Alexandre Gonçalves

Prof. Matthew E. McKimmy

M214T – Emerging Ministries for a Changing Church
January 31, 2014

Ministry Dialogue Reflections

The world is very different than it had been thirty years ago.

We see the world is very different when we ponder not only about the evident and impressive
advances in technology, but also about human relationships, especially concerning the
relationship between humans and institutions. Although, roughly speaking, the institutions
remain strong they are no longer as unshakeable as in the past. Admittedly, those institutions are
still ruling over human life, shaping its behaviors, influencing its thinking about itself and the
world. However, questions, criticism, desires of change, and why not say rejection, are no longer
unnoticed. There are many theories about how we got to this point. Perhaps the best known and
consistent is the influence of humanistic philosophy of the Enlightenment, with its emphasis on
the subject and on the critical thinking.

After reading the required texts for this class, notably the great book Emergence Christianity,
by Phyllis Tickle, as well as through the interviews we students did with leaders of emerging
churches, I became more convinced about the validity of the transiency image. I have stated in
previous assignments that one of the most visible marks in the history of the church is its
transiency, that is, its ability to transform, renew, and reform itself. Such an image, as well as
Tickle's book, helped me to realize that no transformation occurs after a sudden outbreak. There
always have been and always will be events that contribute to form the groundwork for the
changes, others that serve as impellers, others as triggers of change.

I believe that one of best aspects of the emerging movement is that it intends to reflect (and
change) the church from the inside out, as an eruption movement. It is not just a question of, in
face of conflict with the established status quo of Christianity, breaking with the structures
so-called "plastered" and building a new church "from scratch", without the vices, problems, and
weaknesses of the former church. The emergent movement does not have a magic formula that
has the power of materializing the church of dreams.

I suspect that many critics of the emerging movement, vociferating that it intends to be “the”
salvation of the church, have not yet understood that it never intended to take on such a task.
Since the emerging movement is so wide and widespread, it cannot congregate in a single unit
such a large variety of emerging strands. Hence the existence of networks, conversations,
exchanges of experience, and much thought.

There will always be those who will attempt to label who a particular church is, what it is
doing, and especially how it is doing. It is difficult not to escape from the jargon about what fear
of change and fear of the unknown can cause in people. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the
emerging movement does not have, and I believe that it does not intend to have, a point of view
so privileged that is released from the obligation to critically test its hypotheses and evaluate its
experiences. In fact, an emergent "theology" is essentially the process of critically test the
hypotheses that it have regarding the nature and purpose of its acts, as indeed, every Christian
should propose to do (I Thess. 5:21). The attempts to continue taking the Gospel so that it
becomes relevant to and transform lives, structures and cultures, not to say the history itself, is
not a matter of having absolute and evidential foundations. It is a matter of faith and
commitment.

What makes me disappointed on that paranoia in criticizing or labeling the emerging

movement - or on the other hand, the desire to show that at any cost that one is an emerging
church - is the claim to demonstrate, maybe unconsciously, that there are ways to build a
reformed church, which is different in a "cool way". However, the people we students
interviewed seem to be no more concerned with that kind of criticism, nor affected by the
"emerging fever". They are simply working hard for what they believe to be a small, but
significant part of the realization of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Is difficult to speak in such a short space about what that people and their ministries represent
both for the emerging conversation and in their local communities, churches, and group
communities we met along this course. I can remember, for example, the amazing work Jamie
Rye is doing in Toledo, OH, through Without Borders Community. They are literally planting
seeds of love when proposing to live in close relationship with the Arab families from their
neighborhood. It is noteworthy the connection with the New Testament "as a source to create a
new family where all are welcomed, and meetings happens around the meals and conversations
across the table", as said Jamie.

Wilderness Way Community and its incarnational proposal of a network around

environmental preservation practices, sustainable and inclusive economy, and social justice, has
also impressed me. It was remarkable to see that community is, according Solveig
Nilsen-Goodin, “a paradigmatic place for discernment of call and ministry”. She also stated,
“Building a network takes a lot of time and work, but a small group can mobilizes and influence
many people, once the presence of God can show in anywhere”.

Another meaningful conversation along the course was carried out with Ryan Braught, from
Veritas Community. His courage to change the course of his life, leaving an established position
in the church to venture in a church in transformation, make me think on how the Spirit of God
can transform our lives and ministries to better serve the church and our local community. That
trajectory showed me that it is not a building, a charismatic personality, nor even a good project
can bring stability to the church. What makes the difference, however, is the Spirit of God
leading all process through committed people, ready to serve. I want to keep contact with Veritas
in the future, in order to explore more the ways they are recovering and resignifying the old
Brethren practice of the communitarian hermeneutics.

With Josh Stoxen, from Vineyard Central, I could witness what friendship and hospitality can
do for the community development. In their experience as partners of other churches, ministries,
and projects, they are expressing the commitment in living in the neighborhood and for the
neighborhood. As an intentional neo-monastic community they are also proving that is possible
to proclaim and embody the Gospel in a non-hierarchical structure, where the "learn and grow
together" aspect is more important.

Finally, I would like to mention Chris Smith, from Englewood Christian Church. It is deeply
inspiring to know that amid the decline of that church, they decided to start dialogue sessions
concerning the purpose and the relation of the church with the Gospel, the Kingdom, its mission,
the community, to which they serve, and even about the very decline of the church. According to
Chris Smith, "Being in dialogue, by itself, is not a magical process of transformation. Through
dialogue, we learn to better know each other and respect one another. We learned, to trust and to
love, despite of our differences”. Their emphasis on Slow Church is claiming against the
fragmentations regarding language, race, economy, theology, politics, etc. It is about
contemplation and communitarian reflection. It is about to remake the connections in and from
the church.

What is potentially significant to me is that I can see those people as groundwork, impellers,
and triggers of changes. All of them have the capacity to become fertile ground for future
changes in the church, and for other missional communities that will come after them.

I am immensely pleased to see that all of these emerging initiatives presupposes dialogue,
communal meal, a collective, experimental, and collaborative construction of viable ways for the
practice of the Gospel in our time. There is undoubtedly a movement of God's Spirit in the
emerging movement. Those who have not already realized this are not being able to see or they
are deliberately closing their eyes to something beautiful and profound that God is doing in the
church, for the church and through the church.