Baptimergent edition by Zach Roberts Religion Spirituality eBooks
Download As PDF : Baptimergent edition by Zach Roberts Religion Spirituality eBooks 
Emergent Baptists are those who believe there is more to God, Jesus, and God’s kingdom than modern Christianity and its denominational categories have been able to define. Emergent Baptists believe it is incumbent upon us to participate in—and write—the narrative for our time and place. Like generations before us, we hope to take what our forefathers and mothers gave us and fashion something from it that is our own. This book contains some of our first efforts at doing so.
Zach Roberts (editor) lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife, Jenn, and their two children, Landyn and Harrison. With degrees from Bluefield College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Zach will complete his D.Min. in Gospel & Culture at Columbia Theological Seminary in 2010. He is currently the Associate Pastor for Education at Ridge Road Baptist Church in Raleigh.
Contributors
Cathy Payne Anderson
Rick Bennett
Amy Canosa
Tim Conder
Ed Cyzewski
Tripp Fuller
Mike Gregg
Greg Jarrell
Wanda Kidd
Jeanie McGowan
Perry Lee Radford
Michael Raimer-Goodman
Zach Roberts
Christina Whitehouse-Suggs
Baptimergent edition by Zach Roberts Religion Spirituality eBooks
Phyllis Tickle has pointed out that Christianity goes through great shakeups every five hundred years, and we are clearly in one of those periods. "Emergence" or "Emergent" (which mean different things, depending on who you're reading) Christianity has been gaining more interest and adherents for over a decade now. It seems to be just one more phenomenon that is blurring the lines between mainstream Protestantism and some of its other manifestations. This particular book concentrates on how the Emergent movement has intersected with the Baptist tradition. It is a collection of essays that tell some very interesting personal stories through which we learn about how the Emergent movement is changing what it means to be a Baptist to a number of very thoughtful women and men, and how they are working to further God's kingdom here on earth, each in their different ways.Editor Zach Roberts' short introduction does a very good job of explaining Emergence Christianity by comparing not to a machine, but an organism, and thus characterized by change, evolution, and adaption, and not so much a postmodern adaption but instead a return to the gospel's wisdom, which is pre-scientific and pre-modern. I like how he writes about Emergence Christianity being about commas, not periods, and its embrace of "transcendent mystery" that we have not and never will capture "with our concepts, theologies, and creeds." (xi) Roberts expands a little on this in his essay "We Were Made for This," which focuses on green theology and ecological stewardship. I wish everyone could read this essay.
A couple of the other essays explore some of that "transcendent mystery" more directly. Tripp Fuller's "The Time is Now, the Place is Near" explores the Bible's complexity and delves into "the good news of Abba-Intimacy," and how "gospel living" takes the church to the margins of society and into opposition to worldly empires. I really appreciated his explanation for using Clarence Jordan's term "the God Movement" over "Kingdom of Heaven." (19) Ed Czyewski's "A Spirit-Response Reading of Scripture" rejects the old literalist/inerrancy doctrines and calls not just for reading the Bible differently, but actually living by it. Michael Rainer-Goodman's "Reimagining the Bath" (baptism) calls for church to be measured not by the usual metrics, but instead how people are transformed through the Spirit and live differently as a result.
Because of my own interests, Greg Jarrell's "Amos's Rain Dance" was especially interesting, and I think works well with Tripp Fuller's piece. Jarrell tells the story of his own growing awareness of privilege and injustice and how it changed him and his ministry. Without getting too technical he does a very good job of explaining why our American English word and concept of "justice," which we use for the Hebrew "mishpat," is so inadequate. And Jarrell's and Fuller's essay help us, I think, read several of the others with different eyes. Wanda Kidd, "Give Us Ears to Hear," explains why its so important to foster understanding between generations that have lived us different lives. Christina Whitehouse-Suggs, in "Making Space at the Table" explores another area dear to my heart, that of radical hospitality. Jeannie McGowan's "The Journey to Cherry Street," which is about a married clergywoman ministering to single people, shows that taking the gospel seriously and living gospel life transforms us as much as it does those we take on as our brothers and sisters.
Two of the essays focus particularly on liturgy and prayer. Mike Gregg explores worship services of various kinds in "Emerging Worship: A Post-Modern Experiment," including outlining a typical worship service at his own church. I found his discussion of postmodernity usefull. And I really appreciated Cathy Payne Anderson's "Into Ancient Prayer Practices." Once again here, a personal story highlights the general culture of "Deep South Baptist" but then tells a story of growth and change through the discovery and embrace of the older traditional practices of lectio divina, breath prayer, examen, and prayer labyrinths.
Rick Bennet in "Left of the Dial" and Perry Lee Radford in "Finding Space to Critique Tradition" do a fine job of weaving their personal journeys in faith through the larger historical and cultural background of the last few decades to show how they embraced Emergence within a still Baptist framework. I particularly like how Bennett believes that we don't have just one conversion, but instead continue to experience radical breaks with our past and new experiences of fellowship with God, our fellow humans, and all creation. Radford's story is particularly compelling because he grew up black in rural West Virginia in both the Pentecostal and Baptist traditions and moved to Washington, D.C. as a youngster not long before Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated: culture shock on so many levels! We learn a bit here about his evolving ideas about ministry and church as a continuing process. I like how he doesn't have an answer for the question as to whether he embraced Emergent, or it him.
In "I Pledge Allegiance to the Kingdom," Amy Canosa presents I think one of the most thoughtful essays I've read in a long time on why separation of church and state is so important for the church, even though I'm sure that's not what she set out to do. But I think she explains very well why the old "God and country" so many of us grew up with--I know I did--just doesn't work for Christians. Our allegiance is to the Triune God, she reminds us, and we follow the Way of Jesus Christ. (149) Jesus proclaimed a good news of peace and justice for all humankind, not just citizens of the United States. But she also shows how the institutional churches' embrace of partisanship and patriotism have driven away a lot of younger people who hunger for more. Frankly, I'm older, and I feel the same way.
Tim Conder's "Afterword: There and Back Again" is a very enjoyable essay that weaves what is a mini review-summary of the book with his own Emergent experience through the lens of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Conder demonstrates once again here his skill as a writer and as a spokesman for the Emergent movement.
Baptimergent is three years old as I write this review; I wish I could have read it when it was issued. Its a great introduction to the Emergent/Emergence movement in general, and to how some Baptists at least have intersected with what I think is an important development in the long history of Christianity. I recommend it highly.
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Baptimergent edition by Zach Roberts Religion Spirituality eBooks Reviews
Phyllis Tickle has pointed out that Christianity goes through great shakeups every five hundred years, and we are clearly in one of those periods. "Emergence" or "Emergent" (which mean different things, depending on who you're reading) Christianity has been gaining more interest and adherents for over a decade now. It seems to be just one more phenomenon that is blurring the lines between mainstream Protestantism and some of its other manifestations. This particular book concentrates on how the Emergent movement has intersected with the Baptist tradition. It is a collection of essays that tell some very interesting personal stories through which we learn about how the Emergent movement is changing what it means to be a Baptist to a number of very thoughtful women and men, and how they are working to further God's kingdom here on earth, each in their different ways.
Editor Zach Roberts' short introduction does a very good job of explaining Emergence Christianity by comparing not to a machine, but an organism, and thus characterized by change, evolution, and adaption, and not so much a postmodern adaption but instead a return to the gospel's wisdom, which is pre-scientific and pre-modern. I like how he writes about Emergence Christianity being about commas, not periods, and its embrace of "transcendent mystery" that we have not and never will capture "with our concepts, theologies, and creeds." (xi) Roberts expands a little on this in his essay "We Were Made for This," which focuses on green theology and ecological stewardship. I wish everyone could read this essay.
A couple of the other essays explore some of that "transcendent mystery" more directly. Tripp Fuller's "The Time is Now, the Place is Near" explores the Bible's complexity and delves into "the good news of Abba-Intimacy," and how "gospel living" takes the church to the margins of society and into opposition to worldly empires. I really appreciated his explanation for using Clarence Jordan's term "the God Movement" over "Kingdom of Heaven." (19) Ed Czyewski's "A Spirit-Response Reading of Scripture" rejects the old literalist/inerrancy doctrines and calls not just for reading the Bible differently, but actually living by it. Michael Rainer-Goodman's "Reimagining the Bath" (baptism) calls for church to be measured not by the usual metrics, but instead how people are transformed through the Spirit and live differently as a result.
Because of my own interests, Greg Jarrell's "Amos's Rain Dance" was especially interesting, and I think works well with Tripp Fuller's piece. Jarrell tells the story of his own growing awareness of privilege and injustice and how it changed him and his ministry. Without getting too technical he does a very good job of explaining why our American English word and concept of "justice," which we use for the Hebrew "mishpat," is so inadequate. And Jarrell's and Fuller's essay help us, I think, read several of the others with different eyes. Wanda Kidd, "Give Us Ears to Hear," explains why its so important to foster understanding between generations that have lived us different lives. Christina Whitehouse-Suggs, in "Making Space at the Table" explores another area dear to my heart, that of radical hospitality. Jeannie McGowan's "The Journey to Cherry Street," which is about a married clergywoman ministering to single people, shows that taking the gospel seriously and living gospel life transforms us as much as it does those we take on as our brothers and sisters.
Two of the essays focus particularly on liturgy and prayer. Mike Gregg explores worship services of various kinds in "Emerging Worship A Post-Modern Experiment," including outlining a typical worship service at his own church. I found his discussion of postmodernity usefull. And I really appreciated Cathy Payne Anderson's "Into Ancient Prayer Practices." Once again here, a personal story highlights the general culture of "Deep South Baptist" but then tells a story of growth and change through the discovery and embrace of the older traditional practices of lectio divina, breath prayer, examen, and prayer labyrinths.
Rick Bennet in "Left of the Dial" and Perry Lee Radford in "Finding Space to Critique Tradition" do a fine job of weaving their personal journeys in faith through the larger historical and cultural background of the last few decades to show how they embraced Emergence within a still Baptist framework. I particularly like how Bennett believes that we don't have just one conversion, but instead continue to experience radical breaks with our past and new experiences of fellowship with God, our fellow humans, and all creation. Radford's story is particularly compelling because he grew up black in rural West Virginia in both the Pentecostal and Baptist traditions and moved to Washington, D.C. as a youngster not long before Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated culture shock on so many levels! We learn a bit here about his evolving ideas about ministry and church as a continuing process. I like how he doesn't have an answer for the question as to whether he embraced Emergent, or it him.
In "I Pledge Allegiance to the Kingdom," Amy Canosa presents I think one of the most thoughtful essays I've read in a long time on why separation of church and state is so important for the church, even though I'm sure that's not what she set out to do. But I think she explains very well why the old "God and country" so many of us grew up with--I know I did--just doesn't work for Christians. Our allegiance is to the Triune God, she reminds us, and we follow the Way of Jesus Christ. (149) Jesus proclaimed a good news of peace and justice for all humankind, not just citizens of the United States. But she also shows how the institutional churches' embrace of partisanship and patriotism have driven away a lot of younger people who hunger for more. Frankly, I'm older, and I feel the same way.
Tim Conder's "Afterword There and Back Again" is a very enjoyable essay that weaves what is a mini review-summary of the book with his own Emergent experience through the lens of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Conder demonstrates once again here his skill as a writer and as a spokesman for the Emergent movement.
Baptimergent is three years old as I write this review; I wish I could have read it when it was issued. Its a great introduction to the Emergent/Emergence movement in general, and to how some Baptists at least have intersected with what I think is an important development in the long history of Christianity. I recommend it highly.
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