Emergent Manifesto of Hope, edited by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones who do a great job in bringing a plethora of American emergent voices together in one book, but don't seem to have anything memorably profound themselves to add. But maybe that egalitarianism is part of the emergent flavor and the token of 2 hosts who know how to be gracious to the many important guests in their book.
I just read through this book in the bathtub. Not every word, mind you. But the water was rather tepid by the time i was done so i have read enough to give a short review.
My first impression was a regrettable tinge of disappointment. “Manifesto” is an ambitious title for a book and in all honesty, this book is overreaching itself to be a Manifesto of the kind one associates with MANIFESTOS. Unlike some of the manifesto-like books i have been reading lately (Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, Transforming Mission, etc) The Emergent Manifesto of Hope doesn't sum up in a climatic fashion the hopes, fears, dreams, struggles, and victories of a movement, or in this case a conversation among friends. The book is more a collection of essays from assorted writers within the Emergent Village community. Its more a snapshot of what these folk are thinking right now about whatever they wanted to talk about. I would have preferred a tighter boundary and stronger backbone of thought.
However . . . its lack of structure has allowed it many varied voices (Native American, black, Hispanic . . .), from disparate traditions (Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Liberty University graduate, well paid and 13k a year . . ) to address a myraid of topics related to emerging church ministry (gardening, sexuality, theology, community, post-colonialism . .) and this variety is its strength.
So its more like a TASTER than a manifesto. But tasters are cool. You get to sample a lot of different things before you invest in the one you want.
Know what i mean???? This taster last month in Denver was a huge help in deciding what to buy.
This was our tasting team - Tim Pynes and Alexander Campbell. Tasting is a serious business. We were on a mission.
But back to the book I thought the best chapter was from Brian McLaren who maps out the next step. This is Brian at his best - eloquent, thoughtful, prophetic, gentle, clear, radical. This is Brian leading the way for the church emerging into a postcolonial faith“, a ”new era of Christian faith as a 'living color' global community, from a religion of conquest and control to a faith of collaborative mission and humble service“ . . ” we are emerging into an integral, holistic, creative and transforming view of the missio dei in which we all participate as colaborers of God.“ [Page 149-150]
I don't see any JELLO ON THE WALL after that chapter . . . do you? Brian attempts to move the conversation from postmodernism to postcolonialism [I also quoted Kenzo Mabiala recently] and i hope his critics will be willing to follow him there for some thoughtful discussion.
I would have liked to have seen more critical self-evaluation of the movement. They [we] have had a good decade to reflect on achievements and mistakes and the lack of self-assessment in the book might create a vacuum that the critics will feel called to fill.
Much of the thinking behind this book has already happened overseas. Many European authors are quoted. Lesslie Newbigin in particular. Brian Mitchell (Catholic) rethinks the parish system in the same way that the Brits have in Mission Shaped Church. Jolly Bob Hopkins from England is quoted in Presbymergent Adam Cleaveland's excellent chapter on bridging between the traditional denominations and new emerging structures.
Technorati Tags: book, brian mclaren, emergent, emerging church
The 
Recent Comments