll get to read more about them in the weeks and months to come. One thing in particular that grew out of our discussions, shared interests, and dreaming was (surprisingly?) an organizational structure. Now, at this point I imagine the Presbyterian readers are cheering and saying to themselves, “It’s about time!” while those with more emergent sensibilities are dusting the dirt from their sandals and saying, “Well, it was nice knowing you.” However, it’s not as simple as that (it never is with us crazy post-modern types, is it?).
It’s true that many of us in the Presbymergent conversation have, over the past two years of our existence, cringed at the thought of becoming more structured, fearing that first step towards institutional irrelevance. It’s also true that the “Presby” side of our heritage embraces things done “decently and in order.” So the challenge for our tribe has always been to live in the tension between these two natures — the organized and the organic — being true to both and not letting one dominate the other.
When we gathered last month, there was energy around several things — some were proposed events, others were ideas, and some were goals for Presbymergent and related communities. We quickly realized that our dreams outnumbered our hands, so only those things which gathered enough hands, feet, and commitments were carried forward. Several “clusters” emerged, each with a point-person committed to shepherding the dream into reality over the coming year. More specifics on the different clusters to come soon!
The cluster I was part of named itself the Organ(ic)izing Group to reflect our dual nature (and because parentheses are just sooo emergent) — or just “OhGee” for short — and was given the blessing of the Coordinating Group to accomplish the following:
- Establish 501c3 Non-Profit Status for Presbymergent
- Establish bylaws, budgets, transparent record keeping and accounting systems as needed for non-profit status
- Constitute a new Coordinating Group through broad and open invitation, with concern toward diversity of gender, age, ethnicity and geographical location
- Develop a “Conceptual Document” for and about Presbymergent (kind of like a mission statement, but more flexible, organic, and living)
- Serve as a point of contact for inquiries about Presbymergent and for administrative decisions on behalf of the Coordinating Group.
Basically, while the other clusters are having fun being creative, the OhGee gets to do the “dirty work” of administration 
But not in a centralized, authoritative or controlling way, — rather with the desire and intent of empowering the other clusters to accomplish their tasks, mindful that our authority originates from and flows through the Presbymergent Coordinating Group.
There are eight members on the Organ(ic)izing Group: Jan Edmiston, Heather Grantham, Chad Herring, Carol Howard Merritt, Ryan Kemp Pappan , Neal Locke, Adam Walker Cleaveland, and David Williams. Members were chosen by interest and consensus within the Coordinating Group (some volunteered, some were drafted) to serve for one year until the next gathering of the Coordinating Group, which will take place next February in Atlanta, GA.
As a final thought on venturing into a new way of existing, I find the metaphor of Wikipedia helpful: On the surface, it would seem that wikipedia (and all wikis) are chaotic and ever-changing, where anyone has the power to contribute or change the content. But if you look one layer deeper, Wikipedia is a software application, written in PHP and MySQL. In other words, it has a framework, a structure, a scaffolding, that, rather than locking down and controlling the website, actually preserves and protects the openness of wikipedia, helping it to accomplish its open-source goals. We hope that we can do the same for Presbymergent, in an organized — but organic — sort of way.
The Presbymergent Mission
March 14, 2009 By 10 Comments
I had posted this during the last day of the Presbymergent CG meeting and have received very positive feedback thus far. I am opening it up for hopefully further conversation and exploration in order to gain a sense of common purpose in common language as PODS hopefully begin to gather and coordinate activities. This is its edited form. The original can be seen here, but with very little difference.
I have been involved in a discussion surrounding Presbymergent for over a year now. The term is a combination of ”Presbyterian” (as in Presbyterian USA) and ”emergent” as in emergent Christianity. As most nascent organizations of like-minded people, it has begun as something with a lot of energy, a lot of ideas, and ideas of structure, but no real structure until recently. But in a pragmatic way of looking at the world, structure is something that tends to follow clear ideas rather than come prior to it. So my own Presbyterianism, a denomination named after its political structure rather than a founder (Lutheran) or a theology (Baptist) or ecclesiology (Catholic), causes a continual problem. Organizational structure comes prior to clarity of good ideas and that structure assumes that it has already been formed by good ideas; or, it has been formed with good enough ideas to persist.
Join the Conversation