Emergent Village - Vilnius Cohort

An Introduction to Ancient-Future Movement

2007-03-02T14:17:00.000+02:00

Well, I've wanted to post some more stuff on the Ancient-Future idea, and I believe there is a person, who can do it better then me. Ladies and Gentelmen, I present to you Robbert Webber, who has been one of the most inspiring authors for the last few years for me. I just found his Intro on the subject through another blog. I suggest it is well worth your time (the Intro).

Webber identifies three commitments that an Ancient-Future Movement calls:

An Ancient-Future Faith calls us to return to our ancient roots in the first centuries of the church – world of the past is very similar to our own.
An Ancient-Future Faith is characterized by connection – ecumenical factor, common roots.
An Ancient-Future Faith seeks to be authentic in a changing world – a counter-cultural movement.

Enjoy the reading. It's fairly short.

A Conversation

2007-02-24T23:59:00.000+02:00

Dear Emergent Village - Vilnius Cohort,

I would like to invite you to our first official conversation. The theme will be:

“The Mission of the Church: ways of expressing the missional calling of the church”

The location will be in Vilnus at “Katpėdėlė“ on P. Lukšio g. 34 (Across from Hyper-Rimi in Žirmūnai. The restaurant is located on the east side of the Senukai parking lot) on Saturday, March 3, 2007 from 10:00 to 12:00. You can stay longer if you like and talk but I want you to know that there is a beginning and an ending time. We will be eating breakfast or drinking coffee(s).

I hope to see you there!

David

http://emergentvillage-vilnus.blogspot.com/

Emergent Before Missional

2007-02-24T10:48:00.000+02:00

I came across this quote on Alan Hirch's blog: The Forgotten Ways.

I think largely because they like the idea of emerging church but don’t want to bother about mission as the organizing principle of the church. They emerge before they get missional. And it is this aspect of the ‘emerging church’ that does worry me–much of it (by no means all) seems to me to be a re-configuration of the inhereted forms of the church and its worship.

I have read a good deal about these two terms, but have never thought of them having a sequential aspect. Why don't people tell you this stuff when you are starting a church?

Anyone up for a cup of coffee in the next couple weeks?

Five Streams of the Emerging Church

2007-02-08T20:24:00.000+02:00

If you are interested in the Emerging Church stuff, this might be well worth your time. In this article, a well known theologian, supporting the movement (well, some say conversation), Scot McKnight talks about key elements of the most controversial and misunderstood movement in the church today.

It is said that emerging Christians confess their faith like mainliners—meaning they say things publicly they don't really believe. They drink like Southern Baptists—meaning, to adapt some words from Mark Twain, they are teetotalers when it is judicious. They talk like Catholics—meaning they cuss and use naughty words. They evangelize and theologize like the Reformed—meaning they rarely evangelize, yet theologize all the time. They worship like charismatics—meaning with their whole bodies, some parts tattooed. They vote like Episcopalians—meaning they eat, drink, and sleep on their left side. And, they deny the truth—meaning they've got a latte-soaked copy of Derrida in their smoke- and beer-stained backpacks.

Continue reading here (there? I'm confused) and come back to comment here. :-)

Postmodernity: Are the Baltics There Yet?

2007-01-06T19:48:00.000+02:00

How postmodern are the Baltics in general and Lithuania in particular?

What are the evidences that we are actually in postmodernity?

How has being a part of the Soviet Union affected postmodernity in the Baltics and Lithuania? I heard someone say once that the 20th century's experiment with Communism was the pinnacle of the modernity. I would particularly like to hear from those of you who are native to the Baltics on this point.

Are the Baltics going postmodern faster than the US?

Is postmodernity different here than in western Europe or the US? How so?

Can someone tell me what postmodernity looks like in our context?

On a side note, what would you think of getting together on Saturday, February 10th for our first "conversation?" I am flexible on the date. Let me know.

Ancient Future

2006-12-13T22:32:00.000+02:00

I guess, I might be the first person to break the ice, even though not everybody invited has joined the blog. I hope that they might be able to catch up with what has been said.

I just found something on a blog that I have been passionate about. It's the idea that's gaining somewhat of a reputation and is named Ancient Future. It is the idea that our postmodern world greatly resembles the ancient world where the Church was born. Because of that, it is best to look not only to the roots of our tradition (that being Evangelical in general, Pentecostal, Mennonite, Anabaptist – whatever), but to the early Church.

At first we think, "Well, isn't that what my tradition has been trying to achieve all along?", but then we don't even bother to look backwards, and blow the horn of just our tradition as if it has all the answers. OK, that might be exaggerated, but you get the point, right? We don't look at what world they were trying to serve. We don't look at what they were trying to accomplish. Oh, and sometimes we look at what the Church was trying to do, but we hardly try to look for parallels between what they and what our Lord, Jesus Christ did.

OK, it seems that I spilled quite some beans that I might need to gather later, but the point is that because of the similarities between the ancient and the postmodern world we can learn from them more then from our predecessors just a little while ago.

This is the issue that was discussed in a recent conference entitled Ancient Evangelical Future. Destert Pastor has been blogging about it. He's got clips from it. Why don't you take a look at it and respond to the idea in comments. But look first. This is the last post. Work your way back.

Welcome

2006-12-13T22:30:00.000+02:00

Welcome to the Emergent Village - Vilnius Cohort, blog. We are affiliated with Emergent Village and desire to be a community where people interested in the Emergent conversation in the Baltics, and particularly those in Lithuania, can find a place to converse and to gather for fellowship.

Periodically we will be hosting times where we get together over something to eat or drink and just talk about things or a particular topic. Additionally, we are planning to hold larger events where we may ask someone to lead a discussion about a relevant issue.

Bring on the posts, ideas, questions and suggestions for Emergent Village - Vilnius Cohort.

Blessings

David