It’s been encouraging so far … slowly but surely some Malaysians who have shown interest in the past (on a personal basis) as well as new people whom I’ve never met (thanks for the emails!) are all “curious” of what the conversation is all about and would like to join the conversation on “What does it mean for us to be and do church in our Malaysian context?” (whether it’s with the awareness of the postmodern discussion sparked off by our friends in Emergent Villageor even this idea of being in a post-colonnial context … mentioned in my responseto Brian McLaren’s Africa Report … hmmm.. or just plain curious)
I read with interest The Skinny on Carson’s Emerging Church Tapes 1.1 because of the critique (and possible misunderstanding?) by Carson and Andrew’s steady response. This morning found The Emergent Church – Another Perspective: A Critical Response to D.A. Carson’s Staley Lectures (pdf) by Dr. David Mills to Carson’s critique very helpful
Personally, I find myself resonating with the vibrations of Emergent as expounded here , since “Emergent is a growing generative friendship among missional Christian leaders” and some of us have managed not only to interact online but also meet face to face which indeed has been enriching. Why not invite more to the table for the conversation? How about being more intentional about it?
Here’s me being my inquisitive self. About the sentence: Emergent is a growing generative friendship among missional Christian leaders.
Just to clarify, I take it that leaders are viewed in a different way in Emergent? Just wondering if non-leaders can be part of this friendship – I’ve often thought that this was so.
What’s the definition of a leader in the Emergent church?
Just in case the “leader” thing might deter those who are interested … may I quote from the Emergent website then –> “Emergent is a generative friendship among missional Christian leaders across the world. Our intention is to organize ourselves in a way that is inclusive and useful to one another and the world.
Our structure is not intended to be hierachical or restrictive.
Friends
People who are part of this friendship are simply referred to as Friends. ”
so so called “non-leaders” are welcome … we can discuss what it means when we meet face to face … I guess, an important concern is we don’t just want to sit around and talk without having “catalytic change” in mind no matter how micro!