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We get a lot of questions at Signs of Life about the emergent church. We can’t presume to even begin to answer them here in a few short paragraphs - we have a whole section of books dedicated to the topic. But perhaps we can give a bit of insight into it and direct readers to a few books that might help shed some light on the subject.

As a starting point the emergent church, or just emergent as it is often known, could be thought of as a movement within evangelicalism that seeks a more authentic Christianity. Many emergent writers seem to be reacting against some unhealthy aspects of either fundamentalist churches or mega-churches. Some feel the church is too closely aligned with the politcal right, consumerism, and intolerance. They may see some traditions of the church as irrelevant and out of touch with postmodern life, yet they may reach back to more ancient traditions as somehow more real. They don’t want to “do church” the same anymore and so they may completely revamp the trappings like music and liturgy.

But is it just a question of asthetics? We don’t like the way our parents tried to follow Jesus, so let’s change it all around so we can follow Him better. Or is emergent proposing a new theology? Are the proposed changes cosmetic, or foundational? The fact that some emergents are very sceptical about basic Christian doctrines such as hell and substitutional atonement makes us leary. But there is so little agreement and cohesion among emergent’s various elements that it might be unwise to condemn the whole conversation based on still-evolving positions of a few.

Fortunately there are many good books out there to help shed some light. We highly recommend D. A. Carson’s Becoming Conversant with the Emergent Church. Dr. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Though many of his scholarly tomes are beyond the reach of most of us poor mortals, this book is written for the layperson and very clearly lays out many of the issues concerning emergent. As a bonus, the reader comes away with a clearer understanding of the postmodern worldview. Carson begins his book weighing pros and cons of emergent and seems to indicate there might be some good things going on. However, by the end of the book he issues stark warnings of his fervent concerned about the movement.

But don’t take Carson’s word for it. Emergent authors have written a plethora of books in the past few years and anyone exploring the issues would do well to read a few of them. One of the most prominent emergent writers is undoubtedly Brian McLaren, founder of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Spencerville, Maryland. Of his many books, a couple of good entry points would be Generous Orthodoxy or A New Kind of Christian. In Generous Orthodoxy McLaren explores several dichotomies both sides of which he purports to ascribe: Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican . . . In New Kind of Christian and 2 sequels, he writes a sort of fictitious memoir of a burned out pastor in search of the sort of authentic Christianity McLaren describes in Generous Orthodoxy.

Now if you really want to get into the controversy, you’ll want to investigate Spencer Burke’s A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity. You’ll notice we don’t have a link to this book. That’s because we don’t sell it. That’s because it’s heretical. Burke is editor of the ooze, a blog that bills itself as a conversation for the journey.

Another author considered by some to be an emergent voice is Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, MI. His book is Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. He has also developed a series of DVDs that show 10 minute object lessons oriented toward young adults called NOOMA.

Finally, if you are in our neck of the woods (Northeast Kansas) and you want to actually go to an emergent gathering, check with our friends at Jacob’s Well in Kansas City.