New Christians

TONY JONES, (TONYJ.NET)is the author of many books on Christian ministry and spirituality, including The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life. He is a theologian-in-residence at Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis and a doctoral fellow in practical theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Tony is a sought-after speaker and consultant in the areas of emerging church, postmodernism, and Christian spirituality. Tony has three children and lives in Edina, Minnesota.

"This intelligent and informative book is the only insider story from one of the leading lights of the more progressive wing of the emerging movement, the former national coordinator of Emergent Village." -Christianity Today (October 2009)

• ‘‘A Living Way: Emergent Visions’’ Series Foreword xiiiPreface xvIntroduction: What Is ‘‘Emergent’’? xviiChapter 1 ~ Leaving the Old Country 14 ‘‘Church Is Dead’’5 Signs of Death–and Life7 The Problem on the Left10 A Case Study: Go Where I Send Thee11 The Problem on the Right13 A Case Study: Don’t Ask Us About the Chickens18 The Real Problem: Left Versus Right21 Caught in the Crossfire24 Dispatch from the Blogosphere: Musings of a Postmodern NegroChapter 2 ~ Dispatches from the Frontier of the American Church 3131 An Allegory33 An Alternative Ending35 Geological Musings37 What Exactly Is Emerging?41 The Beginnings43 ‘‘The Bible Is Propaganda’’49 The New Kind of Christian Effect52 Meanwhile, Across the Pond55 Then till Now57 The Church’s Choice60 Dispatch from the Rocky Mountains: Katie and KristenChapter 3 ~ Who Are the Emergent Christians? 6768 Hunches and Intuitions72 Influencing Culture or Influenced by Culture?76 An ‘‘Envelope of Friendship’’80 An Emergent Voters’ Guide86 Dispatch from I-35: The Terrific Tale of Trucker FrankChapter 4 ~ The Theology, Stupid 9596 Dartmouth Days104 What, Exactly, Is Theology?106 Theology on the Rise111 Going Deep115 Skiing the Slippery Slope123 So, a Biblicist and a Relativist Walk into a Pastors’ Conference . . .130 The Expurgated Lectionary134 Dispatch from Seminary: Legalisms of the LeftChapter 5 ~ After Objectivity: Beautiful Truth 139140 The Thrill of Interpretation143 Reading the Whole Bible148 ‘‘Sonny, It Ain’t Nothing till I Call It’’152 Truth (a.k.a. God)155 After Objectivity: Dialogue157 Beautiful, Messy, Incarnational Truth162 Paradoxes170 Dispatch from the End of a Three-Mile Dirt Road: Recovering ‘‘Church’’Chapter 6 ~ Inside the Emergent Church 175175 It’s a Great Day at Jacob’s Well!180 Wikichurch192 Tightly Knit: Journey201 Binitarians203 The People’s Liturgy: Church of the Apostles209 Time to Rethink Seminary210 MyChurch: A Paean to Solomon’s PorchEpilogue: Feral Christians 219Appendices 221222 Appendix A: ‘‘Emergent Village Values and Practices’’227 Appendix B: ‘‘A Response to Our Critics’’233 Appendix C: ‘‘Disastrous Statements’’Notes 237Acknowledgments 253The Author 255Index 257