Here is a good article from Christianity Today's "CT Direct" email that gives insight into the emerging church movement and it's formal Emergent organization. I'll be in Atlanta next week at a conference ("conversation") that explores the relationship between mainline churches and these emerging churches and leaders.
While you read the article you may find yourself compelled by some of the characteristics of the movement and you may find yourself repelled by others. I think that one of the hallmarks of this movement is its generosity toward those with whom there are disagreements. This is the same generosity that the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (www.thefellowship.info) strives to engender and what marks a distinct and clear shift from the Southern Baptist Convention's (www.sbc.net) approach over the last 25 years. While the CBF 'assemblies' and Emergent 'gatherings' look somewhat, um, different (hair color; suits vs. tshirts; CBF logo tatoos, anyone?), I can't help but be excited about the possibilities of conversation between two groups of folks who are not just 'reacting' but find themselves exploring what it means to be Christ-followers without the denominational superstructures of a generation-past to both guide and limit their creativity, their embrace of the gospel, and their ministry in a variety of local settings. We may find that these two groups have more in common than we might have assumed.
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