The Smartest Guy in the Emerging Church Turns 50

Brad Sargent is the smartest guy in the emerging church. And he just turned 50. He has an incredible brain (and heart for the marginalized) but his health has never quite kept pace. Still, in his good productive hours, he manages to do the work of three geeks, and writes more content than the a Wikipedian writing team on caffeine.

Some of you have met Brad in the comments of this blog, heard me quote him in articles like “Postmodernity and Global Worldviews” or you have seen him online at Suddenly Seminary.

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Brad (futuristguy, red cap) at Suddenly Seminary, 2004

Brad used to blog at PostHuman (a deep well of information) but now he has 3 blogs:

Random Cities – “My on-line journal of thots and whatnots.”

Cruxable – “A forum on principles for developing theoretical systems. My thesis is that the theoretical presuppositions we select affect our theologies and ministry methodologies. That means we need to refocus on how we put our systems together.”

Multimemia – “tracks my self-studies on “delivery systems” for content on cultural interpretation and contextualization.”

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Brad (futurist guy, red cap) in the Boaz Lounge, June, 2004

Brad has been an encouragement to us over the last 10 years of ministering among the emerging culture. He was present at our Boaz kick off, and has been a close friend to many around USA.

He has never received the honor due him. Like many teachers in the emerging church, (myself included) he has never managed to secure the academic degrees that gives one a stable teaching job in the Seminaries. GGBTS hire him as a Research Geek (not his real title) but fame, kudos, and a stable income elude him.

Apart from owning one of the largest libraries of alt. culture books in America, he also wrote and edited a number of books himself. One of them was written about our ministry in San Francisco but is now out of print: “Godspace 4 The New Edge”, by Brad Sargent. A 2 volume examination of ministry in a postmodern setting – Includes postmodern subcultures, an examination of neo-Celtic spirituality, monastic structures, and Brad’s ideas of ministry to “Trans-virtual Urban Tribes”. Published by Continuum – Unplugged Resources, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 1997

– that was a great resource – someone really needs to republish it . .

Being a cybergeek, his best and most prolific material is on the net and freely available.

Brad – we respect you HUGELY and thank you for you input over the years!!! Happy 50th.

Andrew

Andrew Jones launched his first internet space in 1997 and has been teaching on related issues for the past 20 years. He travels all the time but lives between Wellington, San Francisco and a hobbit home in Prague.

5 Comments

  • Joshua Rudd says:

    Yeah for Brad! He really has been an encouragement and challenger for us all. In the few but intense times i’ve spent with him, he has helped me better understand the gifts that God has given me; and when i had no idea how to use them he helped me see a little beyond what i first thought possible.
    rock on, on the Rock!

  • scotty says:

    Brad does rock so much. Such an encouraging guy.
    I make use of my dictionary when reading his blog.
    He has given me the gift of realizing that God has more up his great big sleeves for me and my family than I could have imagined.
    So happy to hear of his improved health recently. Harooh! Hoorah! Hooray!
    What a gift he is to us all.

  • mary nan ollis says:

    bRAD is wonderful.
    he helps make my life more full.

  • randy says:

    It has been an honor to know Brad for 30 years. He leads us in so many ways. I can’t wait to see what the next 50 years bring us through Brad, his imagination and intellect.

  • Marla says:

    Wow, I grew up with Brad in my church and I had no idea (but I was just a kid back then). And he’s friends with my mom (57) who goes to GGBTS. Small world!

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