There is a new wind blowing in the Christian Church and maybe in other faith communities as well. It is a wind of renewal and change. Over the centuries, the Church has developed the structure and organization we have come to know today. It has passed through many phases in this development and, I suspect, Jesus of Nazareth would just shake his head in disbelief at the large, intransigent institution we see around us. But there is a new wind blowing and, maybe, a new Church emerging, not a new institution, but a new expression of what it means to be people of faith!

Fr. Richard Rohr has written that this emerging church has four essential elements:

1. A fresh understanding of Jesus -- There is an honest, broad and ecumenical Jesus scholarship. We are reading what theologians of all denominations are saying. And the amazing thing is, at the level of scholarship at least, there is a strong consensus emerging.

2. Spirituality that links contemplations and action -- The emergence in human consciousness of a contemplative mind, a different kind of eye that perceives that scholarship; and it's not a dualistic mind. It receives a whole field and simply lets the whole field—what I understand and what I don't understand—teach me.

3. Social justice and holistic mission -- This consensus has come to some conclusions that many of the main concerns of Jesus are at major variance with what most of our churches have emphasized.

4. Authentic community -- New structures and new community mechanisms are needed to make this possible.

from the CAC webcast, Nov. 8, 2008:

"What is The Emerging Church?"

There is a growing Emergent Church Network that includes many faith communities that embody a lot of these new ideas. And many emerging churches are not even part of that particular network! What I find most meaningful about this emerging community of faith is not that there is not a new institution growing, but that there is new life growing. I know that the faith community I serve as pastor reflects many of the values of an emerging church. A lot of our folks study the latest and best Jesus scholarship available and their faith journeys are informed by that study. There is a commitment to live life in the tension of "journey inward, journey outward." Being on mission is more about affirming and sharing in the work the Spirit is already doing in the most surprising places than about selling Jesus to un-Christians. Finally, this way of being community has a different way of organizing itself – less top down and more mutual. Perhaps the same is true of your church - or maybe that is the kind of church you are looking for.

Churches, synagogues, etc. have never been magical places that just naturally do the right things and always embody the presence of God. The Spirit fills these communities with life as the people who fill these communities open themselves to the life and guidance of the Spirit. What is emerging in many faith communities is the life that is available to all of us.

Thanks for continuing to bless me as we journey together.

--Jack Price

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