I’ve heard a bit about Phyllis Tickle over the last year, she seems to like to write about this new form of Christianity coming about referred to as “emergence”. So when I had the chance to pick up a copy of her latest book, Emergence Christianity, I took it. I was looking forward to learning more about this movement and how it looks and functions in the wider church.
Turns out this is a pretty good book to start with, at least I thought it to be.
Tickle does a wonderful job of introducing this movement and its history, which may not be as recent as we think. Turns out the church has been exploring new expressions/locations/settings/styles for quite some time. She also does a great job of showing how many of these variations have manifested themselves over the last 50 years.
This book has given me a great deal to think about. I took a long time to read it, for a variety of reasons (not one of which is because it’s a hard read). But I’m glad to took the time to read it carefully as it has given me a great deal to think about as I am increasingly convinced the church does need to free itself to explore new expressions of church to help reach the generations for which traditional church has become stale or meaningless.
If you are interested in learning about these things, you can’t be hurt by picking up a copy of Emergence Christianity.