A Message From Pastor Jed Schenck
Gathering Inclusively - Socially & Environmentally Active - Transforming Through Study & Prayer
An Emerging Way
Rev. Jed Schenck
According to a great number of mainstream scholars, you and I are living in a time of major change within the church. There’s a growing movement within North American Christianity today that’s sometimes referred to as “the emerging Christian way,” sometimes referred to as the transformation-centered way.” Millions of Christians (both laity and clergy) within the mainline churches (i.e., the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the American Baptist Convention, the Christian Church [Disciples of Christ] and the United Church of Canada) - embrace this “emerging way,” this “transformation-centered way” of seeing Christianity’s heart. And truth be told, there is much about the “emerging way” of being Christian that’s both conservative and traditional; it conserves tradition by recovering it and envisioning it afresh.
There is statistical evidence of this major change happening within the church. In a Gallup Poll taken in the U.S. in 1963, almost two thirds (65%) agreed with a statement affirming biblical literalism: “The Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word.” Some forty years later, in 2001, this figure had dropped to 27%. To state the obvious, biblical literalism is declining among Christians in North America.
Some observers believe this time of change in North American Christianity is so significant that it’s spoken of as a “new reformation” in our time. This “new reformation” is comparable in importance to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Although most would say this is an overstatement, even overstatements can contain truth: we are living in a time of major change in both the Christian faith and the Christian church.
The name of this kind of change is sometimes referred to as a paradigm change. A paradigm is a comprehensive way of seeing, a way of seeing an “entirety.” A paradigm is a large interpretive framework that shapes how everything is seen. Today’s time of change is actually about more than a few specifics because it concerns a change in how the Christian tradition and how the Christian life are viewed as a whole. The same phenomena (e.g., God, the Bible, Jesus, the creeds, faith and so forth) are in view, but they are seen differently.
Some examples of specific issues and how the emerging paradigm of Christianity views them:
·Christian exclusivism: Is there only one true religion, one path to salvation? Or are there many true religions, many paths to “salvation”? In a poll taken in 2002 in the U.S., only 17% of the respondents affirmed the statement, “My religion is the only true religion.” Some 78% did not affirm that statement, and this is typical of the emerging form of Christianity.
·Ordination of women: The emerging way ordains women both to lay offices within the church and to ordained ministry. Within mainline Protestant churches, the number of women clergy (including bishops) is rapidly increasing. Indeed, in many mainline church seminaries, half or more of the students are women.
·Gays and lesbians: For the emerging form of Christianity, the question of whether homosexuals can be Christians is mostly settled. The debate today is whether gays and lesbians in committed relationships can be married (or the equivalent) and whether they can be ordained as clergy, a debate virtually unimaginable a few decades ago.
A Broad Overview of the “Emerging” paradigm
What follows is a broad overview of the emerging paradigm’s way of seeing and interpreting the Bible, as well as perspectives on other Christian phenomena. These may be quite unfamiliar to many, although mainline clergy have been taught such viewpoints for more or less the past 100 years.
·The emerging paradigm sees the Bible as a human response to God. As such, it is the product of two ancient communities - namely ancient Israel and the earliest followers of Jesus.
·The emerging paradigm interprets the Bible historically, metaphorically, and sacramentally. In addition to understanding the Bible as written by humans in historical ancient communities, the emerging paradigm interprets the bible metaphorically, meaning in a more than literal, more than factual sense. Not so concerned with the historical factuality of events, but rather much more concerned with their meanings, those who see through the lens of the emerging paradigm basically ask: “Whether it happened this way or not, what is the story saying? what meanings does it have for us? The emerging paradigm also appreciates the Bible sacramentally, meaning its ability to mediate, to connect, the sacred to us. A sacrament is something visible and physical, whereby the God’s Spirit becomes more present to us. A sacrament is a means of grace, a vehicle or vessel for the Spirit. Like the earlier paradigm, the lens of the emerging paradigm reveals the Bible as “sacred” not because it’s a divine product, but because of its status & function. The point is not to believe in the Bible & Christian tradition, but to live within them as metaphor & mediator of the sacred, as a means by which the Holy Spirit continues speaking to us today.
·The emerging paradigm sees the way of Jesus as being about the transformation of the self and about the transformation of the world; it’s not about right belief. Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is available to everyone. He taught that God’s passion is about justice for all and compassion for all.
·The emerging paradigm is concerned with how the practice of Christian faith addresses our relationships and growth in this life rather than with the requirements and rewards of an afterlife.
·The emerging paradigm respects all the major enduring religions of the world, each of which invites the faithful into communities of transformation: of the self, to a new way, and of the world through compassion. The emerging paradigm honors the distinctiveness of each religion, while wanting to be enriched and changed through involvement with these other paths of transformation and belief.
The people of Federated Community Church gather inclusively; they are socially active and serving; they continually endeavor to be transformed through study and prayer more and more into a likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe you will find a number of distinct qualities, theological and otherwise, at Federated Church. Come check it out!
Gathering Inclusively - Socially & Environmentally Active - Transforming Through Study & Prayer
An Emerging Way
Rev. Jed Schenck
According to a great number of mainstream scholars, you and I are living in a time of major change within the church. There’s a growing movement within North American Christianity today that’s sometimes referred to as “the emerging Christian way,” sometimes referred to as the transformation-centered way.” Millions of Christians (both laity and clergy) within the mainline churches (i.e., the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the American Baptist Convention, the Christian Church [Disciples of Christ] and the United Church of Canada) - embrace this “emerging way,” this “transformation-centered way” of seeing Christianity’s heart. And truth be told, there is much about the “emerging way” of being Christian that’s both conservative and traditional; it conserves tradition by recovering it and envisioning it afresh.
There is statistical evidence of this major change happening within the church. In a Gallup Poll taken in the U.S. in 1963, almost two thirds (65%) agreed with a statement affirming biblical literalism: “The Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word.” Some forty years later, in 2001, this figure had dropped to 27%. To state the obvious, biblical literalism is declining among Christians in North America.
Some observers believe this time of change in North American Christianity is so significant that it’s spoken of as a “new reformation” in our time. This “new reformation” is comparable in importance to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Although most would say this is an overstatement, even overstatements can contain truth: we are living in a time of major change in both the Christian faith and the Christian church.
The name of this kind of change is sometimes referred to as a paradigm change. A paradigm is a comprehensive way of seeing, a way of seeing an “entirety.” A paradigm is a large interpretive framework that shapes how everything is seen. Today’s time of change is actually about more than a few specifics because it concerns a change in how the Christian tradition and how the Christian life are viewed as a whole. The same phenomena (e.g., God, the Bible, Jesus, the creeds, faith and so forth) are in view, but they are seen differently.
Some examples of specific issues and how the emerging paradigm of Christianity views them:
·Christian exclusivism: Is there only one true religion, one path to salvation? Or are there many true religions, many paths to “salvation”? In a poll taken in 2002 in the U.S., only 17% of the respondents affirmed the statement, “My religion is the only true religion.” Some 78% did not affirm that statement, and this is typical of the emerging form of Christianity.
·Ordination of women: The emerging way ordains women both to lay offices within the church and to ordained ministry. Within mainline Protestant churches, the number of women clergy (including bishops) is rapidly increasing. Indeed, in many mainline church seminaries, half or more of the students are women.
·Gays and lesbians: For the emerging form of Christianity, the question of whether homosexuals can be Christians is mostly settled. The debate today is whether gays and lesbians in committed relationships can be married (or the equivalent) and whether they can be ordained as clergy, a debate virtually unimaginable a few decades ago.
A Broad Overview of the “Emerging” paradigm
What follows is a broad overview of the emerging paradigm’s way of seeing and interpreting the Bible, as well as perspectives on other Christian phenomena. These may be quite unfamiliar to many, although mainline clergy have been taught such viewpoints for more or less the past 100 years.
·The emerging paradigm sees the Bible as a human response to God. As such, it is the product of two ancient communities - namely ancient Israel and the earliest followers of Jesus.
·The emerging paradigm interprets the Bible historically, metaphorically, and sacramentally. In addition to understanding the Bible as written by humans in historical ancient communities, the emerging paradigm interprets the bible metaphorically, meaning in a more than literal, more than factual sense. Not so concerned with the historical factuality of events, but rather much more concerned with their meanings, those who see through the lens of the emerging paradigm basically ask: “Whether it happened this way or not, what is the story saying? what meanings does it have for us? The emerging paradigm also appreciates the Bible sacramentally, meaning its ability to mediate, to connect, the sacred to us. A sacrament is something visible and physical, whereby the God’s Spirit becomes more present to us. A sacrament is a means of grace, a vehicle or vessel for the Spirit. Like the earlier paradigm, the lens of the emerging paradigm reveals the Bible as “sacred” not because it’s a divine product, but because of its status & function. The point is not to believe in the Bible & Christian tradition, but to live within them as metaphor & mediator of the sacred, as a means by which the Holy Spirit continues speaking to us today.
·The emerging paradigm sees the way of Jesus as being about the transformation of the self and about the transformation of the world; it’s not about right belief. Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is available to everyone. He taught that God’s passion is about justice for all and compassion for all.
·The emerging paradigm is concerned with how the practice of Christian faith addresses our relationships and growth in this life rather than with the requirements and rewards of an afterlife.
·The emerging paradigm respects all the major enduring religions of the world, each of which invites the faithful into communities of transformation: of the self, to a new way, and of the world through compassion. The emerging paradigm honors the distinctiveness of each religion, while wanting to be enriched and changed through involvement with these other paths of transformation and belief.
The people of Federated Community Church gather inclusively; they are socially active and serving; they continually endeavor to be transformed through study and prayer more and more into a likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe you will find a number of distinct qualities, theological and otherwise, at Federated Church. Come check it out!
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