Matt's Blog

I originally posted this at Adrian Christian Church.

I'm finishing up a book called The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Tony Jones. It's a history and description of the emerging church movement, a movement that's been around for about 10 years. I find myself drawn to the emerging church and its attempt to bring Christ to the postmodern world.

Scattered throughout the book are a number of "dispatches," brief statements that summarize how "emergents" see the world and the church's place in it. I thought it would be fun to address each of these dispatches, give my take on it, and how I see it fitting or not fitting with our situation at ACC.

I would love for people to comment or ask questions about each of these posts. I'm not sure how often they will appear, every week or two hopefully. Also, if anyone is interested in reading this book, let me know and I'll give you my copy when I'm finished.

"Dispatch 1: Emergents find little importance in the discrete differences between the various flavors of Christianity. Instead, they practice a generous orthodoxy that appreciates the contributions of all Christian movements."

A little of my background. I was raised in the Methodist church. I was active in the Sunday school, choir and United Methodist Youth Fellowship. One summer my folks packed 9 or 10 of us youth in the Suburban and drove us to Kentucky for a mission trip. I still get a kick out of seeing students in their UMYF teeshirts as it takes me back to those good old days. In the mean time I was also very active in Abilene's Campus Life group. During my college years I mostly went to Baptist churches, primarily because they started their services later than most. I could usually get myself up and around for a service that started at 10:30. I didn't attend anywhere regularly. I don't remember every attending Sunday school in college, and I never attached myself to any denomination during those years. I did do some worship with Ichthus and Bible study with the Navigators. And there was a summer where I lived and attended worship with a family who were Pentecostals at the time. After K-State my church attendance was even more hit and miss, mostly miss. When MaryEllen and I got married, we spent a long time church hunting. Finally we tried an Episcopal church in Norfolk, Virginia, mostly because it was just down the street from where we lived at the time. It turned out that it was perfect for us. It did as much to bring together two newly married spiritual wanderers as I believe any church could have. We loved both the liturgy and the freedom to ask hard questions about faith that the episcopal community offered. We remained episcopal even after returning to the Midwest. It was just a few years ago, for reasons that had nothing to do with beliefs about baptism, communion, or apostolic succession, that we came to ACC. We came here, and stayed, because of the people.

So Dispatch #1 describes me pretty well. I love ACC. We rock on Sunday morning. We demonstrate the idea of the church family better than any body I've been a part of. And I still love to attend episcopal services. I love the liturgy, the quiet, the corporal prayer of confession, and taking communion from a common cup. I loved hearing Lance Loughridge preach on Good Friday a couple years ago at the Methodist church. It was energetic, and enlivening and poetic, like the preaching of the black church we visited in Virginia years ago. I love the devotion to the scripture that I see in the discussions with my Baptist students. I love the Eastern orthodoxy's embrace of God's mystery, and the history that we all share in the Catholic church.

In my experience, members of ACC are pretty cool in regards other denominations. I've gotten the occasional funny look when I've mentioned my enthusiasm for various flavors of Christianity. And when I once read a passage from the Apocrypha during Sunday school, the silence and the facial expressions around the table were what I would imagine I would get if I brought out a dirty diaper and plopped it down in front of me. But generally when I bring ideas and prayers and traditions from other stripes of Christianity, they are met with enthusiastic interest. I have also heard people passionately share stories of discussing the gospel with coworkers. Some of these coworkers were not religious at all, and some held beliefs that are quite different from traditional Christianity. It it clear in the tellings that these coworkers were loved and respected and often considered brothers in Christ or at least sincere fellow travelers, fellow seekers on the path of life. Before we take communion, we are usually reminded, mostly for any visitors attending I think, that ACC practices open communion. That probably means different things to different people, but I like that I've never heard it defined at ACC. I like the idea that the communion table is Christ's table, not ours. And we are not going to turn away any who Christ would welcome.