What do the people say that we are?

Recently I have been taking part in a ‘weblog’ conversation hosted by the US site ‘Emergent Village’ – Phyllis Tickle (author of ‘The Great Emergence) threw out the challenge to redefine ‘Church / church’ and unsurprisingly it has become a keenly followed thread with over 50 posts to date.

Phyllis began this way…

Apparently and for some not-very-clear reason, it is incumbent upon the faithful in every new epoch or changing era of Christian history to re-define what we mean when we use the words “church” and/or “Church.” for. There is no question about the fact that this time of emergence Christianity, whether sacred or secular and with no holds barred, is up for scrutiny and that most of everything, once scrutinized, is up for re-defining, including “church” and/or “Church.”

So this New Year, I seek—hope for—am eager to overhear—a sustained and prayerful conversation about exactly what we who are Christian in this time of emergence, hold as a working definition of emergence church/Church. And lest I be accused of doing no more here than passing along some kind of theological hot potato for the fun of it, I will begin the sacred game. I will begin the first round by saying that, as of right now, I believe both church and Church are “a body of people delighting in God the Father, God the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit.”

Here are some of the contributions – including a couple of my own thoughts:

• I’m an engineer, forgive me! But I suggest the “church is a tool useful to advance God’s will being done on earth as in heaven.”
• Thank you for this conversation. For me, the Church is an opening rose, the very fragrance of Christ, especially among the poorest of the poor; May we be the Church!
• Church: The bumbling incarnation of God’s “Yes.”
• In order to define what we are (and consequently how we go about being that thing) we need a firm grasp on the desired outcome, lest our ‘defining’ becomes an unintended prison from which we spend the next few years extricating ourselves – what kind of a definition would lead to us taking forward the ministry of reconciliation that Paul spoke about, and how will it give us the freedom to be truly part of our host communities through incarnational mission.
• I love the idea of delighting in God, but agree with one who observed that so often as Christians we do not delight in God. I see church as serving as the hands and feet of Christ here on earth with and to those around us. Church becomes a collective of like minded people desiring to follow and emulate Christ’s teachings.
• I find my deepest desire is to be a part of a community that desires to live out what Christ taught and modelled. Where questions can be asked honestly and discussed, and yet be challenged in practical ways to really examine what it means to follow Jesus Christ and honour our Creator with our lives. Exactly how that community is structured has become far less important than whether or not it is engaged in and striving toward honouring Christ in how the community lives every day – individually and collectively.
• So the C/church is/are Dream-Realisers, bringing God’s dream (heaven on earth, our real selves and our real home) to reality in small and large ways wherever we find ourselves, and on behalf of all of creation. We can recognize the signs of this Great Dream, when we see wholeness created, forgiveness given, hope restored, joy shared, fear broken, resources shared, people taken care of, and the like.
• Several people have sighted the importance of community in the definition and over time I have been a part of two or three really good Christian communities, but the common factor has been the exclusivity that ‘Christian’ communities seem to straightjacket themselves with. Is this because we essentially ignore the image of the maker in those ‘outside’ our community (for surely that is why they remain out there?) and is it because our dishonesty about our actual daily experience of being a part of the church leaves us vulnerable to crippling self doubt when faced with the ‘wider’ community. When the Spirit came at Pentecost it drove the embryonic church out in to THE community of those loved by God – I for one wish we had never gone back!! Let’s live the dream out there among our NEIGHBOURS loving them as we do ourselves.

Perhaps through ‘comments’ of your own we could continue this conversation this side of the pond!!