M7 Conversation
There has been quite a bit of conversation about the M7 Conference. These conversations are taking place via e-mail, phone calls and blogs. Many of you know that I am part of the denomination known as The Church of the Nazarene. For those of you not familiar with our denomination I ask for your indulgence.
Many of the conversations center around this video clip. Taking this clip out of context is unhealthy and should be avoided. Please visit here for the entire address. It is the plenary session delivered by Dr. Nina Gunter.
The conversations that I am a part of are not about Nina. This is about a conversation that has needed to happen for over 25 years. And, it looks like it will finally happen. For other examples of the beginings of the conversation view the plenary sessions of Reggie McNeal and Oliver Phillips.
My take on it is this: ORGANIZATIONALLY speaking, postmodernity can be accomodated inside of the denomination by simply seeing it as another culture - similar to the afro- or latino- cultures. It could fit into the Multicultural Groups inside of USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism's Mission Strategy department. Simply let the denomination identify someone to speak for the postmodern culture. Then, that person can sit with the committees and task forces to help the postmodern / emerging voices.
Theologically, Ecclisastically and Epistemologically it is a MUCH longer journey. There is not room here to post on these topics. [grin]
Many of the conversations center around this video clip. Taking this clip out of context is unhealthy and should be avoided. Please visit here for the entire address. It is the plenary session delivered by Dr. Nina Gunter.
The conversations that I am a part of are not about Nina. This is about a conversation that has needed to happen for over 25 years. And, it looks like it will finally happen. For other examples of the beginings of the conversation view the plenary sessions of Reggie McNeal and Oliver Phillips.
My take on it is this: ORGANIZATIONALLY speaking, postmodernity can be accomodated inside of the denomination by simply seeing it as another culture - similar to the afro- or latino- cultures. It could fit into the Multicultural Groups inside of USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism's Mission Strategy department. Simply let the denomination identify someone to speak for the postmodern culture. Then, that person can sit with the committees and task forces to help the postmodern / emerging voices.
Theologically, Ecclisastically and Epistemologically it is a MUCH longer journey. There is not room here to post on these topics. [grin]
posted by Sean at 2:58 PM
1 Comments:
Good post. My hope is that Dr. Gunter's statements will indeed create conversation. I was humbled to help host the emerging track for sponsored by New Start at M7. I felt (and still feel) that the Church of the Nazarene had made a positive step in the right direction by having an emerging track sponsored by NYI and one by New Start.
At first, I felt almost betrayed by the comment made by Dr. Gunter, but I am beginning to see more conversation taking place. Jim Hampton has posted some good comments regarding the importance of the conversation on his blog at http://theoskaris.blogspot.com.
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