Of course, all this Unitarian Universalist Association emerging congregation talk belies another idea of an emerging church: one that challenges structures that don’t work. We’re a pretty conservative group when it comes to structures. Even resorting to a decades-old model as another option — the Fellowship movement — isn’t free of controversy. Kinda sad.
From Ekklesia’s news feed today:
“Church of Scotland to invest in forms of ministry and mission”
The Church of Scotland is planning substantial financial investment in new forms of church life. At its upcoming General Assembly, the Kirk’s Ministries Council will outline plans to devote £1.5 million over five years to ’emerging ministries’.
Congregational polity is the closest thing to a dogma that we have in our tradition. BTW, isn’t all this talk about “emerging churches” going to create some confusion with the “Emerging church movement” about post-modern forms of worship for younger people?
Younger? I thought the youngest Emergent types are all well past their thirtieth birthday. The blush is off the rose.
And I think the habits the UUA enjoys is more about a lack of imagination that polity scruples.
Kicking myself for getting so busy I couldn’t keep up with blog reading, so making amends and just saying a belated and very thankful amen for this post as well as the others these past weeks and months on planting and conceiving what God intends for the church.