Emergent Brethren

I’ve been giving lots of thought to the state of the church these days…it’s effectiveness in living out the mission it’s been given and the impact of that mission on the state of the world.

From my vantage point, I confess, that we haven’t been too effective in living out the mission and that mission has not drastically impacted the world. In other words the state of the world is getting worse instead of better. And the church has become a social club and/or service agency and not the living body of Jesus on mission to bring God’s kingdom into reality in the here and now.

And for a while now, I’ve been aware that one of the many challenges we face is that the church has become too complex. And in that complexity has become a club that you join where membership has priveledges. We are very busy in our churches. There is worship, small group, Sunday school, fellowship activities, fund-raisers, mission trips, game nights, classes, conferences, bible-studies, etc… you get the point. And all of this comes at a time in history when most of us are burning the candle at both ends and from the side too! Our busyness is part of a complexity that seems to be keeping us from fruitful mission in the world and may even hinder our personal spiritual growth. Which I think contributes to the “label” mentality that is present in USAmerica’s christian churches…ie., we are “Christian” by description, but not by way of life!

Recently, a parishoner returned from a library conference and handed me a book by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger, called “Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples”. In the book they push us to return to Jesus’ conversation with the lawyer concerning eternal life and Jesus’s response about the greatest commands being loving God and loving others and then saying that “all of the law and prophets hang on these two.” Simple isn’t it?!

Then they put forth the following definition of a simple church: “A simple church is designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. The leadership and the church are clear about the process and are committed to executing it. The process flows logically and is implemented in each area of the church. The church abandons everything that is not in the process.”

I like that concept and want to work at becoming a simple church! A simple church where disciplemaking is the central mission and the fruit of that simplicity is seen in transformed lives that love God and love others and in so doing transforms the character of the community and world. But I realize that the process of becoming a simple church will not be easy and it will require CONSTANT course adjustments.

What are your thoughts?

Who/What are “emergent Brethren”? Here’s another piece of history, with some suggestions for moving forward…

Steve Longenecker of Bridgewater College recently published “The Brethren in an Age of World War,” a source book of Brethren history, covering the years 1914-1950. He begins the book by telling the story of Raymond and Laura Cottrell, who in 1913 left the United States as mission workers in India. Both were medical doctors, and served in India until the late 1940’s. He ends the book by describing the formation of Brethren Volunteer Service, which happened about the same time the Cottrell’s returned home.

Along the way, Brother Longenecker makes the case that during this era of Brethren history, we shifted from being mission-minded to being service-minded. In the early 1900’s (and before), our members (especially our youth) were encouraged to give their lives for mission. By the mid-1900’s (and continuing to today) our members are encouraged to serve.

I believe the emergent/missional church will again pick up the mission-minded approach to discipleship—prayerfully seeking the places where God is at work in the world—and combining it with the service-minded approach to discipleship, loving our neighbors as ourselves, and even loving our enemies. We must reject the “church as club” model, which invites people into a church that doesn’t reach out to the world at all. We must also reject “service in the name of service only”, which seeks to serve other people but not tell them in whose name we serve.

The task of the emergent church will be to put these pieces together as we live our faith in the communities surrounding our churches, and in the world around us.

While we are at this emergent definition phase, what about defining “emergent brethren”.

In many ways, I think, we (The Church of the Brethren -now) were emergent from the begining! Alexander Mack and his wife Anna and the other 6 — the original 8 – the original small group… were very emergent as they rejected their state church mentality and devoted themselves to studying the bible and devoted themselves to following Jesus first and foremost! The definitely stood at odds with the state church culture of the day…

I’ve been saying for some time now, that we need to get back to that emergent posture that rejects the USAmerican Christian model of church that is more of a social club and corporation than a mission arm of Jesus in the world. And in some ways for the Church of the Brethren it is a BIG jump and in other ways that counter culture force is one of the gifts we have to offer the world and the church, especially in USAmerica. For instance in serving the poor and marginalized… being peacemakers…living in the blessing (and curse) of community… working for justice for all God’s children. It is these very “core” values of the Church of the Brethren that make us emergent, I think. What about you? What do you think?

I think as we begin this blog….getting it off the ground, it would be helpful to work at a definition of “Emergent” churches. So, what is emergent?

For me, emergent is about being non-traditional in our approach to ministry. It is about being missional — (That might need definition!) about the mission of Jesus. It’s about engaging our full self in the mission of the church, not just a place to go for an hour or two each week, but being the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. Being the heart of Jesus in the world…and by world, I mean wherever we are! Emergent is about being incarnational. It’s about an ever deepening connection with God and with other people. It’s about moving boundaries, removing walls, exposing others to the mission, love, peace, and grace of Jesus.

That’s enough to get us started…what do you think? What does emergent mean to you?

Last Sunday evening, our church (Central Church of the Brethren, in downtown Roanoke, VA) was broken into. This is the second time in 3 weeks. To date, the most signifcant loss is my old laptop, which had been given to the music department. It might work for another year, it might conk out tomorrow. The list of what is missing is minor, even somewhat amusing, but that’s another story…

Our congregation is discerning a transition to a “small group-missional church” model, where we intentionally reach out to the community around the church. We currently have three primary involvements that a “missional small group” could easily expand: a partnership with the local elementary school; the beginnings of a relationship with a “social-service” type ministry that reaches out to uninsured children; a willingness to allow the homeless are welcome to join us for our Wednesday evening meal (we generally have 2 or 3).

The recent break-ins have caused me to wonder what other ways our missional congregation will be broken into?

1. Will we continue to experience those who “break in and steal”? Probably. Will we let this be a motivation to retreat within our own walls (or retreat to the suburbs)? Knowing our congregation, I doubt it. But what of those pesky attitudes and stereotypes? Will we allow God to break into our own lives to redeem us from classism and racism? Pray that it would be so.

2. Will we allow God to “break into” our theology, learning to see how God is interested in all people—even preferentially interested in the poor, the widows, the aliens, all those on the “flip side” of global economics and political power. What do we need to learn from those whom affluence has passed by?

3. Will we allow God to “break into” the mentality that church is for “us”? Will our walls form the boundaries of a barrier between the church and the world? Or will the walls of the church provide the structure for authentic fellowship, for sharing our faith, for engaging our community, and for an opportunity for all people to experience the transforming grace of God?

It’s a risky venture, to be sure. But these are some of the risks of grace.