A couple of notes. One, I don’t think Mars Hill qualifies as emergent church under the above definition. (“We are not liberals. We are not egalitarians.”)

Secondly, I saw an article on that “largest Christian website” a while back about the emergent church. The author hastened to reassure his audience, “Don’t worry. Many emergent churches still believe in male-only leadership.” So the emergent church is not threatening as long as they embrace patriarchy. Go figure.

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I was wondering if I could lend my voice to this conversation. What Kathryn said about we emerging types “coming out of traditional churches, and emerging into a different way of experiencing church” is actually wonderfully succint. We are friends and followers of Jesus from all across the church and theological spectrum–house churchers and East Orthodox, ” onclick=”return TrackClick(” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”" onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”,” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”)”progressive” onclick=”return TrackClick(” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”" onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”,” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”)” and ” onclick=”return TrackClick(” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”" onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”,” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”)”conservative” onclick=”return TrackClick(” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”" onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”,” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”)”–who feel that God is doing something fresh and anciently-rooted in our postmodern context.

As far as whether or not we” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”re ” onclick=”return TrackClick(” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”" onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”,” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”)”younger” onclick=”return TrackClick(” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”" onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”,” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”)”–well, yes and no. Many of us are (I” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”m 26). And many of us aren” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”t. Regardless of age, though, most of us feel that the blessing of having our sisters in Christ fully participate in the life of God” onclick=”return TrackClick(”,’%2F%2Fzoecarnate.com%2F%23wome’)”s beloved community has been withheld for far too long. And so…we converse, and dream, and practice for a renewed creation reflecting the reality of unity in Christ. I hope it is in this direction we are emerging.

See the Emerging Church entry in Wikipedia for a more expansive definition; for background information, read Brian D. McLaren’s A New Kind of Christian; see emergingchurch.info for a gateway to the emerging church blogosphere; and see zoecarnate.com for an extensive list of Christian exotic movements and fringe alternatives to structured denominations.

I am curious – why is “emergent” an important description/term to use whether for a woman or the church?

In Christ Jesus,
Janet