(e)mergent Voyageurs

On Monday, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel of “emerging church leaders” for a conference held in Winnipeg by Providence Theological Seminary. The conference, entitled “Ministering With The Emerging Church”, hosted Dr. Gary R. Collins. While the bulk of the conference centered around the concepts of coaching as counselling (with an emphasis on how this could apply to postmodern people), Monday focused specifically on the dynamics of the emerging church conversation.

Initially, I was hesitant to sit on the panel for several reasons. I am hesitant to be labelled an “emerging church leader”, preferring to say that my ministry and faith have been informed by the realities of the postmodern worldview that I came to naturally. Additionally, I did not want to communicate that my ministry with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Winnipeg represented the nature of YWAM International, which is not a fair reflection. However, I was excited by the prospect of connecting with the other panelists, as well as try to help others understand the emerging journey who might be concerned, suspicious or even resonating with it.

Brother Maynard posted an excellent couple of posts on the conference, the first here and the second here. In his first post you can find a list of the other panelists and their blogs or bios (with the exception of Tom- anyone have his info?). Take the time to check these posts out, along with the comment sections following.

For myself, I was somewhat encouraged by the response we received. Inevitably, there were/are many in attendance who still conceive of the emerging conversation as a stylistic or methodological trend- a kind of “seeker sensitive remix”. To disspell these misconceptions sufficiently would have required more time and, perhaps, less “conference”. However, I suspect that many were challenged to give it a second thought, and perhaps many found resonance (and hope) in what was shared.

I was also very blessed by the generous, friendly and willing spirit of Dr. Gary Collins, who was able to offer a perspective of the conversation that was fair, affirming and nonthreatening. While we differed with him on many issues, he was always willing to stand corrected, ask questions and encourage further dialogue. I hope to continue developing the relationship with him.

Thank you to Providence for hosting this event and inviting me to be a part of it.