The Emerging Church : A Model for Change and Map for Renewal

The author writes that his book is for "church leaders, both lay and clergy, who are ready to act as guides on this journey of congregational renewal." At the end of every chapter is a Mapping It Out section, consisting of questions which help you see where you and your congregation have been and where you are going on the journey of renewal. Bruce Sanguin is a minister of the Canadian Memorial Church & Center of Peace, Vancouver, British Columbia. He shares that his book evolved from his twenty years of experience in ministry and his desire to offer "a model for change and a map of renewal" for the church, using some of the "principles and practices" that have helped him and the congregations he has served.

The author begins by reminding us that the Church is not a building but a people. He then introduces the concept of "creative emergence" used by scientists to describe the fundamental dynamic of life and applies it to a "congregation that is meeting the challenges of the postmodern world with creativity and vitality." He declares that "As a scientific principle, creative emergence is defined by three dynamics. They are novelty, self-organization and transcendence/inclusion. Applied to the church these dynamics would mean that people who come together as church are unpredictable, open to new ways of organizing, and trust that they are evolving in a "way that transcends yet includes previous forms." He declares that "The church of the 21st century will come back to life by mimicking the Spirit-infused dynamics of the evolutionary universe."

The author then turns to explaining the map of renewal he has used with his congregation. The journey begins with the pastor "hand-picking a think tank" to undertake a "visioning process" to distinguish between what he calls "form-fetish to function-first." The task of the think tank is to evaluate all forms of the congregation such as "the current organization model, the role of clergy and lay people, the way we worshipped, even our location" to judge if they are still functional in the light of the changing, political, economic and social culture.

All of the following, illuminating and provocative, chapters of the book provide guidance for this evaluation. They begin with the one non-negotiable, "the heart and mind of Christ." On that foundation there are chapters on mission, values systems, the nature of Christ, congregational life, theological issues, clerical and lay leadership, pastoral visitation, the ministry of hospitality and "organizing for emergence." In three appendices the author offers a Canadian Memorial Values Statement, an Organizational Chart and a Sample Board Agenda.

In conclusion he writes, "Jesus' life, death and resurrection informed a movement of spiritual pilgrims that continue to this day through gatherings we call congregations. But our calling is not to be like Jesus, mimicking what he did 2000 years ago. We’re not here to copy. We’re here to co-create. We need to recapture the sense of being a movement, not a static church to perpetuate structures and beliefs that my have served us well in the past." This tested model and map for change is for Christians who want help shape the emerging church in the twenty-first century.