What does Emergent mean to you?

Question

Emergent Church?

Answer 1

The emerging, or emergent, church movement takes its name from the idea that as culture changes, a new church should emerge in response. In this case, it is a response by various church leaders to the current era of post-modernism. Although post-modernism began in the 1950s, the church didn't really seek to conform to its tenets until the 1990s. Post-modernism can be thought of as a dissolution of "cold, hard fact" in favor of "warm, fuzzy subjectivity." The emerging / emergent church movement can be thought of the same way.
The emerging / emergent church movement falls into line with basic post-modernist thinking—it is about experience over reason, subjectivity over objectivity, spirituality over religion, images over words, outward over inward, feelings over truth. These are reactions to modernism and are thought to be necessary in order to actively engage contemporary culture. This movement is still fairly new, though, so there is not yet a standard method of "doing" church amongst the groups choosing to take a post-modern mindset. In fact, the emerging church rejects any standard methodology for doing anything. Therefore, there is a huge range of how far groups take a post-modernist approach to Christianity. Some groups go only a little way in order to impact their community for Christ, and remain biblically sound. Most groups, however, embrace post-modernist thinking, which, eventually, leads to a very liberal, loose translation of the Bible. This, in turn, lends to liberal doctrine and theology.

Answer 2

Emerging versus Emergent
D.A. Carson use emerging and emergent as synonyms, a large number of participants in the emerging church movement maintain a distinction between them.
Emergent is sometimes more closely associated with Emergent Village.
Those participants in the movement who assert this distinction believe emergents and emergent village to be a part of the emerging church movement but prefer to use the term emerging church to refer to the movement as a whole while using the term emergent in a more limited way, and emergent village.
Many of those within the emerging church movement who do not closely identify with emergent village tend to avoid that organization's interest in radical theological reformulation and focus more on new ways of doing church and expressing their spirituality.

Answer 3

To me? Different meanings in different contexts.

1 a: arising unexpectedly b: calling for prompt action : urgent
2 a: rising out of or as if out of a fluid b: rooted in shallow water and having most of its vegetative growth above water
3: arising as a natural or logical consequence
4: newly formed or prominent

Answer 4

The Emergent Church has taken the context of the Bible and tried to "fit" it into what today's society will accept. I think it's a shame that the Bible is now considered too politically incorrect to be the way God intended. It's a misleading movement.

Answer 5

To me, it implies something that can not be comprehended (or at least, has not yet been) as the sum of the parts, even though that may be all it is.

An example of this is consciousness. All evidence indicates the brain is responsible for it, but no-one has yet been able to explain how the sum of the parts adds up to consciousness. It's said to be an emergent property, just as 'wet' is an emergent property of H2O molecules.

Answer 6

Emergent means to emerge from liquid. I would guess that in a spiritual sense, it describes us at the time the higher power save us from drowning in the bloodshed we have created... OR a term to describe the gentleman and chef, Emeril Lagasse.

Answer 7

The Emerging Church is another false fad the christian church is going through.
Mysticism........contemplative prayer...
Know your bible and get rid of the fads.

Answer 8

More than what is given in the constituents. Like the ability to extinguish fire coming from combining a combustive (oxygen) and an explosive (hydrogen).

Answer 9

Originating recently and currently developing.

Answer 10

A system of letter which incorporates meaning in which I am supposed to agree with or give other possible meanings to suffice.