Ecumenical & Interfaith
News Network - PCUSA

As Goes the Neighborhood

Russell L. Meyer

John's reputation continues to this day in parts of central Florida, . . . . He was known as Mr. Mission in the '50's – that statistical anomaly of widespread church attendance across the population. John's vision was to put a mission in every new neighborhood in Florida so that every Floridian could walk to church. . . .

Flip ahead a few years. . . .

I caught my son up late at his computer several nights. He's chatting on My Space with a set of regulars. I don't know who they are, and he doesn't talk much about them. One's from Indiana, others are from across the state. He went away for the summer as a camp counselor. He's home again ready for college. His My Space friends are still there. It's his neighborhood.

Anyone who says they have the answers for outreach in these post-colonial days (that's the phrase Brian McLaren uses, and I think it merits more attention than post-modern, post-Christendom, or whatever else) is just peddling wares. There are a lot of things to try and trying them is the thing to do. Not because they themselves work – no ritual makes God happen. But along the way, sometimes they give public witness to the work of God in, with, and through us. Sometimes the gimmicks bring people together so that the Spirit can breathe between them. I've just learned this much. The neighborhood has changed. I think Mr. Rogers in his Cardigan sweater would recognize that. He'd see the truth behind “let your fingers do the walking.” People have ways of connecting today that did not exist in the '50's. . . .

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The Rev. Russell L. Meyer is the executive director of the Florida Council of Churches. He is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and a technology consultant to presbyteries and judicatories in Florida. His article here was prepared especially at the request of the Presbyterian ecumenical network.

The Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, president of Union Seminary in New York City, pointed to some of the concerns Meyer has raised when she spoke to the Communication Commission of the National Council of Churches. She said another revolution, not unlike that which occurred when print media came into being, is occurring today. "New kinds of selves are being created -- new synapses are emerging in our brains. New communities are being formed ... The Internet is quickly replacing the communities we used to call churches," she said. People who are seeking to connect "with a source of truth that they recognize as authentic -- a desire for a connection that can be emotionally felt" are turning increasingly to media. They are connecting with what is regarded as truth through aesthetic forms and "not in the world of doctrine."

Neal Locke—an editor of the presbymergent Presbyterian web discussions on the emergent church, a Princeton Seminary student, and a former high school teacher—led a workshop at the 2010 convention of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators. He said that the emergent church movement is driven by a technological shift. For believers accustomed to active participation on the internet, sitting passively in a pew to listen to an authority figure is not adequate. These "emergents" want to plan worship together. The adventure is in exploring together what a Christ-centered life really means for faithful living and for the faith community. The experience of church evolves into something less structured, more egalitarian. Locke says Presbyterian polity, not intended to be top-down, is well-suited to this approach. (See Locke's blogs of late January about his presentations at the convention.)

New Horizons in Christian Unity

by A. J. Boyd

. . . Believers, not belongers. Spiritual, but not religious. No longer post-Christian so much as post-ecclesial. Several now clichéd terms describe the religiosity of the postmodern seeker for truth. Community is the craving, rather than confession or denomination. In many ways young adults today treat church just like family: you want them there in times of tragedy and triumph, in crisis for support and moments of joy for celebration, but really do not come home to mom and dad’s for dinner every Sunday night.

When it comes to ecumenism and the differences of church and churches, I happen to like the phrase “benign whateverism,” which I first heard from Jeff Gros in January during his Keynote at the 2007 National Workshop on Christian Unity. What association there is, is about community. And the recipe for the emerging model of Christian unity is this: If it is about community, go where your friends are, where you feel truly a part of something. Just bring your beliefs with you. Then, together, create a bricolage of the most meaningful experiences, traditions, and worship styles from each member’s previous encounter with church. The postmodern faith experience is to seek out what resonates with one’s soul, one’s experience, and apply it with all else that resonates. Whether it comes from the tradition of East or West, whether Wesley or Calvin or Aquinas, is far less important than whether or not it speaks to us, here, now. If it does, use it. If not, discard it. Instead of “lowest common denominator theology,” think of an ecumenical “best-practices theology.”

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A. J. Boyd is a lay ecclesial minister in the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Seattle and has served on the national planning committee for the National Workshop on Christian Unity. A 1996 high school graduate, he has studied at the University of Notre Dame, the Catholic University of America, and Seattle University. The above is Boyd's revision of a paper read at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Faith and Order movement in Oberlin, Ohio.

The following article described an ecumenical movement that, in one sense, can be described as being centered in a web site, emergentvillage.com.

Emergent Village and Full Communion

by Dwight J. Friesen

. . . . . Emergent Village is a type of ecumenical movement of Christian churches from various ecclesial non/traditions, parachurch organizations, and Christian social-advocates linked together in a generative conversational network around mission. In our linking together we simultaneously honor the unique faith traditions of one another without letting those differences be impediments to our interpersonal connections, and missional collaborations. In fact, many (if not most) members of our conversations coming from more historic traditions value their tradition in what may be described as a post-denominational manner. . . . .

Although there are many different faith communities linked together making up Emergent Village, it is our interpersonal network which drives our growth. In fact Emergent Village’s primary concern is not that organizations share fellowship with other organizations as much as our concern is that people connect with people. “Full communion” for us, is not experienced at an institutional level as much as at an interpersonal level. . . . Our hope is to experience and encourage transformation (personal, ecclesial and cultural) through encounter with the “other,” therefore, we diligently resist self-definition in propositional terms which tend to exclude. Instead we seek to embody a differentiating curiosity in which our truth claims are submitted to one another as conversation starters. . . . . . 

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Dwight J. Friesen teaches in the Seattle-area Mars Hill Graduate School in Washington State. The school trains people "to be competent in the study of text, soul, and culture in order to experience God through transforming relationships." Licensed and ordained by the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Friesen serves on the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches. This paper was written for its 50th anniversary celebration in Oberlin, Ohio. He commented afterward, “I have an ever deepening appreciation for the history of this ecumenical group and the courage that has been required for many of its participants to engage in these intrafaith dialogues, and found it striking to imagine the courage that may be required for this organize to serve the American Church in an increasing Post-Christendom, postmodern, post-denominational context.” He is an irregular blogger whose ideas also appear elsewhere on the web.

In the spirit of the Emergent Village, Dwight Friesen posted his paper (above) before he delivered it. Comments came later. See especially the comment from Christopher Epting (pictured), the ecumenical officer of the Episcopal Church:

. . . your challenge for us to focus on mission and kingdom-building is much needed. I thnk we may have gone about as far as we can go ecumenically with our current dialogues. We need to change the focus to mission together, learn from emerging leaders like yourself, and get our eyes off the instituion and back on the world. Then, God may surprise us with "full communion!"