Emerging Church: A Ridiculously Subjective Account

Heres the poster for my session at Greenbelt Festival this month. Click to enlarge. Hear me talk at 4:30pm in the CMS Small Tent, Sunday 24th August. For those unfamiliar with Greenbelt Festival and lacking in a sense of humor, let me assure you this is a very tongue-in-cheek account and should not be tried at home.

ORIGINAL: Greenbelt 2008 Session One: The Emerging Church is Like a Box of Chocolates

"According to this ridiculously subjective narrative, the birth of Andrew Jones launched the global counterculture and his first voluntary visit to a church in 1968 signaled the beginning of the emerging church movement. Like Forrest Gump, Andrew is the accidental witness who tells the story the best he can but remains mostly clueless."

I submitted the titles of my two sessions at Greenbelt Festival. They will be hosted by Church Mission Society and there is still time to edit them if you can think of something better. Love some feedback. Is it just a stupid idea or is there some value is telling the story from one person's point of view? What should be included and excluded?

My previous talks at Greenbelt are here, including The Spirituality of Blogging.

Read on for others speaking at this venue.

Technorati Tags: box of chocolates, emerging church, forrest gump, greenbelt

Heres a program from Jonny Baker on the emerging church and mission related events at this CMS Small Tent Venue

anyway here’s the cms small tent programme – Sat –
10:30 Serum – space to explore Christian spirituality hosted by Naz
12-1pm mission in spiritual market place with Jonny, Ben and Laura
1-2 Networking and learning opportunities for mission leaders
2-5 Business as unusual 1 Shannon Hopkins
4-5 in CMS main venue – reimagining Christian thinking on other religions – Richard Sudworth
5-6 gender and youth work – Jenny Baker
6-7 mission service opportunities

Sun
10-30-12 Serum
12-1 God as Flow – Richard Passmore
1-2 Climate Change – James Pender
4:30 Skinny on the emerging church – Andrew Jones
5:30 Spirited exchanges with jenny macintosh
6:30 new monasticism – Mark Berry
7-8 Asbojesus.com – Jon Birch

Mon
10-11 CMS main venue – Yemi and Jonny head to head discussing African certainty vs emerging doubt
11-12 Aradhna
12-1 Bible in 60 minutes – Paul Thaxter
1-2 Cafe church in bangalore – Jacob Isaacs
2-3 mission in 1024 window – Andrew Jones (i.e. your computer screen)
3-4 Spirited exchanges with jenny Macintosh
4-5 discussion around ordinaton and pioneer ministry with Stephen Croft and Paul Thaxter

Comments

[becky]

Can I get a copy of this talk? Sounds fascinating and wish I could be there.

[Brother Maynard]

Andrew, I love this idea... and echo Becky's sentiment. You'll have to post notes or a transcript or something. MP3?

In the movie version I imagine a scene in 1974 when Lesslie Newbigin is returning from India using local buses all the way... he gets lost and is about to return home, but Andrew Gump would be there to point him onto the right bus back to England, saying "Oh, but don't you want to see how England has changed since you've been away?"

[Mark]

Question is... which bit is the Coffee Cream - that one always gets eaten by my wife as I hate Coffee!

[Joe]

"Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." - Forest Gump (ficticious Character)

Followers of Christ always know what they're getting. How does someone go to a church and not know what they're getting? What am I missing?

[Jim Robertson]

“… is there some value in telling the story from one person’s point of view?” Well friend, in my business (barrister), we are dependent upon persons in such a role. We call them witnesses. And if the witness has sufficient qualifications, they may testify as an expert witness – one who may give evidence in the form of an opinion, and not just speak to observations. Opine Andrew – you are qualified. And historians – they too seem to rely on witnesses…and that guy Luke…

Now this box of chocolates business… whilst at one of the Disneyplaces (Orlando) for the first time in my 51 years, I had a minor epiphany. Playing off of Forrest’s mom saying ‘Life is like a box of chocolates…’ I found myself saying ‘Life in Dysneyplace (land/world/Epcot …) is like process cheese in a squeeze tube – controlled, predictable, not all that nutritious, and if you eat too much yer gonna git a gut ache.’

So now to the big question – if emerging church is the box of chocolates (and I think it is and needs to be), then what kind of church is the process cheese in a squeeze tube?

[andrew]

processed cheese? - sounds like the sermons I used to preach as a baptist pastor, all processed nicely into a 3 pointed tube with a motivational twist at the end.

[andrew Kenny]

Yes I agree, I only met you once over a year ago when I gave you a million dollars (Way of the Master tract :in case people think you are a secret millionaire!,and think you are definitely the Forrest Gump of the Emerging Church appearing almost in the shadows but always there as the ubiquitous presence in all that is going on.

[andrew Kenny]

P.S.But I would not say clueless.

[Mike Morrell]

I LOVE this sweetly disarming conceit! Please, please record it and make it available.

[andrew jones]

Greenbelt normally tape and then charge some money for a download. although i had trouble finding my previous talks. i know i put a link to at least one of them a few years ago.

look for it here in a month's time.

[Cathryn Thomas]

At the risk of giving you a complement and being told to "shut up"- LOL, i don't know which i like better, your pasty white mug from the other shot, or that profile with the "gump" quote, but it gave me the best laugh i've had in a week or two! - and since you ARE such a Mac Geek, i suggest a pod cast link what's a ma-hoowi so we all can at least Hear the Prophet Gump speak forth wisdom from the 5th heavenly realm of Clueless.
ps.. wish i were there
for that matter i wish i could be at John and Caroline's wedding at Tamsin's- (john is staying here over these last few weeks and i'm dropping him at the airport next friday- ) yes, though being in Austin for about 3 months, this house already has the Gideon Bible, stationed in the spare bedroom, - since it seems to be the HOTEL! Give my luv to the gang when you see 'em!

[becky]

Andrew - why is there light shining out from your behind? Please don't tell me this is a reference to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (I love comedies but this one made me wince).

I hope when you address the chocolate situation you'll bring up the fact that the really, really good chocolate comes from the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, etc. Eating Cadburys in the US is NOT the same as what I get in the UK. Now, I'm a chocoholic, so I'll eat Hersheys, Nestles - we'll slap on a foreign sounding name like Haagen Das but it's made in the US. Having said that, I have found some good local chocolatiers who make some amazing sweets but they aren't commercially available.

Holler when we can buy your talk and I'll fork over what little change I have.

[Cathryn Thomas]

Wow, andrew, pop over to Mile Morrell's site- what a list!
And Becky, agreed on the chocolate- seems that "box of chocolates" is better in the UK- on the church front to.... eesh!

[andrew jones]

UK has good chocolate - Cadbury's fruit and nut is excellent. and New Zealand Cadburys might be a touch better (hello caramallo)

but Switzerland has the best chocolate in the world, which may have something to do with the amount of wild herbs the Swiss cows eat on the mountainside.

And Belgium white chocolate is also very special and i will be sure to have some next week when i am there.

Hersheys - not even in the same league.

Cathryn - i have been pointing to mikes list for many many years.

And Becky, i am glad you noticed the origin of the sun's shining.

[Jesse James]

Hey Andrew,
I'd be very interested in hearing your talk. Would it be possible to buy it from somewhere when it's all done?

(oh, and you spelled "program" wrong:)

[andrew jones]

jonny spelled it that way but he is English and has therefore has problems with the English language.

Not sure if Greenbelt will tape it or not. Be a shame if they dont because there is a great lineup of speakers and someone should tape it

one of my previous greenbelt talks is here and its about new media.

Forward Slash at Greenbelt

[D.G. Hollums]

F-ing Awesome! love it!

[Paul]

Thanks for making me smile. Great work on the poster. Good sense of fun you have.

[andrew]

thanks. but its not all fun

you see . . . when it comes to doing missional church planting in the emerging culture in the way of Jesus and his disciples, the church that emerges really is like a box of chocolates . . ..

you never know what you're gonna get!!!

[Ted]

Great, Andrew! I love it. By the way - are any of the chocolates in your candy box chocolate covered nuts? You know, we all have some of those and even I myself have had some nutty moments, and some nutty buddy moments! :)

[Cathryn Thomas]

Just don't add any chocolate Easter Eggs, or you'll have a doctrinal debate going!!!

[becky]

Andrew - there's a Balaam's ass joke in here somewhere - but gosh durn it, the donkey was right on target.

[Pastor Skender]

Greetings Andrew
I recently was send a link of your webblog where I made a comment in 2004 after the Foursquare Swiss conference I don't know you remember me or not, it doesn't matter about that one thing that draw my attention is your support for the emerging church, I thought you are free of religion and i liked you but your support of the emergining church fals doctrine I would say unbiblical sick doctrine with no sound at all makes me think and reconsider some things about you. Open the eyes brother yes we are in modern world and the things and nature of man stays same sinners in need for savior and also in need for the fellowship that is Christ Centered who is the absolute truth and is all in all.
May the Lord open your eyes and see the things that I see about the emerging church.
Blessing of the Person who is absolute truth
Jesus Christ

[andrew]

Pastor Skender,

thank you sir, for being kind enough to comment and good to meet you at that conference.

I first met some of the Four Square leaders at an event in Frankfurt in 2001 called "Emerge". The Germans also have been using this word to describe what they are doing. I was glad to see what the Germans were doing in church planting in the emerging culture. Robby and Claudia, for example, who started a Four Square emerging church and had the blessing of their leader.

I was also encouraged by the Swiss and others at the conference you met me at but I would have to say that the German Four Square leaders are ahead and their examples of emerging church are excellent.

Yes, Christ is the absolute Truth. I agree. Why do you think I believe he is not the Truth?

Maybe what you have heard about the emerging church is not accurate?

[TravisM]

I think there is a lot of misunderstanding of what the "emergent" church is. In reality I think the 1st century church was emerging, the balance between tradition, history, culture, and "not forsaking the fellowship" is where most (possibly all) of the tension lies.

I was at that Foursquare conference in Switzerland, in fact it is where the Lord completly turned my heart around for the nation of Poland (I was living there on a shirt term mission for a year, and was hating it).

Now my wife, family, and I are moving back to Krakow in 2010 to do home/small/group minsitries, purely relational and within the context of the exsisting cultural context (The Catholic church mostly) - will it look Catholic? Probably not, will it look "Western protestant" - probably not. It will be what the Lord wants - something relevant and of the Kingdom.

Okay enough, I digress, all this to say, it's amazing how religiousity can so quickly define our terms into a context that is so far from the heart.