There have been some really good questions the last 2 weeks, most of which i wish i had time to answer in full. I will probably do so soon, or tackle them in my UP AND COMING BOOK. But in the meantime, here are some quick responses.
RE: Non-western theologians? (from DJChang). Not nearly as many as i would like. We were running a global blog called kingdomspace in the hopes of mentoring non-westerners into blogging but it was mostly north americans, australasians and europeans.
RE: Powerpoint ?(from Gary Manders). Nothing against Microsoft. Its just that using software that is designed for business presentations for spiritual purposes will not sit well with the emerging culture, unless there is a serious element of play or deconstruction. I said i was going to use it once and got slammed by my theoblogian readers. So i stuck with my VJ software, which is more fun anyway. But one day i will use powerpoint (without cheesy transitions)
RE:Urban poor and emergent ministries? (from Jason Clark and others). I think emerging ministries give more empowerment to the urban poor – less benevolence, more equipping to start their own churches and ministries
RE: Women and emerging minsties. Obviously there are more women in leadership and ministry teams, having been decentralized, are more mixed in gender. Although i have to say, in the area of missiology and overseas development, which is where i often hang out, women traditionally have outnumbered men, in some cases 7 to 1. I am looking over the coming summer at the people who have told me they are going overseas on pilgrimage or mission, and again, i am looking at a large group of GIRLS! Not much equality there. Where are the men?
RE: The Passion of Christ with Mel Gibson (Alan Cross). Some of you want info and some of you have too much. Who is going to blog this conversation? What i want to know is . . will Mel’s Jesus have a mullet?
what’s the climate for women in ministry like in general there? i find here, that many women choose a mission experience because there is too little room to express their giftedness and call at home. i think mission becomes especially appealing for single women for this very reason.
as for where the boys are in regard to mission…maybe it’s easier & more comfortable to stay home because of the way we currently construct our gender roles. just thinking.
sorry to interject, again, but on the topic of non-western theologians, i think your slip might be showing. is it true they just *don’t* exist, or have we constructed our theological conversation in such a way that leaves westerners as experts & everyone else as newcomers? if the emerging church is an ancient/future kind of thing, maybe there’s some wisdom from jesus followers in older cultures that absolutely applies to our journey here but is not apparent to us in our self-appointed positions as “forerunners”. dj asked for the answer, but i wonder if he or his colleagues might have thoughts deserving of more questions.
To follow up on Jen’s comments, there are plenty of non-european and female theologians about. The problem is that they tend to be in “mainline” (a bad word) and “liberal” traditions. One of my pet peeves about the emerging discussion is that folks from the “evangelical” (again, a useless word) traditions tend to run into the room and shout, “We’ve found something new!” The problem is that some of us in the apostate traditions (for emerging folks that is) have been talking about these things for a while. I’ve experienced several non-western theologians. They may not blog. In fact, they probably don’t even know that the “emerging” folks exist. And you know what, we don’t do a very good job inviting them to the table…
One other peeve. I’ve decided that the definition of an emerging Christian is “mac user.” Oh woe to those of us in the proletariat who don’t have two grand to drop on these wonderful machines.
Where’s the mullet book? Maybe it would answer some of life’s questions?
jen is very astute…
dr. jones, just watch that use of “girls ” vs women.
i read it that GIRLS rock and boys don’t when it comes to leaving their comfort zones to do ministry elsewhere…but it could be an issue! 🙂
hope the new home is coming together and the kids are enjoying their new school! and btw getting ready to join the ranks of the type pad users! blessings! lilly
I blogged some “Passion” movie conversation thoughts this week, if anyone’s interested:
http://sungrownmaduro.blogspot.com/2004_02_08_sungrownmaduro_archive.html#107638566041315218
I live on the so-called missions field and so far have hosted 3 girls (ahem, excuse me, WOMEN, ages 15, 16 and 19…geez, for God’s sake can I pleeze refer to them as “girls” without stepping on any feminine toes around here…) Anyway, my experience is that there are lots more females (there we go) on the missions field. Why? I have no idea. Maybe I’ll go and ask one of the chickadees…
Andrew, what is a mullet? Babylon says it is a kind of fish…??
I am also on a so called mission field and have been working in the line of work for 15 years. I have met hundreds of females in these years. Many of them have told me of their 30 year plan, it they were not married by 30 they would go to the field. Perhaps not the best motivation but God will get His work done no matter how he has to go about it.
I think we need to wait for more from Andrew on these topics. I am not following his meaning…
RE: Powerpoint. I have to wonder, taking your thoughts a bit further. If using a software that is designed for business presentations doesn’t sit well with the emerging culture what your thoughts are on using the term “Corporate Worship”. Do the same potetial ill feelings or thoughts hold true here?
just to let you know, we do exist (not-western-theologians I’mean), we’re watching, we’re listening and we’re trying to write, blog and do whatever we can. It will be interesting to see how all this develops in the coming days ahead.
I’m interested to hear more of your thoughts on the “urban poor” Are you saying all most all some urban people are poor? Just asking for clarification. Also how are you seeing the “empowerment of the urban poor” play-out in practical terms in emerging ministries. Do you have some examples?
Thanks for taking up the question.
Till AJ is back to speak for himself, I’ll chip in. “Urban poor” refers to those who are both poor and living in the city, as opposed to the rural poor or the urban elite. The urban poor are in quite a different situation from the rural poor, with all the resources and dangers present in the city.
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