dissertation

To conclude, the path of the Emerging Church Movement diverges with that of the
Missional Church movement, in so far as, in the former, the word missional is just a repackaging
of insights that can be found in church growth or church effectiveness literature.
However, emerging church authors converge with prominent missional church
opinion leaders to the extent that they reflect first and foremost on God’s presence in
the world and in the midst of the church. In other words, we find therein a focal point
of the Emerging-Missional Conversation.
57
2.5 Critical Discussion
To round off the chapter, this section critically interrogates three recurrent themes of
Emerging Church Movement discourse. The first theme concerns the negative rhetoric
that one encounters in the movement as it pertains to traditional churches and institutes,
and the positive rhetoric about being ‘missional’. The second topic is about the legitimacy
and accuracy of the interpretations of the (social) Trinity advocated within
both the emerging and missional movements. Last, we ask what exactly the concept of
‘community’ stands for. This subject is arguably of crucial importance for churches today,
particularly if they want to reach or retain the younger generations. 177 How is this
term used in Emerging Church Movement discourse and how may this be evaluated?
2.5.1 Negative Rhetoric
In English emerging churches, Robin Gamble says that the traditional church is often
depicted as “some sort of tired, worn out and irrelevant medieval institution.” 178 “In
Manchester diocese,” he continues, “we have 375 parishes. Every one is different, special
and in fact unique. It is a mistake to lump this amazing variety of churches under the
single title of inherited mode.” 179
This seems a legitimate warning. Just as there is much diversity among emerging
churches, there is also a great variety of traditional churches. It is neither fair nor appropriate
to lump them all together, passing them off as being somehow ineffective, outdated
or unhealthy. Emerging forms of church are not intrinsically superior to the emerged
(i.e., the inherited) church; infancy is not better than maturity or old age. 180 Also,
some emerging churches – in the United Kingdom: fresh expressions of church – are
177
“Community is vital to the emerging generations. For them, life is meant to be experienced together,
and they sense a need to be involved in genuine relationships with others.” Ed Stetzer, with Richie Stanley
and Jason Hayes, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them (Nashville, TN:
B&H Publishing Group, 2009), 67.
178
Robin Gamble, “Mixed Economy: Nice Slogan or Working Reality?,” in Louise Neltrop and Martyn
Percy, eds., Evaluating Fresh Expressions: Explorations in Emerging Church (London, UK: Canterbury Press
Norwich, 2008), 17.
179
Ibid., 18.
180
Cf. Martin Percy, “‘Old Tricks for New Dogs’? A Critique of Fresh Expressions,” in Neltrop and Percy,
eds., Evaluating Fresh Expressions, 36.