Where is the Emerging Church? Where are You?

It’s been at least a week since I have read any blogs or contributed anything to this blog. Life has a way of getting busy! But this afternoon, as I was trying to catch up, I came across a fantastic blog series on the Emerging Church Movement and where ECM fits in the Christian world.

(HT: Jesus Creed)

C. Michael Patton has written a five-part series on the Emerging Church Movement (here is a link to part one, you can follow the following links from there. By the way, he wouldn’t approve of my use of the term “movement,” but, I think we basically agree on ECM). His analysis of the Emerging Church Movement (ECM) is friendly and analytical. Perhaps the greatest strength of this post series is that Patton clearly articulates the diversity found within ECM. He is not content to paint ECM with large brush-strokes, but wants to point out the differences between ECM’s major voices.

A second major strength is his graphs. WOW! If a picture is worth a thousand words, Patton’s graphs are at least that. They are helpful for understanding ECM.

I found this series very helpful. If you want to read some criticisms of it, read some of the comments on Jesus Creed. But overall, it is well written and very helpful.