New Facebook Group

After Facebook got rid of the old groups I noticed that ours was deleted, so I made a new one:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/198779376865711/

New Meeting Location

For the months of November and December, we will meet at the Applebee's in Ann Arbor:

Applebee's

2310 Green Road, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105

(It is located just off of US 23 and Plymouth Rd.)

Thursday November 17 at 9pm and Thursday December 15th 9pm

Cohort March 24th

We will be meeting Thurs. March 24th in Old Village Plymouth, at Hermann's Olde Town Grille- 195 W Liberty St. Plymouth, MI 48170.  It is a great local bar and grill with a full menu.
The "official" start time is 9 PM, but some folks may start arriving around 8:30.
There is no set agenda - generally we talk about what God is doing in our lives and ministries, share plans/frustrations/ideas, talk about books, etc.


For questions, email Mike or RSVP to the event via our Facebook page

Church in the Inventive Age: A Conversation With Doug Pagitt

Thurs 2/24/11 7-9 PM

Central Woodward Christian Church
3955 W Big Beaver Rd
Troy, MI

Doug Pagitt has recently authored the book Church in the Inventive Age. He will be leading a conversation about what it means to be church in this new Inventive Age at Central Woodward Christian Church. Books will be available for purchase at the event.

Doug is pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis.

This conversation with Doug is being held the same day as CWCC hosts the Social Phonics Bootcamp, which is a separate event for church leaders and pastors.

See this site

Current Cohort Happenings

Happy New Year (almost)

Our "Cohort" has failed to meet the last few months for our monthly brews and discussion get-together.  (boo)

However, we are meeting weekly for other events in Canton, MI.

Wednesdays we meet for a book discussion group.  (oh, tell me more...)

On the weekend (shifts between Saturday nights / Sunday Afternoon and Sunday Nights) we meet for a house church gathering.

We still meet out on occasion, but with the cold weather, it is much more cozy to meet in our home-sweet-home-base.

If you are interested, email Mike.

Metro Detroit Emergent Cohort Facebook Group

Check us out on Facebook: Metro Detroit Emergent Cohort Facebook Group

Phyllis Tickle's "The Great Emergence"

Are we in a "Great Emergence?" [Talk amongst yourselves.]
Questions (some mine, some Phyllis Tickle's):

PT describes the shifts in Christianity over the last 2000 years. The split of Asiatic and African Christians from European Christians, the formal establishment of a structured Monastic tradition in Christianity (500s AD), the split of the Roman Catholic Church from the Orthodox church (1000s), the Reformation (1500s) and in the 2000s is there another shift?


Luther discussed how there should be a priesthood of all believers - is that more possible now-days thanks to technology, literacy and access to various Christian traditions and practices?

How much of Christian tradition is from the Hellenist (Greek) and Roman traditions? Should there be an effort to become more like the early church (ie, pre-Constantine or, maybe more Jewish?)

Where is the authority of the larger Christian church today?
(Popes, priests, mega-church pastors, Scripture, Holy Spirit, the Christian community)

How can we live responsibly as devout and faithful adherents of one religion in a world full of devout and faithful adherents to many other religions (who we are coming into greater contact with!)?

Are you Orthopraxic, Orthodoxic, Orthonomic or Theonomic (is there a personality quiz for this one?)?
If you are all of the above, you may be "emergent/emerging"
Phyllis Tickle describes the Christian landscape not as "left and right" but using an idea, developed previously, that there are four quadrants --> "Liturgicals", "Social Justice Christians", "Renewalists", and "conservatives". She describes the "Great Emergence" as made up of those Christians trying to seek a balance between these four traditions, centered amid orthopraxy and orthodoxy, orthonomy and theonomy.

See: http://www.thegreatemergence.com/Home for more info about the book.

Schedule for the next few months...

Hello All!
For the next few months we will be meeting on the third Thursdays of the month twice - once at lunch and once in the evening - you pick!

Info can be found at the Metro Detroit Emergent Cohort webpage.

February Cohort

February Cohort tentatively scheduled for Saturday February 28 at noon.
Location: TBA

However - we discussed having a weekday Cohort as well hopefully starting as early as this month, if you have a day preference, post a comment, or email me at mpjm223@gmail.com

We had a great conversation at the January cohort ranging from serious to light hearted. Our group included people of many denominational backgrounds (Catholic, Disciples of Christ, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian) many working directly in ministry, but some "lay" people too. We shared where we saw God working in our ministries and our lives and look forward to meeting again together this month.

If you are interested in joining us, do not hesitate to contact me or even just show up!

See also the Emerge Detroit Website:
http://www.emergedetroit.org/groups/metro-detroit-emergent-cohort

New Year - next Cohort Jan. 31

Hello to any and all.

We are hoping to meet some new folks in new places this year as a Cohort.

Info about the next cohort meet can be found at the Emerge Detroit website.

And updated info can also be found at emergedetroit.org

Hope to hear from some new folks in the new year!

Update Aug 21

Sorry - Carl Gladstone and I are unable to attend tonight.

We will announce fall cohort dates soon!

Any suggestions for days/times/locations??? - POST below :)

Meeting with Emergent Detroit

For the near future I plan to meet with a cohort that will be meeting in Ferndale, the Metro Detroit Emergent Cohort (North Metro Detroit). The next meeting is May 15th. I believe it is wiser for the time being to meet with this cohort that has already started rather than split my efforts from theirs. When the time seems right to begin meetings of an additional cohort on the south/ south-west side of the city, we can do so.

The Metro-Detroit Emergent Cohort

THIRD THURSDAYS, 7:30pm

at the Woodward Avenue Brewery

22646 Woodward Ave, Ferndale, MI 48220-1810

Join us MAY 15, JUNE 19, JULY 17, and AUGUST 21 for conversations on emergent theology, community, and praxis! At 7:30pm we'll gather and catch up with each other on what's been going on in our lives/ministries. At 8pm we'll get going with the dedicated topic for that evening, and close up by 9:30pm or 10pm depending how talkitive we are.

Metro Detroit Emergent Cohort website, see:
http://www.emergedetroit.org/user/cohortdetroit

to email me, see my address at http://www.emergentvillage.com/cohorts-locations/SEMichigan_Cohort

Article on "Ancient-Future Faith"

A recent article from Christianity Today discusses the trend towards incorporating ancient practices into worship and discusses "emerging" trends among many young Christians.

Faces of an emerging Church

Across the country, small groups of Christians are attempting to model their lives off of those early Christians from the book of Acts who tried to live a simple life of obedient faith in community with other Christians.

For example, you may read...
A Boston Globe Article, "The Unexpected Monks"
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/02/03/the_unexpected_monks/

about A Christian Community in San Francisco called "Seven"

about another Christian Community called "The Simple Way"in Philadelphia

An article from "Christianity Today" called "The New Monasticism"

An article from "The Christian Century" - "The New Monastics"

What is a Cohort?

A cohort is a local learning community.

From "Starting an Emergent Village Cohort", Mike Clawson, Chicago Cohort Coordinator

What is a learning community?
While being a place of connection and support, an Emergent learning community (cohort) is primarily a place of communal exploration, theological and professional reflection, honest connection, and strategic collaboration. These learning communities are geared toward post-critical, constructive conversation, rather than deconstructive rants about the current state of the Church.

However, cohorts are not intended to be “churches” or new church plants per se. Instead they are connection points for people from many different church communities, as well as those who have left the institutional church.

Why learning communities?
1. Local (Intrinsic)
2. National (Extrinsic)

3. To generate new forms/ideas of the Church.
4. To enhance the local participation and the grassroots nature of the emerging church conversation.
5. To identify/support a new generation of leaders.
6. To host regional gatherings.

What is "Emerging Christianity?"

That is a simple question with a long answer.

First, it is a large category with a wide diversity of opinion. While I will do my best to give a description of it, some may not agree with every point I lay out just as I don't agree with all comments made by everyone who calls themselves "emerging/emergent." It is this diversity of opinions that emphasizes the fact that the "emerging" movement is best approached as a dialogue about Christianity, not a set-in-stone doctrine. For many, it is an attempt to think about Christianity and the way that we as Christians should live in a more authentic way, not simply as a list of guidelines, dos/don'ts and rituals for which we ascribe no meaning.

It is not a new denomination. Most past responses to concerns about a church, denomination, doctrine, etc. was to leave the church you had a dispute with and start your own church, denomination, or write your own doctrine.

The main idea behind emerging Christianity is not necessarily to leave your old church or faith community and start a new one (though many have felt led to do so). Some may follow an "emerging" path while staying at the same church they have always attended.

Instead, many see emerging Christianity as a dialogue between Christians from different denominational backgrounds in order to create greater community within the body of Christ and learn from one another's strengths (rather than focusing on doctrinal differences). But this simply sounds like ecumenicism and is indeed, only a part of "Emerging Christianity."

Another common answer is that it is a "postmodern" view of Christianity.
What is "postmodern"?
Well, technically, we are in a "postmodern era".
Scholars like to classify periods of history with neat titles like Renaissance, pre-modern, industrial, information age, space age, modern age....well the modern age has allegedly passed (for most of us anyway!) and now we are in a postmodern age, where previous, "modern" assumptions about reality are questioned or rejected and people begin to re-evaluate "reality" (just as modernity was a challenge of "Victorian" values and beliefs, so post-modernism is the challenging of modern values and beliefs). This is certainly not a complete explanation of "post-modernism" and certainly not a great definition but further research could bring you any number of quality explanations delivered by scholars who have a better grasp on this concept than I.

Emerging Christianity is controversial. Because of the nature of its approach to reviewing and questioning long held practices of the institutional church countless critics have emerged to counter the "emerging" movement. Some of their criticisms are valid, some are defenses of the very changes many "emerging" Christians think are necessary to recapture the truth of Jesus' teachings, some criticisms are based on misconceptions about what most "emerging" Christians believe, and some are criticisms of comments made by "emerging" Christians that do not represent a consensus of the "emerging" church. Since it is not a denomination, or a single body with a decision making hierarchy, there is no one voice of the "emerging" church, but many advocates, all with slightly differing opinions on a range of theological issues.

I still have not explained entirely what emerging Christianity is and rather than trying to explain it myself, I will point you in the direction of a few helpful explanations and articles I have read:

For example - here is one good explanation I found very useful.

For a more critical analysis/commentary: "What Should We Think of the Emerging Church? Part One" and "What Should We Think of the Emerging Church? Part Two" discusses the implications of a "postmodern" understanding of Christianity and does a very good job of pointing out the benefits of the emerging movement while raising important questions and concerns about the doctrine being espoused by some of its loudest proponents - an important read for anyone with an honest attraction to the emerging movement.

This article from Christianity Today, "Five Streams of the Emerging Church" by Scot McKnight addresses some misconceptions about Emerging Christianity. He also points out 5 main ideas within the emerging church movement. In addition to the embrace of many "postmodern" ideas he also points the the emerging movement's deliberate embrace of prophetic language, the effort by many to live out their faith through more practice and action (not as a means to salvation, but rather as a response to their salvation and a challenge to those who say they believe, but do not act accordingly), a rejection of what is seen as a religion of exclusivity and divisiveness among various doctrines, and a rejection of the automatic embrace by many Christians of the Republican party. McKnight reports that he has... "voted Democrat for years for all the wrong reasons. I don't think the Democratic Party is worth a hoot, but its historic commitment to the poor and to centralizing government for social justice is what I think government should do. I don't support abortion—in fact, I think it is immoral. I believe in civil rights, but I don't believe homosexuality is God's design. And, like many in the emerging movement, I think the Religious Right doesn't see what it is doing." It is important to emphasize that McKnight does not speak for all "emerging Christianity" on these views, but his is a good example of the complex views many have about politics and religion; moreover the emerging church movement does not endorse either party since neither party uniformly emphasizes biblical beliefs about Life, Poverty, Social Justice, etc. Above all else, many in the "emerging" movement would agree that critical thinking about faith and political issues is more important than allegiance to any political party.

Also, as mentioned by McKnight, there is a technical difference between "emerging" and "Emergent". Emergent is actually a specific organization within the "emerging" movement.

This organization's website emergentvillage.com, is one of many online communities trying to connect "emerging Christians" who may not already be in an "emergent-friendly" congregation.
Their "values and practices" along with other bits of information are on their webpage.
The means of dialogue within the "emergent Village" is within local "cohorts" where Christians can come together to discuss "things that matter." Who decides "what matters?" The people who take part in the cohort!

A cohort is a learning community... (to be continued)

Want to join the conversation?

Time / place : TBD