Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 04:1 (Mar 2007)
Article: Understanding the Emerging Church Movement: An Overview of Its Strengths, Areas of Concern and Implications for Today’s Evangelicals
Author: Noel Beaumont Woodbridge

Conspectus 4:1 (March 2007) p. 97

Understanding the Emerging Church Movement: An Overview of Its Strengths, Areas of Concern and Implications for Today’s Evangelicals1

Noel B. Woodbridge2

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the emerging church movement (ECM) in order to come to a better understanding of its strengths in the context of a postmodern society, and its areas of concern relating to matters of doctrine and ethics. The paper concludes with remarks concerning the emerging church Movement and some implications for today’s evangelicals.

1.Introduction

The emerging church or emergent church3 is a diverse movement within Protestant Christianity that arose in the late 20^th century as a reaction to the influence of modernism in Western Christianity. To emphasise its diffuse nature—with contributions from many people and no explicitly defined

Conspectus 4:1 (March 2007) p. 98

leadership or direction—its proponents usually call the movement a “conversation”. The emerging church seeks to deconstruct and reconstruct Christianity as its mainly Western members live in a postmodern culture (Kimball 2007).

According to Don Carson (quoted in Roach 2005), the emerging church movement (ECM) “arose as a protest against the institutional church, modernism and seeker-sensitive churches.... It has encouraged evangelicals to take note of cultural trends and has emphasised authenticity among believers” (Roach 2005).

Carson (2005b) indicates that at the heart of the Emergent Church Movement is the conviction that changes in today’s culture signal that a new church is “emerging”. He, therefore, argues that Christian leaders should adapt to this emerging church:

Those who fail to do so are blind to the cultural accretions that hide the gospel behind forms of thought and modes of expression that no longer communicate with the new generation, the emerging generation.

Sam Storms (quoted in Theopedia 2007) notes that it is a protest against the “failure of [evangelicals] to recognize the demise and passing of so-called ‘modernism’ and the ascendancy of ‘postmodernism’ and the countless ways it affects both the larger culture and how we live as Christians and pursue ministry as the Church... It has an emphasis on narrative rather than propositions (‘tell me your story, don't explain principles’).”

To sum up, Bock (2006) states that the emerging church came into being largely as a result of a protest against the following pro...