Day One at Emergence 07

The opening day of the Emergence 07 conference in Austin, Texas is a done deal.

I will freely admit I am learning some things, yet many, many opinions and ideas I have had concerning the Emergent Church are being clarified and confirmed.

The opening evening of the conference was attended by perhaps 100 attendees ay Gateway Church. The format of the discussion was in the form of the Q&A led by moderator Scot McKnight, Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University. The panel consisted of Josh Carney, Teaching Pastor, University Baptist Church, Waco, TX; Danielle Shroyer, Pastor of The Journey in Dallas, Texas; Doug Pagitt, Pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and John Burke, pastor of Gateway Church in Austin. The event is presented by Zondervan Publishing.

I truly come to this conference with an open mind and a compassionate heart. In times past I have been harshly critical of the ECM (Emerging Church Movement) and while I stand by the point of my comments, I may have said some things without the compassion and mercy that I should have.

I am not a blogger such as Tim Challies or Timmy Brister, so it is not my forte to do a play-by-play type commentary. I will go into more detail later. 

But I will say now that there has been little to change my mind about the beliefs and practices of the Emerging Church. The statements made by the panel last evening, all of which would probably admit they are leaders of the ECM, were sad, shocking and even outrageous. Many basic tenets of the faith were called into question or even outright rejected, usually under the caveat that no one has a hold on the truth and that truth was not absolute and was subjective to each individual’s personal perspective, the culture they live in and their personal experiences.

I guess the running theme here is ambiguity, doubt and uncertainty about almost everything, except the fact that everyone undoubtedly has the right to define truth and practice as they see fit.

Some who read this will say that I am wrong or have misinterpreted what was and will be said. All I know is I am here have listened to the discussion and even spoken personally with some of the speakers.Not since attending a meeting of The Jesus Seminar have I been so saddened, and yes even shocked by what I have heard.

More importantly, I came away from the last night’s session with extreme sadness, as so many people are basing their eternities on a subjective faith that may or may not be consistent with the absolute truth of God’s Word.I will be listening and learning today for the second day of discussions.

Let us pray for the speakers and those listening, even me.