final work?

so what are some of y'all doing for your final work in this class? i am thinking about a reflection, beginning basically with this post, based on some of these blog conversations and our conversations in group. i have come to some really interesting(at least to me) questions about this "emerging" movement in the church and while this class has helped me explore them, it hasn't given me a lot of answers.

my biggest questions is, how does this experience help me as i prepare to be a pastor in a (most likely) established and decidely non-emerging congregation. mclaren pointed to some stats in his presentation at quake that two of the greatest predictors of a declining church are that they have less than 500 members and are more than 40 years old. boy does that describe most congregations i know.

i think most clearly what i have seen in the emerging churches and the leaders that i have visited with is a clear sense of connection between the members of the community. ward talks a lot about this in his liquid church, and while i critique some of his ideas(see earlier post and comments) i think his emphasis on individual ties through dynamic small groups is worth thinking more carefully about. there is a high level of commitment from a core in all of these communities, which several of us pointed out after visiting solomon's porch and i have seen in the other communities i have visited and talked to.

my question is, how do we keep these tight interconnected cores focused outward in mission? so that they don't become simply mutual admiration societies. is this even possible? i have rarely visited a very diverse church. people basically worship with those who look like them and come from the same social strata as them. so is emergent just another social strata? or does it have something really powerful for mission that all communities can learn from?

would love some responses.

(mis)perceptions about church folk

at the quake conference dan kimball presented a powerful video in which he went around the campus of the university in santa cruz, where he lives, and asked them about jesus and about christians. the point he was trying to make, and made powerfully is that while many people have a great deal of respect for jesus, and many are even willing to believe he was god and raised from the dead, they have little respect for christians.

christians are seen, so often, as pushy, judgmental and focused only on our agenda. one girl he interviewed said something to the effect that since her brother got "saved" he has become a jerk, judging everything she and her friends do. basically, so much so, that she wishes he had never become a christian. and we are supposed to be about good news?

mclaren also talked about this, why are christians such jerks, he asked. and then there was this article in the nytimes by frank rich today. again, christians are jerks. (and as a texan who loves his home state, i will attest that tom delay is one of the biggest jerks ever)

if this is our public image, no wonder we are reaching an ever smaller, yet highly committed to one agenda, group of folks.

"Generation Y"

Found this interesting article online today. Thought others would be interested too: Washington Times Article on Pluralism and Generation Y