This is Part 3 of “A Brief History of Presbymergent.” You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
Where does Presbymergent go now?
But I don’t think that means people have stopped rethinking what it means to be church in the PC(USA) this past year. I continue to have folks contact me and ask questions about Presbymergent this year. Mike Clawson’s paper is probably the most thorough, but I’ve done a couple email interviews with folks doing papers or research on emergent Christianity in the mainline. Folks are continuing to try new things, be creative with their theologies and liturgies and think outside the box. And even a self-proclaimed techie like myself can’t quite grasp the type of outside-the-box ministry that Neal Locke and others have been doing with Second Life.
Stuff is happening – there is still emergence occurring in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Perhaps it’s a good sign that folks who are committed to Presbymergent aren’t as much focused on maintaining or creating a structure for an organization, but are focused on actually getting out there and doing ministry. But perhaps it’s frustrating for those who do want to see a bit of organization on our part.
I’m not entirely sure where we go from here. But I’m confident in the amazing group of folks who self-identify as part of the Presbymergent community. I’m hopeful that there will continue to be ways that people find to “hack the Book of Order” and be able to do new and creative ministry in a time of mainline decline. I’m hopeful that the denomination may begin to realize that they need the loyal radicals and work harder to find ways to support those of us who want to try new things. I hope that there will be groups who are not afraid of failure and committees who are not afraid to put their trust in younger pastors. I pray that more and more seminarians will feel confident enough to continue asking “WHY?” when professors at our seminaries teach us the same old things and tell us what worship is “supposed” to look like.
“Welcome to Presbymergent. What’s the first rule of Presbymergent? You do not talk about Presbymergent.”
Sure there will probably be some organization at some point…sure we’ll have to talk about our goals and discern more what our purpose is in the church that is emerging. But for now…maybe we don’t need to talk about Presbymergent – maybe we just need to be Presbymergent…maybe we just need to be out there, engaging the world, being the church and perhaps the rest will follow.
Connect with Presbymergent
To learn more about Presbymergent, you can connect with us in the following ways:
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow @Presbymergent on Twitter
- Check out our site at www.Presbymergent.org
- Register to become a Contributor on our site here