Thoughts on Emergence Christianity (EC13)

Last week I had the opportunity to join 400+ people in Memphis in large part to honor author/thinker/chronicler Phyllis Tickle and also to celebrate the release of her new book, Emergence Christianity. I had to leave early but three things struck me during my time there.

1. A maturing and gracious spirit – this process of emergence has produced a lot of “angst-y-ness” in the past, but there was a positive, warm, and healthy vibe in the group that was encouraging to experience.
2. Amazing creativity – Phyllis gave sparkling hour-long lectures, and then friends of Phyllis responded in panels, and then participants gave Pecha Kucha presentations, which I heard were amazing.
3. Humility – there was a sense that those of us who are considered leaders in emergence are part of something bigger than we understand. We aren’t creating it. We aren’t even leading it. At best, we are leading within it, contributing to it, participating in it, and collaborating with each other. That struck me as a good – and true – attitude.

In the public gatherings and in lots of smaller and informal venues, a stellar group of people shared in meaningful conversations, which build and strengthen networks of friendship, which, many of us hope, are becoming the seed-bed of a movement with a lot of potential. You can read the twitter feed at #EC13.