Well we made it on the news. I had two clips and Julie had one, though they also quoted Julie at the top of the online transcript saying "I think it's a new reformation. I think it's a new way of looking at the Bible." The whole piece was pretty good, though very short and not very detailed. You can see a video of it at the website, and they should soon have some links to our church and the others involved in the segment. At any rate, I'm glad for the attention to the emerging church, and I hope it will potentially lead to more people finding out about the movement who were perhaps on the verge of giving up on traditional Christianity.
Labels: emerging church, movies/tv
At 7/14/2006 10:55:00 AM, 
Mike Clawson
Hey Nick,
I have read it, but if you're looking for a balanced and accurate analysis of the emerging church from an outsider's perspective I would definitely not recommend Carson's book. He wrote the book based on very little actual research into the emerging church (I think he read only five or so books and never actually talked to any of the people whose work he was critiquing before writing about them - despite repeated attempts by the leaders of Emergent to get him to sit down and just have a conversation with them before he wrote it.) All of that leads to Carson grossly misrepresenting what emerging church leaders really say and believe. As Brian McLaren put it when speaking in reference to Carson's book: "It's interesting to read someone else tell you what you actually believe. It makes me want to go back to my own books and do some research to see if it's actually true. And as it turns out, it isn't." :)
If you want a fair analysis of the movement from authors who have actually done their research and are not just giving a knee-jerk response I would recommend,
Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger. They are sympathetic to the movement but still maintain an "outsiders" stance when describing it. You could also try,
Truth & the New Kind of Christian: The Emerging Effect of Postmodernism in the Church by R. Scott Smith for a more critical but still friendly take on the EC.
However, if you really want to understand more about the EC I don't know why you wouldn't just go straight to the original sources. Read McLaren's Generous Orthodoxy or Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis. I think it's especially important to read what EC people are actually saying first before reading what other people tell you to think about what they are saying. Why would you take Carson's word for it when you can go straight to the source?
Anyhow, I hope those recommendations are helpful.
Peace,
Mike
Hey Mike,
interesting piece on the tv. Both you and Julie came across really well. I always think it's so weird that news channels in the States give air time to Christianity. It just doesn't happen here - or it only happens if something bad has happened. I think in Ireland, anything outside of the traditional denominations is seen as just plain odd!
By the way thanks for your comment on 'emerging women'. I think you gave a useful definition. I suppose we are all hyper sensitive to language and its uses. I just feel so sad that women still need to be considered as a group who faces discrimination.