4. The Emerging Christian Way: Thoughts, Stories, & Wisdom for a Faith of Transformation-Michael Schwartzentruber (ed.)

I. "An Emerging Way"-Marcus Borg, pp. 9-32
-The deep division: "Followers of the earlier vision (fundamentalists, many conservative-evangelicals, and some mainline Christians) see the new way of being Christian as a watering down or even abandonment of Christianity. From their point of view, it makes too many concessions to modern thought, producing an anemic, politically correct, and vaguely theistic humanism. On the other side of the divide, emerging Christians often see the more rigid forms of the earlier vision as anti-intellectual, literalistic, judgmental, self-righteous, and uncritically committed to right-wing politics." (p. 10)
-a paradigm conflict: paradigm defined as "a way of seeing a whole; a comprehensive way of seeing; a large framework that affects the way particulars are seen"


II. "Experience: The Heart of Transformation"-Tim Scorer, pp. 33-
-"Experience has a significant connection to our innate tendency to be reflective." (p.33) Experience in your life of faith.
-"to move from an identified dilemma to resolution, from a human predicament to a solution.... transformative..."
-"when our hearts are open, we are alive to wonder; we live with a spirit of gratitude and we are compassionate as God is compassionate. The open heart is the one that is turned toward God, living with grace and spontaneous appreciation of the miracles of creation." (p.41p)
-in community and in tradition (p.46)

III. New Creeds-Tom Harpur, pp.51-
-"it's a fitting, biblical time...to reflect on and examine any 'jewels' found on life's path thus far." (p.52)
-"To be made in the Imago Dei is to share now, in some way in this world, in the nature and essence of God. It is not just a capacity or a remote potentiality, but an inner reality." (p.54) Ps 82:6
-...Jesus' chief teaching was not about sin...was about the kingdom of God. God's active presence everywhere....God in our midst; God within." (p. 57) Omission from the Creeds e.g." teaching of Jesus about the kingdom of God, which includes the entire ethic of social justice, - the theme both of Old Testament prophets and of Jesus. " (p. 62)

IV. "The Great Work"-Thomas Berry, pp.65-76
-conservationists
-'The Great Work before us, the task of moving modern industrial civilization from its present devastating influence on the Earth to a more benign mode of presence, is not a role that we have chosen. It is a role given to us, beyond any consultation with ourselves." (p.71)

V. "Consider the Lilies of the Field: How Should Christians Love Nature?" -Sallie McFague, pp. 77---The sacramental tradition (Augustine, Hildegard of Bingen, Gerard Manley Hopkins: "the world is charged with the grandeur of God.") assumes that God is present with us not only in the hearing of the Word an in the Eucharist but also in each and every being in creation. (p.78)
-to love the natural world for its intrinsic worth-incarnationalism. An incarnational theoloy, an earthly, bodily theology
-pay attention to difference 
-"Art frames fragments of our world; paintings, poetry, novels, sculpture, dance, music help us to look at colors, sounds, bodies, events, characters--whatever--with full attention." (p.80)
-Murdoch: engagement with the "unutterable particularity" of the natural world.

R: I'm getting more and more uncomfortable with the grand talks about breaking all the boundaries (since that is so "modern" and now we are in a postmodern age), the radical reaction against "earlier", text-based, belief-based Christianity in favour of action and experience-fulfilling (& experience as starting points for belief) type of Christianity. Their assertions seem to be based on poorly defined concept of Jesus' teaching of "kingdom of God"; can you really say that repentance from sin is not part of Jesus' main teaching? The eagerness to accept other religions as ways for spirituality, and the eagerness to be close to EVERYONE without regards for/having a foundational belief seems dangerous. All these coming from North American writers who (from my perspective as a Southeast Asian Christian who had also been educated in the West) reacted strongly because of their experiences and visits to other poor parts of the world and they were so disoriented with the suffering that they couldn't understand, so they just throw out the belief systems, criticise how earlier Christians did church all wrong in order to deal with their sense of disjunction. So many of them do not really elaborate the biblical meaning of Jesus' "kingdom of God" but uses this point to champion their ideas that living with pluralism, embracing this newer paradigm is THE answer to Christianity today. They too eagerly attribute wars, hate, etc to "earlier" Christians to make their point and do not reflect upon what they might have sacrificed with their new way of doing Christianity.
I do wonder though, how can we do ecumenism well, not the truth compromising type...
Ok, I finally found a REALLY good chapter in this book:

X. "Worship: Pilgrims in the Faith"-Mark MacLean, pp. 171-187
-blended, ancient-future, seeker, tribalism emerging, emergent styles etc do not really work (misguided language)
It's not the question of whether the "liturgical renewal movement" or the "contemporary/evangelical" worship style is right, but reflecting on themes in corporate worship that "point to deep forms of the Spirit and its artistic interpretation" (p.183)/themes as guideposts on our shared pilgrimage in faith/tools for evaluating worship, or simply as a means to reflect upon the task of creating worship:
1. Revelation: "what does the gospel have to say to us. ...takes seriously the incarnation of Jesus Christ as prophetic, pastoral, and priestly voice in dialogue with human experience. This worship honors sacrament as a mystery and moment of unity, among people of the Spirit created in God's image. Revelatory worship accepts human frailty and diversity as an essential witness to God's image amogn us. In this radical inclusion, we can experience the incarnation reflected, named, and realised in the community of Christ."
2. A new emphasis on the Bible: "new"=a radical retelling of the faith history and teaching of the story of salvation. ... This new emphasis takes the radical challenge of the sacred texts as presented in their context, and drops it directly into our context as raw and real, as if it were written for us today. 'hermeneutic of relevance'"
3. Historical consciousness:
Topics: The historical consciousness of the evangelical & mainline denominations Chinese Christians about worship in the historical church till today. "We cannot go forward with innovation without knowing where we have come from. ... This requires the worship designer to explore the deep richness of the local community and of the historical church, in order to inspire and bear witness to the faith with a new and fresh voice." (p.184)
4. Influence of the Reformation: "we must all acknowledge the deep influence of the reformed movement on our worship and theology. ... This reformed spirit is where we can begin to break down the false boundaries of denominationalism and theological division to claim shared history and to vision and reunite the faithful."
5. Ecumenical character: "This reference is not to the movement of 'ecumenism' that grew out of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Here is where we name in worship the unique identity of Jesus Christ, held up as giver of the Spirit and incarnation of God among us, Emmanuel. We claim ourselves in worship as Christians and share this identity with our brothers and sisters in the Christian faith beyond all boundaries, as imposed by human experience. In doing so, we acknowledge our unique Christian identity openly and honestly with our brothers and sisters of every faith, and in so doing honour their distinct revelation of the creator God." (p. 184-5)
- "We have now moved beyond the limited language of style and function, to form and substance. We return to the open and fluid language of the community at worship--the ekklesia (faith community/church) and liturgia (liturgy/worship)." "As those who accept the intimate challenge of creating and forming worship in community, we must accept that, like all art, the form and substance of our creation is not always of our choosing. ...The community at worship is a vast and diverse canvas and we cannot be about limiting its authentic presentation." (p.185) authentic, innovation worship
-A very beautiful analogy of pilgrims: "Pilgrims know well that they are not the first to walk a road and they know well that they will not be the last. Pilgrims have a clear destination in mind but are always open to Spirit-filled, mysterious, and unexpected experiences along the journey. More importantly, true pilgrims revel in the rich stories of the other pilgrims around them, who are moving on their own distinct paths toward the same destination." (p.185)
-"Worship that stands against the imperialistic nature of our history welcomes and stands with the oppressed and the excluded. Worship that challenges the individualistic materialism of the 'pop-culture' creates authentic communities that are relevant and innovative for a new generation of faith. With worship that takes seriously the experience of revelation, the radical nature of biblical faith, and that claims our shared historic path, we can look to the future with hope. Authentic worship names our unique heritage amidst our diverse reality, and openly shares the richness of the full human condition as spiritual gift." (p.186)
-"We must breathe God's breath Ruah in our liturgia so we might truly be the ekklesia for the world." (p.186)


 9-13 Dec 2016
Kelowna: CopperHouse, 2006.

Topics: The historical consciousness of the evangelical & mainline denominations Chinese Christians about worship in the historical church till today.
R: but how might this task of creating and forming an authentic and innovative worship look like in the Chinese church here? Some have limited resources and some have gotten used to directly inheriting/choosing to imitate the worship liturgy and songs from the Western church either for being safe or for lack of thoughts, while others do not see the importance of creating their own worship presentations suitable to their own context and fail to incorporate the richness of their own cultural heritage (or there is also the fear of using things that are unsuitable for the holy, as there are lots of cultural traditions that are connected with superstitions).
R: The celebration of 500 years of Reformation in 2017. What can the Asian church say about the worship (including the tradition of Word, song, and prayer) so far, and how the future looks for the Asian church in this central corporate activity of the church--worship? As worship is the gifted response of God to His people, and it tells us about our relationship with God.
"For a new generation of faith, our worship must capture this breath of God as the church moves forward and as Christianity is born anew. ...This is a hungry, thirsty, spiritually sensitive and yet deeply critical collection of people who cross all boundaries of age, race, and gender. They are no longer bound by convention in lifestyle, or tradition in their daily existence, and yet they remember these things. Theirs might not be a conscious longing, or clearly defined memory, but certainly the church today represents something, both for those within it and for those at its edges. ...How our worship represents this faithful convention and living tradition is the core challenge to the church in its mainline incarnation in our age. ... It is essential that each worshipping community find a way to lifts its faithful membership into that Spirit of God which binds our hearts. Our worship needs to flow in and through our communities, for God's Breath --Ruah--is central to our being and vocation." (p.173)