Something is happening out there . . .

• Traditional churches are declining in membership and influence in society.
• New churches are scrapping plans for traditional buildings in order to meet in movie theaters, living rooms, coffee shops and bars.
• Christians are becoming more and more interested in churches that offer ancient rituals, litanies and hymns.
• Young people are demanding that their churches take leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDs, poverty and climate change.
• Old denominational boundaries are breaking down as Christians across the theological spectrum find common ground and work together.

What’s going on?

What’s happening is as old as religion itself, says author Phyllis Tickle, author of the new book The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why. In it, Tickle, the founding editor of the religion department at Publishers Weekly, explores the link between history and the new face of the church. What emerges, she says, is a pattern of upheaval every 500 years in which the church cleans out what is old and ill-fitting so it can be relevant to the culture at large.

These upheavals—the last was the Protestant Reformation—can be thought of as “rummage sales,” where the very structures and institutions of the church are shaken out and re-examined. The result is a “Great Emergence,” a shattering of the old structures of institutionalized Christianity and the birth of new and vital forms of Christianity.

On October 31, 2009 Phyllis Tickle was in Winnipeg for a day-long seminar. The event was sponsored by a wide variety of local denominations and institutions  (see complete list of sponsors). More than 200 people packed into the chapel at Booth College in downtown Winnipeg to hear her speak. The plenary sessions were videotaped, and are available for download here.

Ms. Tickle provided a number of helpful resources at the event. To access them online, check out the following PDF files:

• Annotated Bibliography of Books of Relevance to the Discussion of Emergence Christianity
• Defining ‘Emergence’

Phyllis also provided A Short List of Websites for Exploring Emergence Christianity.

If you’re interested in viewing the “Did You Know 2008” video which was shown at the start of the seminar, click here.

For other responses and resources related to the event, check out the following: Brent Toderash (a.k.a. Brother Maynard, and one of the workshop leaders) blogs about the event at his website, Subversive Influence.

Jamie Howison has made the full text of his workshop available online. See A Modest Proposal: resisting relevance.

Doug Koop, editor of ChristianWeek, wrote an editorial after the event. See Ticklish Times.

To read an interview with Phyllis Tickle about the Great Emergence, click here or view this YouTube video.

For more information about Phyllis Tickle, click here, or visit her website.

For more information about The Great Emergence, go to www.thegreatemergence.com.

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