"'emerging' into what?"

I think that is a better question to be asking ourselves.

In Alan’s post on Dec. 26 he addresses talk “about the term ‘emerging,’ referring to the emerging church.”

A few quotes:

“trying to get to the heart of the matter - what IS the church? Why is it here? All the answers we have EVER been given are on the chopping block - they won't do simply because they are there. So, we lay them all down and we pick them up one by one and ask, "why is this here?" - "is this legitimate?" - "does this harm or help?" - and the big one - ‘does this or that help to effectively form me and those whom I am bound together with into the image of Jesus Christ?’”

“I am not talking about one model over another. I am not advocating ‘house church’ over ‘cell church’ or whatever. The only reason I would ever suggest anyone look at any model whatsoever is if I thought somehow, part of that model caught a glimpse of the core of the matter better than another perhaps - so look at that - please! But don't just look to find things that seem cool and copy them - damn! Jump off the cliff and hit the freakin' rocks below and die a bloody death to everything before! Do it now!!! If you do not, you will never ever know if any of it is good and healthy and formational or not. ”

“If you die that death, allow God to slowly resurrect you, and then end up with a building - awesome!! But DO NOT simply refuse to question whether or not it is legitimate to have a building as a "church"! Don't do that. Don't simply refuse to question paid staff ministry because "that's all I was ever trained to do" and you're afraid you won't be able to support your family - DON'T do that! Wow! We can't get past the front door to see the street! It's NOT about models or labels or styles of worship - crap, crap! It's about busting it all down because it really, really has not worked very well - a good deal of it - and allowing God to rebuild it - ALL of it - for us, through us, in us. So, doing it the same old way with new garb on is not going to cut it. Not allowing yourself to question pretty much everything because of fear will not get it done. This is it. This is what is ‘emerging.’ I'm sure other things are too, but this is what I'm seeing and hearing and doing - trying to do.”

And in the conversation in the comments for that post Alan says, “So, our answers are not in essay form but in the form of action. These aren't generally seen so it's understandable that many would think we have none. None of that was meant to be a ‘how to’ for this new journey. There is no ‘how to.’ We just keep searching, praying, listening and doing.”

My thoughts:

“We just keep searching, praying, listening and doing.” ‘We’….that is much of what Church is. Isn’t it? It is a living, breathing organism that is prone to ‘growth’ and change. The Church has emerged. It is emerging. And it will continue to do so as long as there are people who think for themselves and continue “searching, praying, listening and doing.” It is the ever-emergent Church.

(chopping Alan's post up does not do it justice - click over to his blog and peruse it yourself) - I knew I would be able to use the word 'peruse' sometime today.