Brian McLaren's Finding Our Way Again (1)

McLaren, Brian (2008), Finding Our Way Home: The Return of the Ancient Practices, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson

Brian McLaren never ceases to amuse me because he keeps on popping up in unexpected places and writing/speaking of unexpected topics. This time, he is speaking of the ancient spiritual practices or spiritual disciplines of the ancient church. However, I am not surprised because I see the coming convergence of the ancient-evangelical future church movement, the missional ecclesiology, and the emerging church movement.

I find McLaren’s thesis for this book important for all Christians, if only they will stop criticising him long enough to listen to what he has to say. It was in the first chapter that he dropped the bombshell. He was telling a story about him conducting an interview with Dr. Peter Senge (father of systems theory and author of The Fifth Discipline). Senge was saying that in any bookstore, the best selling books will be on how to get rich and the second will be on Buddhism. Why Buddhism? Senge replied “I think it’s because Buddhism presents itself as a way of life, and Christianity presents itself as a system of belief.’ (p.3)

McLaren went on to explain that what is important is not either/or but both/and. Christianity needs a system of belief and a way of life or else it is not relevant. It will not give to what people are searching for today. McLaren suggests that we (Christians) have to rediscover our faith as a way of life, shaped and strengthened by ancient practices (p.6).


In any discussion about the ancient practices, one usually comes to the contemplative versus the active life or the Mary/Martha conflict. McLaren’s solution was rather simplistic in that he lumps it all in a circle and place it in heaven and earth. What he did was to repeat what Ignatius of Loyola was teaching the Jesuit during the counter-Reformation times of Martin Luther: the sacredness of the everyday life. This was also the teachings of other Christian mystics such as Margery Kempe. Recently discovered by the Protestants, it is now strongly advocated by Richard Foster, Diana Bass and Phyllis Tickle. The way of the Christian life is to be both active and contemplative at the same time.

As in other McLaren’s books, I learned a number of new words to the English language such as ‘open-source spirituality’ which McLaren use to mean Christians learning and mentoring from each other; ‘faithing our practices’; ‘otherliness’ (mean love); and this memorable quote from Doug Pagitt “preaching without speeching.”

This is a good introductory book to Christian spirituality and Christian spiritual disciplines. It is highly readable, written in McLaren’s conversational style with lots and lots of stories to illustrate his points.


My other postings on Brian McLaren can be found here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here.

.

Brian McLaren's Finding Our Way Again (1)

McLaren, Brian (2008), Finding Our Way Home: The Return of the Ancient Practices, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson

Brian McLaren never ceases to amuse me because he keeps on popping up in unexpected places and writing/speaking of unexpected topics. This time, he is speaking of the ancient spiritual practices or spiritual disciplines of the ancient church. However, I am not surprised because I see the coming convergence of the ancient-evangelical future church movement, the missional ecclesiology, and the emerging church movement.

I find McLaren’s thesis for this book important for all Christians, if only they will stop criticising him long enough to listen to what he has to say. It was in the first chapter that he dropped the bombshell. He was telling a story about him conducting an interview with Dr. Peter Senge (father of systems theory and author of The Fifth Discipline). Senge was saying that in any bookstore, the best selling books will be on how to get rich and the second will be on Buddhism. Why Buddhism? Senge replied “I think it’s because Buddhism presents itself as a way of life, and Christianity presents itself as a system of belief.’ (p.3)

McLaren went on to explain that what is important is not either/or but both/and. Christianity needs a system of belief and a way of life or else it is not relevant. It will not give to what people are searching for today. McLaren suggests that we (Christians) have to rediscover our faith as a way of life, shaped and strengthened by ancient practices (p.6).


In any discussion about the ancient practices, one usually comes to the contemplative versus the active life or the Mary/Martha conflict. McLaren’s solution was rather simplistic in that he lumps it all in a circle and place it in heaven and earth. What he did was to repeat what Ignatius of Loyola was teaching the Jesuit during the counter-Reformation times of Martin Luther: the sacredness of the everyday life. This was also the teachings of other Christian mystics such as Margery Kempe. Recently discovered by the Protestants, it is now strongly advocated by Richard Foster, Diana Bass and Phyllis Tickle. The way of the Christian life is to be both active and contemplative at the same time.

As in other McLaren’s books, I learned a number of new words to the English language such as ‘open-source spirituality’ which McLaren use to mean Christians learning and mentoring from each other; ‘faithing our practices’; ‘otherliness’ (mean love); and this memorable quote from Doug Pagitt “preaching without speeching.”

This is a good introductory book to Christian spirituality and Christian spiritual disciplines. It is highly readable, written in McLaren’s conversational style with lots and lots of stories to illustrate his points.


My other postings on Brian McLaren can be found here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here.

.

Monastic Evangelicals

Monastic Evangelicals
The attraction of ancient spiritual disciplines.
Chris Armstrong posted 2/08/2008 10:03AM

A growing number of evangelicals—younger evangelicals in particular—are maturing the movement in another way. They are taking their newfound love affair with Christian tradition and the early church beyond the realm of books and talk and into their churches and Christian lives. Covenant's Kenneth Stewart noted at the Wheaton conference that more and more traditionally evangelical congregations are now experimenting with advent candles, sampling practices associated with Lent, and marking Holy Week with special services like Tenebrae—an evening service featuring songs, readings, and the gradual extinguishing of lights to represent Christ's death.

This fascination with early liturgy has perhaps grown out of the recent trend toward what Richard Foster has called "the classic spiritual disciplines." In his 1993 book Devotional Classics, Foster argued that "pure modernity makes us parochial," so we need to return to practices "weaned from the fads of the marketplace" that will give us "perspective and balance."

One aspect of these disciplines that has captured the imaginations of evangelicals is monasticism. In The New Faithful (2004), Colleen Carroll Campbell believes the public love affair with things monastic surged with the 1996 publication of Benedictine oblate Kathleen Norris's The Cloister Walk. Among evangelicals, the trend has extended to retreats at Catholic monasteries, recovery of Celtic spirituality, and observance of the divine hours. Not surprisingly (given the biblical focus of evangelicals), the slow, meditative monastic prayer technique called the lectio divina has captivated many. They have taken up the practice guided by such books as the three-volume Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle, The Rhythm of God's Grace: Uncovering Morning and Evening Hours of Prayer by Mennonite professor Arthur Boers, and a book for youth, Divine Intervention: Encountering God Through the Ancient Practice of Lectio Divina, by Minneapolis Emergent leader Tony Jones.

More radically than the sometimes cafeteria-style adoption of monastic practices, a small but growing group of Protestant "new monastics" has now taken up the task of molding their lives by ancient practices. Their goals are described in the book Schools for Conversion: 12 Marks of the New Monasticism, and their desire to learn from the monks and nuns of the early and medieval church is explored in Inhabiting the Church, by Jon Stock, Tim Otto, and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. At the conference, Trinity Western's Mark Charlton noted that the phrase "new monasticism" now crops up almost every day on Internet news services, and that writers such as Rodney Clapp, Jonathan Wilson, Arthur Boers, Tom Sine, and Brian McLaren have all been calling evangelicals to monastic models as a guide for the future.

read more here

Monastic Evangelicals

Monastic Evangelicals
The attraction of ancient spiritual disciplines.
Chris Armstrong posted 2/08/2008 10:03AM

A growing number of evangelicals—younger evangelicals in particular—are maturing the movement in another way. They are taking their newfound love affair with Christian tradition and the early church beyond the realm of books and talk and into their churches and Christian lives. Covenant's Kenneth Stewart noted at the Wheaton conference that more and more traditionally evangelical congregations are now experimenting with advent candles, sampling practices associated with Lent, and marking Holy Week with special services like Tenebrae—an evening service featuring songs, readings, and the gradual extinguishing of lights to represent Christ's death.

This fascination with early liturgy has perhaps grown out of the recent trend toward what Richard Foster has called "the classic spiritual disciplines." In his 1993 book Devotional Classics, Foster argued that "pure modernity makes us parochial," so we need to return to practices "weaned from the fads of the marketplace" that will give us "perspective and balance."

One aspect of these disciplines that has captured the imaginations of evangelicals is monasticism. In The New Faithful (2004), Colleen Carroll Campbell believes the public love affair with things monastic surged with the 1996 publication of Benedictine oblate Kathleen Norris's The Cloister Walk. Among evangelicals, the trend has extended to retreats at Catholic monasteries, recovery of Celtic spirituality, and observance of the divine hours. Not surprisingly (given the biblical focus of evangelicals), the slow, meditative monastic prayer technique called the lectio divina has captivated many. They have taken up the practice guided by such books as the three-volume Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle, The Rhythm of God's Grace: Uncovering Morning and Evening Hours of Prayer by Mennonite professor Arthur Boers, and a book for youth, Divine Intervention: Encountering God Through the Ancient Practice of Lectio Divina, by Minneapolis Emergent leader Tony Jones.

More radically than the sometimes cafeteria-style adoption of monastic practices, a small but growing group of Protestant "new monastics" has now taken up the task of molding their lives by ancient practices. Their goals are described in the book Schools for Conversion: 12 Marks of the New Monasticism, and their desire to learn from the monks and nuns of the early and medieval church is explored in Inhabiting the Church, by Jon Stock, Tim Otto, and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. At the conference, Trinity Western's Mark Charlton noted that the phrase "new monasticism" now crops up almost every day on Internet news services, and that writers such as Rodney Clapp, Jonathan Wilson, Arthur Boers, Tom Sine, and Brian McLaren have all been calling evangelicals to monastic models as a guide for the future.

read more here

The Future Lies in the Past

The Future Lies in the Past
Why evangelicals are connecting with the early church as they move into the 21st century.
Chris Armstrong posted 2/08/2008 10:01AM

Today's ancient-future Christians have begun recovering buried veins of treasure—in exegesis, theology, spirituality, praxis, and ecclesiology—from the deepest deposits of our shared tradition. Today we live in a world more complex than ever before: more broken families, more disparity between rich and poor, a more confusing variety of life choices, and fewer accepted standards by which to sort it all out. We live in the ruins of modernity and have witnessed the failure of so many social silver bullets and "sure things" that we now distrust advertisers, politicians, and religious leaders alike. We viscerally feel the deceitfulness and woundedness of the human heart, and we know it does not yield to any one-size-fits-all solution, religious or otherwise.

It should not surprise us, then, that some of the ancient-future Christians, having recovered older truths and practices, are indulging a tendency to wield them as a stick to beat aspects of the traditional way of doing church.

They know intuitively that the individualism, consumerism, rationalism, and worldly definitions of success and happiness that have crept into some churches fail to touch hearts and mend relationships—human or divine.

And so, rejecting both rigid propositional definitions of the faith and the pragmatic promises of the church-growth movement, these Christians are seeking a way of living the faith that can be for them an anchor and a bulwark against the culture. At the same time, they seem to have learned the lessons of postmodernity, and thus are moving beyond the "golden age" approach of earlier attempts. Instead, they have begun to mix critique with appreciation and even reverence as they return to the historical sources. And it will take a great deal of wisdom to learn both the strengths and the limits of each phase of the history in which they hungrily seek answers.

From Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and living, practicing monks and nuns, they must learn both the strengths and the limits of the historical ascetic disciplines.

From Tom Oden, D. H. Williams, and living, practicing Eastern Orthodox and Catholic brothers and sisters, they must learn both the strengths and the limits of engagement with the whole tradition of the whole church—one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.

From "missional" pioneers such as Lesslie Newbigin and George Hunsberger, and from such diverse sources as the Anabaptists and the Anglicans, they must learn the crucial power of the church. And they must understand it not as a pragmatic set of programs and organizations to be manipulated by managers into a cash machine for the needs of modern Westerners, but as the powerful, untamable, Spirit-driven, Mysterious Body of which Paul spoke.

This is the road to maturity. That more and more evangelicals have set out upon it is reason for hope for the future of gospel Christianity. That they are receiving good guidance on this road from wise teachers is reason to believe that Christ is guiding the process. And that they are meeting and learning from fellow Christians in the other two great confessions, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, is reason to rejoice in the power of love.

read complete article here

The Future Lies in the Past

The Future Lies in the Past
Why evangelicals are connecting with the early church as they move into the 21st century.
Chris Armstrong posted 2/08/2008 10:01AM

Today's ancient-future Christians have begun recovering buried veins of treasure—in exegesis, theology, spirituality, praxis, and ecclesiology—from the deepest deposits of our shared tradition. Today we live in a world more complex than ever before: more broken families, more disparity between rich and poor, a more confusing variety of life choices, and fewer accepted standards by which to sort it all out. We live in the ruins of modernity and have witnessed the failure of so many social silver bullets and "sure things" that we now distrust advertisers, politicians, and religious leaders alike. We viscerally feel the deceitfulness and woundedness of the human heart, and we know it does not yield to any one-size-fits-all solution, religious or otherwise.

It should not surprise us, then, that some of the ancient-future Christians, having recovered older truths and practices, are indulging a tendency to wield them as a stick to beat aspects of the traditional way of doing church.

They know intuitively that the individualism, consumerism, rationalism, and worldly definitions of success and happiness that have crept into some churches fail to touch hearts and mend relationships—human or divine.

And so, rejecting both rigid propositional definitions of the faith and the pragmatic promises of the church-growth movement, these Christians are seeking a way of living the faith that can be for them an anchor and a bulwark against the culture. At the same time, they seem to have learned the lessons of postmodernity, and thus are moving beyond the "golden age" approach of earlier attempts. Instead, they have begun to mix critique with appreciation and even reverence as they return to the historical sources. And it will take a great deal of wisdom to learn both the strengths and the limits of each phase of the history in which they hungrily seek answers.

From Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and living, practicing monks and nuns, they must learn both the strengths and the limits of the historical ascetic disciplines.

From Tom Oden, D. H. Williams, and living, practicing Eastern Orthodox and Catholic brothers and sisters, they must learn both the strengths and the limits of engagement with the whole tradition of the whole church—one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.

From "missional" pioneers such as Lesslie Newbigin and George Hunsberger, and from such diverse sources as the Anabaptists and the Anglicans, they must learn the crucial power of the church. And they must understand it not as a pragmatic set of programs and organizations to be manipulated by managers into a cash machine for the needs of modern Westerners, but as the powerful, untamable, Spirit-driven, Mysterious Body of which Paul spoke.

This is the road to maturity. That more and more evangelicals have set out upon it is reason for hope for the future of gospel Christianity. That they are receiving good guidance on this road from wise teachers is reason to believe that Christ is guiding the process. And that they are meeting and learning from fellow Christians in the other two great confessions, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, is reason to rejoice in the power of love.

read complete article here

Ancient Future Evangelicalism

In tribute to Dr. Webber, this week's Christian History & Biography newsletter contains excerpts from a few of his books and statements from those who knew him or were influenced by him.

Looking backward, moving forward"Classical Christianity was shaped in a pagan and relativistic society much like our own. Classical Christianity was not an accommodation to paganism but an alternative practice of life. Christians in a postmodern world will succeed, not by watering down the faith, but by being a countercultural community that invites people to be shaped by the story of Israel and Jesus.

"We now live in a transitional time in which the modern worldview of the Enlightenment is crumbling and a new worldview is beginning to take shape. Some leaders will insist on preserving the Christian faith in its modern form; others will run headlong into the sweeping changes that accommodate Christianity to postmodern forms; and a third group will carefully and cautiously seek to interface historic Christian truths in the dawning of a new era.

"My argument has been that evangelicals will do well to affirm a Christianity that has a deep kinship with the faith of the early church. … For here is a faith that, like a tapestry, weaves everything in and out of the main thread—Christ. … Here, I believe, is a faith for our time, a faith that finds in the ancient Christian tradition a power to speak to the postmodern world."

—From Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Baker: 1999)

***

"The concern of this writing is to go back to the earliest convictions of Christian spirituality. Why go back? Because the Roman culture in which Christianity first emerged is very similar to the culture of today's world. It was a culture of political unrest, a world of numerous religious options, a time of moral confusion and poverty. The religions of the day made no demands on believing, behaving, or belonging. In this context the Christian message was not presented as one more spirituality among the spiritualities but as Alan Kreider points out, Christians proclaimed, "We believe, we behave, we belong." One would think that the clarity of union with God in the context of the plurality of religions would doom it to failure. But it was that very union with God—lived out in belief, behavior, and belonging—that resulted in the rapid spread of the Christian faith throughout the Roman Empire."

—From The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Baker, 2006)

***

"How do you deliver the authentic faith and great wisdom of the past into the new cultural situation of the twenty-first century? The way into the future, I argue, is not an innovative new start for the church; rather, the road to the future runs through the past. These three matters—roots, connection, and authenticity in a changing world—will help us to maintain continuity with historic Christianity as the church moves forward."

—From Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality Through the Christian Year (Baker, 2004)

Ancient Future Evangelicalism

In tribute to Dr. Webber, this week's Christian History & Biography newsletter contains excerpts from a few of his books and statements from those who knew him or were influenced by him.

Looking backward, moving forward"Classical Christianity was shaped in a pagan and relativistic society much like our own. Classical Christianity was not an accommodation to paganism but an alternative practice of life. Christians in a postmodern world will succeed, not by watering down the faith, but by being a countercultural community that invites people to be shaped by the story of Israel and Jesus.

"We now live in a transitional time in which the modern worldview of the Enlightenment is crumbling and a new worldview is beginning to take shape. Some leaders will insist on preserving the Christian faith in its modern form; others will run headlong into the sweeping changes that accommodate Christianity to postmodern forms; and a third group will carefully and cautiously seek to interface historic Christian truths in the dawning of a new era.

"My argument has been that evangelicals will do well to affirm a Christianity that has a deep kinship with the faith of the early church. … For here is a faith that, like a tapestry, weaves everything in and out of the main thread—Christ. … Here, I believe, is a faith for our time, a faith that finds in the ancient Christian tradition a power to speak to the postmodern world."

—From Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Baker: 1999)

***

"The concern of this writing is to go back to the earliest convictions of Christian spirituality. Why go back? Because the Roman culture in which Christianity first emerged is very similar to the culture of today's world. It was a culture of political unrest, a world of numerous religious options, a time of moral confusion and poverty. The religions of the day made no demands on believing, behaving, or belonging. In this context the Christian message was not presented as one more spirituality among the spiritualities but as Alan Kreider points out, Christians proclaimed, "We believe, we behave, we belong." One would think that the clarity of union with God in the context of the plurality of religions would doom it to failure. But it was that very union with God—lived out in belief, behavior, and belonging—that resulted in the rapid spread of the Christian faith throughout the Roman Empire."

—From The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Baker, 2006)

***

"How do you deliver the authentic faith and great wisdom of the past into the new cultural situation of the twenty-first century? The way into the future, I argue, is not an innovative new start for the church; rather, the road to the future runs through the past. These three matters—roots, connection, and authenticity in a changing world—will help us to maintain continuity with historic Christianity as the church moves forward."

—From Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality Through the Christian Year (Baker, 2004)

Robert Weber (1933-2007)

Dr. Robert "Bob" Webber is recognized by pastors, denominational leaders, scholars and lay people as one of the foremost authorities on worship renewal. He regularly conducts workshops for almost every major denomination in North America through the Institute in Worship Studies, which he founded in 1995. Over 30,000 people have attended his workshops. He has authored over 40 books on worship and the Church, including The Complete Library of Christian Worship and Renew Your Worship! and a complete audio and video series based on his Renew Your Worship workshops. He is also a regular contributor to numerous magazines, journals and newspapers.

Prior to his appointment as the William R. and Geraldyne B. Myers Chair of Ministry at Northern Baptist Seminary, Dr. Webber taught at Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois) for 32 years as Professor of Theology. Dr. Webber brought leadership to the Master of Arts in Worship and Spirituality and the Doctor of Ministry specialization in worship. Both degrees appeal to church staff responsible for worship and pastors who want to develop expertise in the area of worship.

Robert passed away from pancreatic cancer on 26 April 2007. I feel a deep sense of loss as I have hoped to be able to meet up with him to discuss his ideas about the Ancient-Future Faith. It would have been a good fellowship.

I have enjoyed his book The Younger Evangelicals (2002) where he hightlights the challenges facing evangelicalism today, and also in what I thought an unusual move, identitifed by names some evangelicals that he hope will help change the landscape of evangelicalism. My special interests is in his series of the Ancient Future Church series. I like his provocative statement that in order for the church to move forward, it first must look backwards. What he meant is that we must not neglect the rich heritage of the ancient church.He planned a series of books on Ancient Future Church and published Ancient Future Faith (1999), Ancient Future Evangelism (2003), Ancient Future Time (2004). By then he was very sick and managed to finish The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life. (2006). We have lost a scholar and a friend.

Robert Weber (1933-2007)

Dr. Robert "Bob" Webber is recognized by pastors, denominational leaders, scholars and lay people as one of the foremost authorities on worship renewal. He regularly conducts workshops for almost every major denomination in North America through the Institute in Worship Studies, which he founded in 1995. Over 30,000 people have attended his workshops. He has authored over 40 books on worship and the Church, including The Complete Library of Christian Worship and Renew Your Worship! and a complete audio and video series based on his Renew Your Worship workshops. He is also a regular contributor to numerous magazines, journals and newspapers.

Prior to his appointment as the William R. and Geraldyne B. Myers Chair of Ministry at Northern Baptist Seminary, Dr. Webber taught at Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois) for 32 years as Professor of Theology. Dr. Webber brought leadership to the Master of Arts in Worship and Spirituality and the Doctor of Ministry specialization in worship. Both degrees appeal to church staff responsible for worship and pastors who want to develop expertise in the area of worship.

Robert passed away from pancreatic cancer on 26 April 2007. I feel a deep sense of loss as I have hoped to be able to meet up with him to discuss his ideas about the Ancient-Future Faith. It would have been a good fellowship.

I have enjoyed his book The Younger Evangelicals (2002) where he hightlights the challenges facing evangelicalism today, and also in what I thought an unusual move, identitifed by names some evangelicals that he hope will help change the landscape of evangelicalism. My special interests is in his series of the Ancient Future Church series. I like his provocative statement that in order for the church to move forward, it first must look backwards. What he meant is that we must not neglect the rich heritage of the ancient church.He planned a series of books on Ancient Future Church and published Ancient Future Faith (1999), Ancient Future Evangelism (2003), Ancient Future Time (2004). By then he was very sick and managed to finish The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life. (2006). We have lost a scholar and a friend.

The Ancient Evangelical Future Conference 2006

The Ancient Evangelical Future Conference was held on 7-9 December 2006 with Hans Boersma, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Aaron Flores, Brian McLaren, and Howard Synder.

Thanks to Desert Pastor/Chris Monroe who blogged the whole conference, we are able to follow, hear and see some parts of the conference.

Hans Boersma's Focus Paper on A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future gave an excellent perspective to view the whole conference. In it he identified 7 important points in which we need to engage AEF if it should be a workable and viable process. They are:

1. Metanarrative
2. Ressourcement of the early Church
3. Spiritual interpretation
4. Visible church
5. Role of Theology
6. Christian morality
7. Reunification of the church

Each of these points is debatable and need to be defined clearly if AEF is to be taken seriously by the rest of the evangelical community. Otherwise it will be viewed as wistful thinking in looking towards the past in search of ‘a golden age’ of the church.

In the opening plenary Brain McLaren spoke on
“Does the Emergent Church have an Ancient Evangelical Future?” He identified the divergence and the convergence of the emergent church and AEF and suggested some areas in which it may converge. Again the difficulty of definition of terms come into being. As yet there are no fixed definition for emergent and AEF, thus making it difficult to make sense of the topic. Emergent and AEF are broad terms covering diverse opinions and theological constructs.

I hope the organizer of the AEF conference will produce DVDs, audio CD or even publish the talks and discussion so that others who did not have opportunity to attend will be able to continue the discussion.

This may be a bit premature but I do see a glimpse of convergence of the Emergent and AEF

However I do have some questions:

1. How will AEF help the existing Church?
2. Does it help us to know God better?
3. Does it help in our character formation?
4. Does it help us to be more missional?
5. Do Protestants, Roman Catholics and Orthodox traditions need to be unified?

We do not need a 'cut and paste' movement. We need renewal. Maranatha!

The Ancient Evangelical Future Conference 2006

The Ancient Evangelical Future Conference was held on 7-9 December 2006 with Hans Boersma, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Aaron Flores, Brian McLaren, and Howard Synder.

Thanks to Desert Pastor/Chris Monroe who blogged the whole conference, we are able to follow, hear and see some parts of the conference.

Hans Boersma's Focus Paper on A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future gave an excellent perspective to view the whole conference. In it he identified 7 important points in which we need to engage AEF if it should be a workable and viable process. They are:

1. Metanarrative
2. Ressourcement of the early Church
3. Spiritual interpretation
4. Visible church
5. Role of Theology
6. Christian morality
7. Reunification of the church

Each of these points is debatable and need to be defined clearly if AEF is to be taken seriously by the rest of the evangelical community. Otherwise it will be viewed as wistful thinking in looking towards the past in search of ‘a golden age’ of the church.

In the opening plenary Brain McLaren spoke on
“Does the Emergent Church have an Ancient Evangelical Future?” He identified the divergence and the convergence of the emergent church and AEF and suggested some areas in which it may converge. Again the difficulty of definition of terms come into being. As yet there are no fixed definition for emergent and AEF, thus making it difficult to make sense of the topic. Emergent and AEF are broad terms covering diverse opinions and theological constructs.

I hope the organizer of the AEF conference will produce DVDs, audio CD or even publish the talks and discussion so that others who did not have opportunity to attend will be able to continue the discussion.

This may be a bit premature but I do see a glimpse of convergence of the Emergent and AEF

However I do have some questions:

1. How will AEF help the existing Church?
2. Does it help us to know God better?
3. Does it help in our character formation?
4. Does it help us to be more missional?
5. Do Protestants, Roman Catholics and Orthodox traditions need to be unified?

We do not need a 'cut and paste' movement. We need renewal. Maranatha!

A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future

The Call challenges Evangelical Christians to restore the priority of the divinely inspired biblical story of God’s acts in time and history.


The Call

(1) on the primacy of the Biblical narrative
(2) on the Church, the continuation of God’s narrative
(3) on the Church’s theological reflection on God’s narrative
(4) on Church’s worship as telling and enacting God’s narrative
(5) on spiritual formation in the Church as embodiment of God’s narrative
(6) on the Church’s embodied life in the world

complete text on A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future

interview with Dr. Robert Webber and Dr. Phil Kanyon

A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future

The Call challenges Evangelical Christians to restore the priority of the divinely inspired biblical story of God’s acts in time and history.


The Call

(1) on the primacy of the Biblical narrative
(2) on the Church, the continuation of God’s narrative
(3) on the Church’s theological reflection on God’s narrative
(4) on Church’s worship as telling and enacting God’s narrative
(5) on spiritual formation in the Church as embodiment of God’s narrative
(6) on the Church’s embodied life in the world

complete text on A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future

interview with Dr. Robert Webber and Dr. Phil Kanyon