An Ancient Emergence

The question 'are you part of the emerging church?' has shifted in the past decade from the fringes of the Christian community to the mainstream. A significant number of church plants and projects have been started in Europe, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, a steady flow of books have been written and thousands of believers have self-identified as 'emergent'. The recent publication of Phyllis Tickle's 'The Great Emergence' has raised the conversation to a new level, setting current trends against the background of centuries of church history. But the best answer to the question 'are you part of the emerging church?' has always been 'as opposed to which other?' Emergence is the very nature of the Christian church. The Acts of the Apostles is a story of emergence. Every new Christian community planted adds something to the wider picture and Peter, James, Paul and the other apostles face decades of wrestling with the identity, boundaries and ethos of the church. Apostolic leadership is by definition a dialogue between that which is established and that which is emergent. The very foundation of mission is a God who is eternal, faithful, established and unchanging and yet declares "I am making all things new". The most accurate definition ever offered to me of the 'emerging church' movement came from a 73 year old missions co-ordinator in a very mainstream UK Baptist church. 'Emerging church', she said, 'is where you look at a geographical area, ask what the Holy Spirit is doing there and try to join in'. May the year to come be, for all of us, a season of emergence.