Comments on: Learning from the Other Side http://www.roguereverend.com/2009/06/learning-from-the-other-side/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=learning-from-the-other-side watch out for lightning Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:16:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Lia http://www.roguereverend.com/2009/06/learning-from-the-other-side/#comment-159 Lia Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:25:12 +0000 http://www.roguereverend.com/?p=237#comment-159 Thanks for the comments. Adele, the church, for most of my adult life, has been doing everything it can possibly do, to GROW. From George Barna to Rick Warren, church leaders have been working to make sure that more and more people are in church. Like the efforts of Baptists in the 80's and 90's to move toward mega-churches, the end result doesn't seem to be, well, church. Grrr. I can't even explain it. You know, the Christ came to build disciples. Granted. But it wasn't to build larger buildings, to have bigger budgets, or to have larger churches. That's not Christianity. And every tool that can be used to build disciples has been eventually used to build budgets and buildings. When the church becomes more interested in remaining an organization than being about the original mission of the church (love God, love one another as ourselves), then "reform" becomes church growth. Thanks for the comments.

Adele, the church, for most of my adult life, has been doing everything it can possibly do, to GROW. From George Barna to Rick Warren, church leaders have been working to make sure that more and more people are in church. Like the efforts of Baptists in the 80′s and 90′s to move toward mega-churches, the end result doesn’t seem to be, well, church.

Grrr. I can’t even explain it.

You know, the Christ came to build disciples. Granted. But it wasn’t to build larger buildings, to have bigger budgets, or to have larger churches. That’s not Christianity.

And every tool that can be used to build disciples has been eventually used to build budgets and buildings. When the church becomes more interested in remaining an organization than being about the original mission of the church (love God, love one another as ourselves), then “reform” becomes church growth.

]]> By: Existential Punk http://www.roguereverend.com/2009/06/learning-from-the-other-side/#comment-157 Existential Punk Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:35:30 +0000 http://www.roguereverend.com/?p=237#comment-157 That description from CT is so off the mark and rubbish. Emerging church kept me from totally leaving my faith behind. i have found solitude and a safe space to question, doubt, rethink out loud without the fear of lambasting and rejection. Lia, you said, 'And just for the record, the emergent/emerging church seems to have become another program to build church, which, of course, seems antithetical.' Can you expalain further for me what you mean by being antithetical to reform church? Some are looking to find new and relevant ways to grow their churches since numbers are down. Yet many are really rethinking things and making paradigm shifts & rethinking how we are to be the church. So, i'm not really tracking with you on this. Thanks, Adele That description from CT is so off the mark and rubbish. Emerging church kept me from totally leaving my faith behind. i have found solitude and a safe space to question, doubt, rethink out loud without the fear of lambasting and rejection.

Lia, you said, ‘And just for the record, the emergent/emerging church seems to have become another program to build church, which, of course, seems antithetical.’ Can you expalain further for me what you mean by being antithetical to reform church? Some are looking to find new and relevant ways to grow their churches since numbers are down. Yet many are really rethinking things and making paradigm shifts & rethinking how we are to be the church. So, i’m not really tracking with you on this.

Thanks,
Adele

]]> By: Xtine http://www.roguereverend.com/2009/06/learning-from-the-other-side/#comment-119 Xtine Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:26:07 +0000 http://www.roguereverend.com/?p=237#comment-119 Great post on the emerging/emergent church... and interesting differences pointed out here. I too had some of the best experiences of my christian career (fundagelical...) during my time at Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis. It definitely aided in a growth spurt in my days of following christ that eventually helped me jump out of the entire religion all together. No regrets. I wrote about my time there in my blog... fond memories... great people... artistic community... sincere... worth following on twitter. Check out Solomon's Porch and Doug Pagitt if that is your thing. Great post on the emerging/emergent church… and interesting differences pointed out here. I too had some of the best experiences of my christian career (fundagelical…) during my time at Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis. It definitely aided in a growth spurt in my days of following christ that eventually helped me jump out of the entire religion all together. No regrets. I wrote about my time there in my blog… fond memories… great people… artistic community… sincere… worth following on twitter. Check out Solomon’s Porch and Doug Pagitt if that is your thing.

]]> By: Amber Rhea http://www.roguereverend.com/2009/06/learning-from-the-other-side/#comment-117 Amber Rhea Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:07:39 +0000 http://www.roguereverend.com/?p=237#comment-117 <blockquote>And, they deny the truth—meaning they’ve got a latte-soaked copy of Derrida in their smoke- and beer-stained backpacks.</blockquote> Oh no they didn't!

And, they deny the truth—meaning they’ve got a latte-soaked copy of Derrida in their smoke- and beer-stained backpacks.

Oh no they didn’t!

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