Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures

by Eddie Gibbs

Since the 1950s, two cultural shifts affected the whole of society, embroiling the church at the same time. The first is the transition from Christendom to post-Christendom, with the latter exemplified by pluralism and a radical relativism.

Interesting point but too general to be useful. There has been a cultural shift which is reflected in the various churches. Many fundamentalists church call on their believers to be counter cultural

Religion is understood in terms of its sociological and psychological significance, discounting any claims to divine revelation and absolute truth. Furthermore, the church as an institution has lost its privileged position and increasingly occupies a place on the margins of society alongside other recreational and nonprofit organizations.

This is not universally true. Educational and political elites may see the church as only having psychological or sociological value but the pews (and voting booths) are filled with believers The churches by dint of effective platforms of public influence, access to voters and sheer wealth in terms of hard assets are still at the center of American power structures. Witness the tea party success

The second is the transition from modernity to postmodernity.

Not sure what the author means by this

The Protestant Reformation created a church that was closely aligned with the newly literate culture. Linear progression of thought, highly reasoned exegesis, and expository preaching illustrated the new culture’s focus on the written word.

Only true in some of the protest churches. Definitely not true in many evangelical charismatic churches.

The church continues to communicate a verbal, linear, and abstract message to a culture whose primary language consists of sound, visual images, and experience, in addition to words.

Interesting insight. Online Bible study groups seem very popular. Hillsong’s “empire” seems based upon its music ministry rather than its preaching.

Boomer churches removed the last remaining symbols, images, and rituals from the church as they built new suburban churches that reflected the corporate culture of affluent functionality. They built churches for one cultural subtype of Boomer, the suburban consumer of religion who is also a corporate achiever in his or her vocational life. This corresponded to a gospel of personal fulfillment and megachurch identification.

Too general a point to be useful. The old mainline churches have maintained all of this. They struggle with attracting sufficient congregants to maintain themselves financially

Gen-Xers reveal that when the mystery, the visual, the ritual, the touch, and the beauty are removed, little is left.

Gen x-ers seem to have doctrinal differences based on cultural interpretation of scripture rather than quibble about worship style.

The church is sending spiritually minded people to strive after other religions because it has become secularized.