The Emerging Church – Part 3: Retro Emergent

Part 3: The Emerging Church – Circa 1970   (See Part 1 & Part 2) Retro Emergent http://herescope.blogspot.com May 21, 2009

Index to articles by Discernment Group   Emphasis added in bold letters

“A
church should not change just to be different. It should
change because the context of the culture about it requires
its organizations to restructure themselves so church tasks
can be effectively fulfilled.
       “If we intend to realistically proclaim the
truth of Christ’s redemption to nonevengelicals, we must
have a significantly different form of outreach. This, in
turn, requires significantly new forms of training and
study. Organizational structures not deliberately geared to
prepare us and effectively carry out our witness would be
revised to a more functional format.” – Ralph Neighbour
[1]

“The decade ahead is wide open for churches that see
themselves as centers for recruiting, training, and
equipping a

breed of spiritual pioneers competent to move out into
all areas of life as lay apostles who can evangelize,
reconcile, and prophesy. This, in our view, is truly the
apostolic succession.”
[2]

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A
Book Review by Sarah H. Leslie

While the
Discernment Research Group was working on the previous two posts in
this article series “The
Emerging Church – Circa 1970” and “Early
Experiential Emergents” I purchased a used copy of Bruce Larson
& Ralph Osborne’s 1970 book the
emerging church. I had read a

brief review of it at Dan Kimball’s website and was intrigued by
his statement that he “didn’t know” about it. Could it be that this
generation of emergents truly aren’t aware of their roots? Kimball
simply viewed the two “‘emerging’ time periods” as evidence of
examples of “‘what church looks like as culture changes.’” Kimball
said that this was just another indication of a “New Testament
church… constantly changing and emerging due to cultural issues,”[3]

Curious, I wanted to know more: what were the similarities between
the first “emerging church” era and the second? Were there
significant similarities in worldviews? Would this give further
credence to our hypothesis that the two emergent church events were
connected historically via personnel, organizations, agendas, and
philosophies?

When I read the opening paragraphs of the book I was so stunned that
I dropped the book. I recognized it! I had read it before – in the
mid-1970s. I hadn’t anticipated this. My mind went back into my
earliest years in the faith, shortly after salvation. My husband and
I had been part of the first emergent church movement!

In fact, back then I was a perfect candidate to read the book and be
influenced by its message of change. At the time I was working on a
master’s degree based on humanistic psychology. I had come out of a
dead Protestant church background, where modern liberalism had
abolished the tenets of the faith. By God’s grace I was subsequently
saved in the vibrant “Jesus movement” which openly challenged the
“God is dead” lifeless postmodernism.

So, reading Larson’s book the first time around, I had accepted the
theme of the book without question: the dead, dry, old, stale church
structures and traditions are “wrong, inadequate, or outmoded” (p.
25) and “quite irrelevant” (p. 21). I had agreed with the premise,
“it is possible to find a radically different approach” (p. 25). Of
course, I didn’t know anything about

Faith at Work, nor its agenda.

In the ensuing decades my husband and I joined up with many church
“experiments” in our zeal to return to a more authentic New
Testament faith. But, by God’s grace, we didn’t leave Scripture
behind. And that is what makes our story so different. We separated
ourselves from our earlier entanglements with

humanistic psychology and mysticism. And we spent the next few
decades of our lives researching and writing, particularly in
opposition to these very same historical and philosophical issues
that had once ensnared us.

So, how did I respond to my second reading
of Bruce Larson’s book
the
emerging church 32 years later? Quite
differently! The only areas of agreement
that I can still find with the basic premise
of the book are that: 1) there
are
problems with spiritual deadness in
churches, 2) church structure, function and
format can
become confining and lifeless, and 3) people
are
challenged to relate to each other at a
deeper, more meaningful level in churches,
especially in our depersonalized, mobile and
alienated society. But, alas, the answer to
all of this is the Word of God and the Holy
Spirit working in lives and hearts – not

Carl Rogers’

encounter groups! Not

Peter Ducker’s strategies, goals and

measurable results! Not utopian plans to

build the kingdom of God on earth!

What I discovered on my re-read is that this
1970s book contains all of the essential
elements of the Emergent/Emerging Church
movement of our own era, four decades later.
The parallels are so striking that it this
cannot be an accident. Read the list of
similarities below and see for yourself.

•

ENVIRONMENTALISM &

ALTERNATIVE FUTURES

• 
  “we are beginning to sense something of
  God’s enjoyment in His relationship to
  His creation…. We pollute our
  atmosphere, soil, and water…. Rampant
  selfishness at all levels of society
  hastens the day when the human race will
  have accomplished its own extinction.”
  (p. 32)
• 
  “We believe that the Church must not
  only see current trends as
  opportunities, but also try to
  
  predict future developments so that
  it may set goals that are in keeping
  with God’s goals….” (p. 114)

•

PEACE &

RECONCILIATION

• 
  “does not world peace wait for the time
  when nations find the freedom and grace
  to acknowledge their mistakes, confess
  their failures, and ask the forgiveness
  of world opinion?” (p. 36)

• RELATIONSHIPS &
SMALL GROUPS

• 
  “the life of the congregation in
  
  the emerging Church will probably be
  structured around small groups of
  believers. That is, the
  interrelationship of people in dialogue
  is the means by which Christ may most
  clearly make Himself and His purposes
  known.” (p. 59)
• 
  “In the emerging Church, we will ‘give
  God the freedom’ to use the humanness of
  His people.” (p. 66)
• 
  “people can open their hearts to one
  another and talk about their past
  failures and present hopes.” (p. 94)
  
• 
  “There must also be a place in the
  
  small group for dialogue and
  encounter….” (p. 95)

• PETER DRUCKER’S

BUSINESS MODEL

• “‘We
  would ask only two questions:
  What
  product are we trying to produce? Are we
  producing it?’” (p. 42)
   
• 
  “radical rethinking of strategy” (p. 82)
  
• “We
  believe that the Church must now only
  see current trends as opportunities, but
  also try to
  
  predict future developments so that
  it may set goals that are in keeping
  with God’s goals….” (p. 114)
• “What
  measurements could be used to determine
  the effectiveness of a preaching
  ministry?” (p. 80)

• COVENANT MODEL

• 
  “One form of the small group that has
  been particularly meaningful and helpful
  to us personally can appropriately be
  called a ‘covenant
  community.’ In such a group, the
  members commit themselves to one another
  in certain specific, mutually agreed
  upon ways, for a given period of time, …
  Both of us are presently part of a
  covenant fellowship which meets, usually
  once a month for an entire day.” (p.
  96-7)

•

STRATEGIC GOALS

• “In
  thinking about strategy, it is
  interesting to note that in former days
  differences between denominations (and
  between individual churches within a
  denomination) could be seen in the
  divergent emphases on theology, or on
  the presence or absence of certain
  emphases on ethical values. Today the
  thing that differentiates between
  churches is not theology or even values
  so much as strategy.” (p. 90)
  
• “to
  evaluate their goals and their
  performance, and to scrutinize their
  strategy with ruthless honesty.” (p.
  139)
• “people
  of God to adopt strategies and goals for
  living, speaking, and governing
  themselves that would be relevant to
  their changing times and circumstances.”
  (p. 140)

• “RADICAL

RESTRUCTURING”

• 
  “meet in a shopping center or school or
  community hall;” (p. 51)
• 
  “radical rethinking of strategy required
  for the educational ministry of the
  Church of the ’70s.” (p. 82)
  
• 
  “rethink strategy” (p. 82)
   
• 
  “‘theology of architecture’” (p. 83);
  
• 
  “No rigid pews” (p. 83)

• INNOVATION IN

WORSHIP

• “But
  then there should be the ‘awaiting’ on
  an awareness of Christ’s presence and
  will, …” (p. 57)
• “But
  one jarring note was that all of the
  hymns sung (with great gusto!) were from
  a bygone era;” (p. 85)

•

INCARNATING CHRIST

• “God
  not only dwells
  with
  His people, but
  in
  them.” (p. 54)
• “In too
  many instances the Church has neglected
  its primary resources: the divinity of
  Christ continuing His incarnation in His
  people, and the very humanity of those
  in whom he continues to live.” (p. 73)

• CLERGY/LAITY &
AFFECTIVE EDUCATION

• 
  “In the emerging Church, a new kind of
  preacher is coming into his own for whom
  there is presently no adequate
  training….” (p. 59)
• 
  “we need to do away with the double
  standard which demands absolute purity
  of thought, word, deed, attitude,
  feeling, intent, motive, and desire for
  the clergy, but permits something more
  earthy for laymen.” (p. 70)
• 
  “a clergyman becomes not a disseminator
  but an interpreter of news.” (p. 108)
  
• 
  “‘Then it hit me: the only way to break
  out of my authoritarian role was to
  shift the emphasis of my ministry
  from giving answers to sharing
  experience.’” (p. 129)

•

APOSTLES & PROPHETS

• 
  “We conceive of an over-arching strategy
  that will bind together all local
  congregations which are a part of the
  emerging Church of the ‘70s. From our
  point of view, this strategy – this
  grand design – is the emergence of the
  lay apostolate as God’s primary means of
  accomplishing His will in the world….
  The enabling of the emerging lay
  apostolate.” (p. 92)
• 
  “To be a prophet… means that he discerns
  where society is crushing an individual
  or group, declares that this is
  displeasing to God, and acts to change
  oppressive laws, systems, circumstances,
  or conditions.” (p. 93)

•

MYSTICISM & RETREATS

• “A
  retreat… is a time set apart… for
  members of the church to dream together
  about the future…. Big business calls
  this brainstorming; the Bible speaks of
  dreaming dreams and seeing visions. This
  is a vital method of raising hopes and
  seeing issues clearly.” (p. 98)
  
• “A
  church that is alive must also encourage
  individuals within its membership to
  dream personal dreams about God’s new
  thing for them.” (p. 144)
• “they
  were waiting for some mystical
  experience from outside.”
  (p. 61)
   

•

JESUS THE REVOLUTIONARY &

YOUTH CULTURE

• 
  “The emerging Church can hardly ignore
  these young people. It will either see
  them as a threat and shut them out
  (which would be suicidal) or it will
  listen to and learn from them, meanwhile
  holding high the banner of the true
  revolutionary, Jesus Christ!” (p. 106)

•

NEW MORALITY

• “to
  hold to a morality out of fear of
  consequences – in the present or
  hereafter – is no morality at all.” (p.
  107)
• “The
  emerging Church must learn to speak to
  both sides of the generation gap as
  regards to sexual morality.” (p. 108)

•

NO BIBLICAL SEPARATION

• “the
  Church has too often hollowed out its
  own cave where it could remain untouched
  by the world,…” (p. 103)
• “When
  the wall comes down, the Church is free
  to move out with its message into the
  very bloodstream of society.” (p. 111)
  
• “the
  disintegration of the wall between
  sacred and secular is a fantastic
  opportunity for the emerging Church.”
  (p. 112)

•

HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY

• “In our
  time… is the growing strength of the
  behavioral sciences. This is a threat to
  many in the Church, and viewed with
  alarm. But if we listen to what the
  behavioral scientists are saying, we can
  find a new frontier for the Church.
  Experimenters in the forefront of the
  behavioral sciences, whether they
  emphasize
  T-groups, sensitivity groups, touch
  therapy, or any of a dozen other
  techniques,…” (p. 114)

•

GOD’S DREAM

• 
  “Whenever the emerging Church has become
  vital enough to make a strong impact,
  there have been dreamers who saw ‘the
  big picture’ in a new way.” (p. 143)
  
• “The
  Church must be able to dream… about
  God’s new thing for them… dream a
  new dream of what God is doing….” (p.
  144)
• “[We]
  do encourage God’s people to dream
  dreams that are big in scope. God is in
  the ‘dream business’ for the Church at
  large and for local congregations as
  much for any individual or group.” (pp.
  146-7)

•

PARADIGM SHIFT

• 
  “Simultaneously the new emerged and the
  old diminished. This is the kind of
  thing that we feel certain God is doing
  in local churches across the nation and
  around the world. To dream is not to
  destroy, but to build. The edifice that
  results from dreaming quietly
  overshadows the old, and in time the old
  may pass away.” (p. 151)

•

DOMINIONISM

• 
  “advancing Christ’s Kingdom on earth.”
  (p. 52)
• 
  “the whole thrust of the Kingdom of God
  that Jesus has established. If the
  Church is truly on the offensive and
  aggressive in its war of agape (selfless
  love), then when the wall comes down
  which has separated the secular from the
  sacred, the Church
  
  militant – with its equipped,
  informed, converted, trained lay
  
  apostolate – will be able to
  penetrate the world with its message of
  the risen Lord and His plan for
  individuals and for the world.” (p. 111)

• EVOLUTION/EVOLVING
TRUTH

• “[Charles
  Darwin] was able to see the evidence
  which God had set forth from the
  beginning – and was still setting
  forth…. Darwin was able to set aside his
  preconceptions, reevaluate his goals,
  and at length open the world’s eyes in a
  fresh way to the mystery and complexity
  of the physical creation…. [L]est we
  look askance at the unwillingness of the
  Victorians to reexamine their ideas and
  reevaluate their goals, let us admit
  that it is difficult for us even today
  to imagine that God may be far more
  surprising, dynamic, and creative than
  our preconceived notions allow Him to
  be.” (pp. 137-8)
• “God
  can do once again a new thing and give
  new orders to His people.” (p. 141)
  
• “In our
  own day we have a man like the famed
  psychiatric pioneer,
  
  Carl Gustav Jung, talking about
  Jesus Christ making possible a new rung
  on the ladder of evolution.” (p. 144)
  

The quotes and snippets of quotes on this
list have been excerpted
from
their original context, but they have
not
been excerpted
out
of context. In these few quotes we can see a
foreshadowing of what is to come. I believe
the similarities of philosophy between the
first emergent plan for church
transformation, outlined in this 1970
the
emerging church book by Bruce Larson,
and the subsequent emergent movement

birthed about a decade ago, are numerous
enough to confirm our hypothesis about
substantial linkages.

But there is more. . . .



To be continued, Lord willing. . . .

The Truth:

“Ye adulterers and
adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

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Endnotes:

[NOTE: any links
within quotations have been added.]
1. Cited in Bruce Larson & Ralph Osborne,
the emerging church
(Word, 1970), page 77. “From the newsletter, “Touch News” (undated),
published by West Memorial Baptist Church, 14827 Broadgreen,
Houston, Texas 77024; Ralph W. Neighbour, Jr., Pastor. Note: Ralph
Neighbour would go on to write the main textbook for the cell church
movement, vividly illustrating the cellular/apostolic downline
networking hierarchical structure of the emerging church of the
future: Where Do We Go From Here? A Guidebook for the Cell Group
Church (Touch Publications, 1990).
2. Ibid, p. 100.
3.

http://www.dankimball.com/vintage_faith/2005/09/the_emerging_ch.html

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© 2009 by Discernment Group

Source article:
http://herescope.blogspot.com

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Index to other articles by Discernment Group
 

http://herescope.blogspot.com/2009/05/emerging-church-circa-1970.html

 

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