Emerging Church

The American religious experience is dynamic so keeping up with ever changing nomenclature takes constant effort. One of the new terms being used is “The Emerging Church” and it can be confusing. What does it mean to be an emerging church?

On a basic level anything that is emerging hasn’t yet fully emerged. Every new congregation is an emerging church with traditions still in flux. I can remember starting new congregations and discovering that anytime we did something the same thing three times in a row it became an unchangeable tradition for that congregation.

I do know some very old congregations that started calling themselves an “Emerging Church” because it is the “in” terminology. So I question is there something different emerging in that well established congregation?  In a sense the church always needs to be in a process of emerging in a world that is always changing.