On Empires and Stars

Two years ago when Lovett recommended this book to me, I ordered a copy right away and started to read it. What happens to me so often is I start a book; something else catches my eye; and, voila, another half or three quarter read book goes back on my shelf. This happened with Methodism: Empire of the Spirit too, though right now I can't for the life of me figure out how I could have put it down. What I am trying to do very consciously these days is, when I am reading a book about Methodist, Wesley, or mainline churches, I put on my emergent lens. And visa versa. This book in particular is just amazing to me in terms of the parallels I see in the development of the early Methodist movement and what is happening with the revival/renewal that the emergent folks are a part of. Some quotations from the author, David Hempton:

The message (of the pietist revival in the 1740s) was refined in the Fetter Lane Society in London, a religious pollen factory that performed the same role for Methodism as Azusa Street did later for Pentecostalism. Fetter Lane, strategically situation in the capital city of trade and empire, was a meeting point for German visitors to London, Calvinist evangelicals, Welsh revivalists, French Prophets, London's artisan pietists, and English High Churchmen like the Wesleys. Not all was sweetness and light, however. The Fetter Lane Society was repeatedly rocked by doctrinal, eclessiological, and semi-political agreements.

This resonates with me, as I think about McLaren's A Generous Orthodoxy. Revival movements often seem to bring together disparate groups, whose fervently held positions lead to splits and splits and more splits. I think it is the passion that is both the bane and blessing.

BTW, I was very pleasantly surprised when I turned to the back page of today's FYI section in the Kansas City Star, turned to the Religion page (the back page of this section on Saturdays) and saw Rev. McLaren's picture on the top of the page. The quotation next to his picture: "There are going to be an awful lot of sermons preached in Christian churches ... that actually probably help the world become a worse place." Brian McLaren, author, former pastor. (that last line follows his quotation, in order to identify him) Well, at the risk of overstating the obvious, "duh!" and I think Brian would say the same thing if he knew his quotation was used in this manner (this was not a "teaser" as I hoped it had been for a more lengthy article on what Brian has been saying...this was just a "teaser" for "teaser"s sake, I guess). I guess also, what kind of got me a little, was that he is identified only as "author. former pastor." Now tell me, friends, aren't there other words to describe more aptly the roles that Brian plays? What would I have said? Well, not former pastor, because most folks who have been around him know that anywhere he is, he is pastor and prophet at the same time. Author, yes, but at least couldn't we have put, Mr. Tammeus and Helen Gray, "prolific" or "well-read" or something? I think I did actually see in the Star a couple of weeks ago, in the guest column on the Religion page, a young man mention the word "emergent." Hey, Tera, ask Bill about this at church, okay??? :-)