Chapter 4 of Gibbs’ and Bolger’s Emerging Churches: creating Christian community in postmodern culture is entitled, ‘Transforming secular space’.  Here are some extracts.

Breaking down the dualisms of modernity

‘A consequence of the creation of a secular realm was modernity’s penchant to break everything up into little parts for classification, organisation, and systematisation.  Thus, in the modern period, many dualisms were introduced to church life that had not been problematic before: the natural verses the supernatural; public facts versus private values; the body versus the mind and spirit; faith versus reason; power versus love; and the list goes on.  These capitulations to the dualisms of modernity affected every level of the church, including worship, Bible study, power structures, and mission.  Postmodern culture questions the legitimacy of these dualisms.  Correspondingly, every one of these modern divisions is greatly opposed by emerging churches.’  (Gibbs & Bolger)

Everything is God’s

‘The clarion call of the emerging church is Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (NIV).  For emerging churches, there are no longer any bad places, bad people, or bad times.  All can be made holy.  All can be given to God in worship.  All modern dualisms can be overcome.’  (Gibbs & Bolger)

Breaking down the divide between sacred and secular

We try to create bridges that span the secular/sacred divide because we don’t make that distinction.  We use secular music in worship as well as film and literature.  I hope they are points of connection between people’s everyday lives and their faith. (Ben Edson)

From systematic to nonlinear

Emerging churches remove linear expressions of the faith.  Postmodernity teaches that linearity is but one of many narratives that could be told about a given event.  In fact, postmoderns prefer that more than one narrative be told, recognising that one systematic telling is selective and open to distortion.  It is not that postmodern people do not want truth per se, but whose truth?  Often the one proposing, or more often imposing, “truth” is a person in power.  Why trust that person?  Instead, a better way to truth, in their view, is to hear the many stories and to discern accordingly, within the context of community. (Gibbs & Bolger)

Propositions out, stories in

Who wants to listen to abstract, contextless propositions when one can hear or watch a story unfold? (Gibbs & Bolger)

Non-linear church meetings

In Todd Hunter’s community (Christ Community of Faith, Yorba Linda, CA), a church meeting consists of an open mic where anyone can share at any time.  The service does not come to a final resolution, nor is there any expectation that it should.  Life goes on!  According to their reasoning, why put an artificial narrative of closure on an experience that ought to have no end. (Gibbs & Bolger)

The many voices of the Bible

I was worried about the evangelical churches’ way of reading the Bible as a singular book with one voice rather than as a book with many voices and many ways of interpreting. (Pete Rollins)

How God communicates with us

God communicates with humanity, not primarily through the form of propositions but through a story illustrated by parables, riddles, sayings, and folk songs. (Gibbs & Bolger)

The death of print culture

Protestant church forms were created by a literary age that no longer exists.  It is hard to imagine what their particular traditions would look like without a literary, modern emphasis.  The Protestant church has sided with elite print culture historically, and now there exists a great disconnect between those in the culture who venerate print culture and everyone else. (Gibbs & Bolger)

Alternative worship and New Age practices

Alternative worship is similar to New Age practices in its use of ritual, ecology, creation, imagination, and the kinesthetic.  However, ‘these are cultural similarities, not doctrinal ones.  Alternative worship is working from a particular understanding of the world that is shaped by the belief that God has acted uniquely in Jesus Christ.’ (Paul Roberts)

Embracing immanence

In charismatic worship, God is located ‘outside’ the physical domain.  This is why charismatic worship is so focused on ecstatic experience.  By contrast, alternative worship relocates God back within the physical domain, so to experience God means to encounter him in and through the created things around – symbolically, iconically, sacramentally. (Paul Roberts)

I think one of the biggest tensions within Revive is trying to prevent the charismatic flight from reality in worship.  I remember working in an inner-city church in my early twenties, trying to get people to sing songs about their lives, and their attitude was, ‘We came here to get away from out lives!’  (Simon Hall)

Visual artefacts

Emerging churches use paintings, slides, drawings, and candles as visual expressions.  In addition, they might show videos or television clips.  On occasion, an art installation or exhibit functions as the entire ‘service’.  They might display icons that resonate with both ancient and popular cultures. (Gibbs & Bolger)

A place to bring friends

A common desire among all emerging churches is to create a venue where Christians can bring their friends.  Truly living within a culture and creating indigenous forms of worship help make thie possible   Many churchgoers would be embarrassed if their friends and neighbours were to attend church with them, but Ben Edson (Sanctus 1, Manchester, UK) presents a different scenario.  ‘Our people have confidence in the product.  Although this is a marketing term, it is really quite important.  When people bring their friends to Sanctus 1, they know that they will be fully welcomced and have a good evening.  People have confidence and therefore are happy to bring friends along.  Unfortunately, this confidence does not exist within a lot of churches.’

Evangelism

[Emerging leaders] all regard evangelism in terms of an open-ended conversation and an embodied way of life as distinct from a result-geared confrontation.  ‘You say the gospel by living it.  Changing worship might be interesting, but the focus must be the incarnation.  I won’t live or die for a worship meeting, but I would give my life for living incarnationally, and ultimately Christianity is about what you would live and die for.’ (Johnny Sertin)