Emerging Women

By Beth Booram

“You never know what’s comin’ for you.”

During Christmas vacation, one of our favorite family traditions is to head out to a movie theater and watch one of the new releases. For those who did the same, you likely know by the above heading which one the Booram family enjoyed—The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Rather than explain the premise of the movie and spoil it for you, I’ll simply mention that this line was spoken first by Queenie, Benjamin’s “adoptive” mother, and subsequently repeated several times throughout the movie. Queenie urged Benjamin to be prepared for what life brings; not to fight it, or resent it, but respond with acceptance and openness—a philosophy that she exemplified.

The movie has a fanciful and curious story line, great character development, and brilliant acting. I highly recommend it, though be prepared for a nearly three hour stay in your seat! What I’m musing about today is this idea that you never know what’s coming for you.

Queenie warned that there is some force beyond us that can and will sweep us up in its foment, whether we want it to or not. We are in a position to respond and cooperate, whatever that means, with the momentum this force generates. Not that we are helpless or passive, non-agents in our destiny. But we swim in a current of life that sometimes swirls us around and delivers us somewhere we weren’t expecting.

Now, allow me to make a leap….into a book I finished last night. (If this begins to read like a book review, it unapologetically is!) It is called The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle. The sub-title reads, “How Christianity is Changing and Why.” If you get the sense, as I do, that a momentum of change is building within Western Christianity, “that something is coming for us,” you are right.

According to Tickle,

“As a phenomenon, the Great Emergence has been slipping up on us for decades in very much the same way spring slips up on us week by week every year. Though it may have sent us a thousand harbingers of its approach, we are still surprised to wake up one balmy morning to a busy, chirping world that, a mere twenty-four hours before, had been a gray and silent one.”

Tickle goes on to explain, with helpful clarity and profound insight, that every five hundred years the Church feels compelled to hold “a giant rummage sale.” And we are in the midst of one of those times, a time of monumental change when something comes for us and we don’t know exactly what that something is.

As I interface with a broad spectrum of Christians, I observe a variety of reactions to this “emerging” Christianity. Some seem oblivious, content with their faith context, and unconcerned with the gathering storm. Others are battening down the hatches, vehemently committed to protecting themselves from the onslaught of the storm, convinced it is a tsunami of destruction. Others are indifferent, so far gone in their cynicism and disillusionment that if the storm hits and wipes us clean of any vestige of the institutional church, that would be just fine.

Others, like me, are mostly hopeful. Reading The Great Emergence has helped me frame our current history within a backdrop of five hundred year cycles of reformation. Tickle explains that each period of upheaval has resulted in three things: a new and more robust form of Christianity; a reconstituted previous form of Christianity that becomes more vital; and the spread of Christian faith and practice. That is good reason for hope.

For the last decade of my life, I have had the sense that “something was coming” for those of us who follow Christ and find community within the church. Whatever it is, I don’t think it can be stopped or avoided. Some interject this phenomenon is a consequence of our neglect of God, national moral decline or disregard for the Bible. I, on the other hand, think that God is up to something—that He is in this thing that is coming.

Whatever you think about the great emergence, please become educated about the history of the church and what’s coming for us today. This book will help explain how Christianity is changing and why.

Beth Booram has a passion to explain and model a way of living responsively to God in the midst of life’s varied landscapes. As a writer and speaker, she is highly creative, often utilizing artistic elements , contemplative exercises, and engaging interaction. Beth has authored a number of excellent works. Her most recent are The Wide Open Spaces of God (Abingdon Press/ September, 2007) and Picturing the Face of Jesus (Abingdon Press/April, 2009).

Pam at How God Messed Up My Religion has a great recap of this year’s Convergence gathering of emerging women leaders this past weekend.

cross posted from my blog…

I was out shopping recently and saw a baby boy onesie (it was blue, so in the strictly color coded baby clothes world, it was intended for boys and boys only…). On the front was the phrase “Second in Command After Daddy.” Now as a good feminist that pissed me off. Who in their right mind would stick that on their baby, even as a joke? Even tongue-in-cheek promotions of such family hierarchy encourage the myth that having a penis somehow makes you more important than women.

If you haven’t gathered it by now, I’m not a huge fan of hierarchical leadership (even when it’s not based on gender). I prefer flat networked structures that allow for input from all. And in truth, it’s less about equality or sameness and more about simply respecting people as people. Letting voices be heard and appreciating contributions for what they are.

So on one level, I appreciate that fact that Emergent Village is transitioning to a more decentralized structure. While some may be heralding Tony Jones stepping down as National Coordinator to symbolize the dismantling of Emergent, it was meant as an opportunity to allow a wider variety of people to step up into leadership positions (as the amusing series of I Am The Emergent National Coordinator videos demonstrates). And as Tony mentioned on his blog yesterday, “Any time you can dethrone an overeducated, loud, brash, white man,people just feel more openness for their own voice to be heard.” It’s all about reducing hierarchy and opening up the conversation.

But will it work? In brief discussions with other women leaders in the emerging movement, I’ve heard the question raised if the lack of a central leader will actually help women become more involved in the conversation. Many post-evangelical women still struggle to jump into the conversation, much less assert themselves as leaders. For good or bad, they still seek invitations to come alongside and be a part of the in-group. With no one to officially offer that invitation, the question remains if the women will step up or just remain on the sidelines peeking in. I honestly have no idea. It would be easy to say that women just need to get over it and assert themselves, but that would stray into dangerous psychological territory and miss the point. I don’t want to need a man’s permission to do anything, but an invitation (from someone) is still what many women are looking for.

So I’m curious to see how the decentralization of power affects the presence of women in Emergent. I’d of course like to see a vibrant representation of women in Emergent leadership. I’m encouraged to hear from some that at The Great Emergence event men at times seemed like the token voice. But to the best of my knowledge, I haven’t seen any women making national coordinator videos. That’s not a criticism, just an expression of curiosity of where this will lead. I hope the speculation of other emerging women will be wrong and we will see an increase of women’s voices in Emergent. But at the same time be proactively aware that the opposite could just as easily occur.

In The New Christians, Tony Jones explores attributes of the emergent movement. One of the largest components of the movement is its focus on community. People and the cultures we abide in are part of our lives and affect our faith journey. These are not things to be shunned by emergents, but embraced as part of who we are. Two of the aspects of this focus on community include –

- Emergents see God’s activity in all aspects of culture and reject the sacred-secular divide.
- Emergents believe that an envelope of friendship and reconciliation must surround all debates about doctrine and dogma.

How do these cultural approaches to faith differ or affirm what you have experienced in the past?

What are the benefits or dangers of placing relationships before dogma?

Do you see these descriptions as helping or hindering “evangelism”?

Sorry for the delayed book discussion this month, I’ve been kinda out of touch online since my son was born a month ago. But it’s the summer, so laid back is all good right?

Anyway our book club selection for this month is Tony Jones’ The New Christians. If you don’t know Tony is the national coordinator of Emergent Village and so is in a great position to tell the story of this new movement called the emerging church. And telling that story is just what he does in this book. From its beginnings as a young leaders attempt to do generational ministry, The New Christians describes the formation of emergent, its main influences, and the ways it has manifest over the years.

So as we start this discussion I want to ask a few basic questions –

- how aware are you of the emergent movement and its history?

- what manifestations of the movement have you encountered?

Much has been said regarding differences of opinions as to what the “real” version of emergent is. Some say that Tony’s perspective is just one of many. Given that emergent isn’t a denomination, but an organization and conversation, such differences are perhaps to be expected. In light of that, did the story of emergent told in The New Christians resonate with you or did it seem outside your particular experience? Do you think emergent will ever be a cohesive group or is the diversity present in the movement something to be valued and upheld?

Next week we will explore some of the characteristics of the new Christians that are described in the book, but I hope that we can explore the larger issue of the movement as a whole this week.

…or something like that.

So, I’m going to be spending some of my vacation time this summer with extended family members who are in a different place, spiritually and socially speaking, than am I. If history repeats itself, I will probably be on their short list of people to “convert” to the One True Way ™ at some point during the visit.

I have absolutely no desire to have a Jesus duel during our visit. These aren’t individuals that I see very often in person, and If I wanted to have a religious debate I’d stay home and surf Christian message boards.

During previous visits I’ve skirted around their questions by changing the subject. Most of the time this works pretty well, but there are certain topics (i.e. “You need to find a home church!” ) that just. won’t. go. away.

How do you deal with repetitive conversations like these? Is there a good way to say that topics X, Y and Z are off-limits?

(As an aside, I’m pretty good at saying “no” or “I don’t want to talk about that” with family members that I see more often. It’s the ones that I see once in a blue moon that I have more trouble setting boundaries with.)

So, we recently discussed the idea of posting interviews with women who are involved in one way or another with the emerging or Emergent church. I thought I’d jump-start this idea with an interview I recently had with my friend Sarah Taylor. To the best of my knowledge, Sarah does not consider herself to be Emergent. She is, however, long-time participant at the The Ooze’s message boards where I have often seen her endorse ideas related to the emerging church. Sarah is a student at Brigham Young University. Recently, I spoke with her about her experiences at BYU as someone who is not a Latter-day Saint.

Lydia Schoch: What made you decide to attend BYU?

Sarah Taylor: The idea of attending an LDS university struck me as novel, but theclincher was really the price; BYU provides a great education for a fraction of what similar schools cost.

Do the people you’ve met at BYU prefer to be referred to as “Mormons,” “Latter-day Saints” or something else entirely?

Most prefer to be called Latter-day Saints (at least by outsiders). Many Latter-day Saints call themselves “Mormons,” but the more respectful term is definitely “Latter-day Saints.”

Gordon B. Hinckley, the President of the Latter-Day Saints, died recently. What was your first reaction when you heard of his death? How did your classmates react?

I think the moment I heard about the death of President Hinckley (is it weird that I call him that?) is one of those moments that will end up being etched in my mind forever, which is strange to me, considering that I’d never heard of him a mere three years ago. Many Latter-day Saints my age don’t remember a time when he wasn’t leading the LDS Church, so it was a big deal for everyone around me. My first reaction was probably mild shock – mild, because he was 97 years old, for goodness’ sake, and shock, because he’s a major figure in the lives of everyone around me and because it always surprises me when people of whom I know die. Probably my next thought was to wonder what the atmosphere would be at school the next day. And I wondered what the protocol was for the death of a prophet, how the succession would take place, etc.

I’m taking a Book of Mormon class this semester, and my professor threw out his lesson the day following President Hinckley’s death and let the class discuss it. Most students said they felt happy for President Hinckley that he was reunited with his wife, some cried and said he’d influenced their lives in major ways, many bore their testimonies that he was a prophet and talked about when they’d first sensed the Spirit confirm that for them, and some asked questions about what would happen now with the leadership of the LDS Church. The general mood was sombre on campus that day and the next, and many student missed classes that week to attend his funeral. I was probably most surprised by the students who had been greatly personally influenced by President Hinckley. I don’t know why that surprised me, but it did.

Tell me about a typical day for you when school is in session. How often does the topic of God or religion come up?

Religion classes usually begin with a prayer and a hymn, and about half of my other classes begin with prayers. A class period rarely goes by without some sort of reference to the LDS Church. At BYU, a shared worldview (based, obviously, on LDS beliefs) is assumed, and nothing is unaffected.

I took an American history class my first semester at BYU, and I remember seriously questioning whether I’d be able to make it through college there. My professor was quoting people I’d never heard of (LDS apostles) discussing people groups I’d never heard of traveling among places I’d never heard of. It took me a week to figure out that she was talking about Jews who had (according to the Book of Mormon) populated the Americas. I felt as if I had stepped into another country upon entering that classroom. I was taking the class with people who spoke the native language and belonged to the native culture, and I was entirely out of my league. I think what saved me was that it was all so interesting; here were these kids who were close to my age, most of whom had attended public schools, many outside of Utah…they looked like me, grew up watching the same TV shows I had, and were American to the bone. But there was nothing mainstream about what I was hearing, and that was intriguing enough to carry me through a semester of being the class ignoramus.

In everyday conversation with other students, matters of religion and church are omni-present. Life at BYU revolves around the LDS Church, and naturally discussions reflect that. The social lives of many of my LDS friends consist almost solely of church-sanctioned activities. I doubt more than a couple of days went by this year during which I didn’t utter the words, “I’m not LDS” to some unsuspecting fellow student who had launched into a soliloquy about the [LDS] gospel or archaeological discoveries which support the claims of the Book of Mormon (a surprisingly common discussion topic). My disclosure usually sparked interest, and a series of questions would follow (Why BYU? What religion are you? Are you considering converting? What’s the main difference between Mormonism and what you believe?).

How have they reacted to the fact that you haven’t converted?

Hmm. Well, I have had people lose interest in friendships with me, but it may be awfully conceited to assume that that’s due to my failure to convert to Mormonism and not some character flaw of mine. Most people are gracious and kind, but there are definitely times when I sense discomfort. And it’s understandable. I’ve read the Book of Mormon, taken 6 religion classes, met with missionaries, and lived among generally missionary-minded Latter-day Saints for the past three years, and yet, a traditional Christian I remain. I think at times it feels to some people as though I’m rejecting the thing that’s most important to them, and so I’m rejecting them, in a way. Then again, maybe that’s not true at all. Who knows; this is the type of stuff people don’t talk about.

What has surprised you the most about the Latter-day Saints you’ve gotten to know so far?

How bold and confident they are in sharing their faith. When people think “Mormon,” we quickly think “missionaries,” but I really wasn’t expecting everyone to be so missionary-minded and comfortable ‘bearing their testimonies’ to virtual strangers. That still consistently surprises me, and I’ve lived here for two years now. The LDS Church is adept at preparing its people to publicly discuss issues of eternal significance at a young age.

What do you think is the biggest misconception other Christians have about them?

I think probably our biggest mistake has been to confuse contemporary Mormonism with the Mormonism of the early 20th century. They’re vastly different. I heard a BYU professor say this year that trying to nail down Mormon theology is like trying to nail jell-o to the wall; it’s just not a simple thing to do. This is not what our theologically systematic ears want to hear, and Christians seem to have the tendency, when interacting with LDS, to define their beliefs for them and accuse (or suspect) them of lying when they deny believing in the picture of Mormonism we paint for them.

What is their biggest misconception about us?

I don’t think Latter-day Saints realize how united the Christian church is as a whole; as Christians, the phrase “the Church” conjures up for (most of) us an assemblage of people linked spiritually, by virtue of our belonging to Christ. The Church supersedes denominational lines, cultures, vastly differing peripheral beliefs, methods of worship and evangelism, etc. It’s easy for an outsider looking at the Christian world to see confusion and dissension rather than diversity, and that’s precisely what the LDS see (and I should probably note that we too often give them reason for thinking so). The average Latter-Day Saint, though very unfamiliar with where the differences lie between a Baptist and a Lutheran, is quite aware that there are differences there.

LDS churches across the world will usually teach the same lessons within a week of each other; a Latter-Day Saint in Miami will most likely hear a lesson on the same topic on the same day as a Latter-Day Saint in Tokyo. This uniformity is so important to them that they refuse to establish churches in areas where interest is high until there is someone available to go and organize it properly (which can take years, which is what happened in Nigeria). Given the high degree of organization and uniformity of the LDS Church, it’s not hard to understand why they look at Christianity and think, “fragmented and lost” and look at the LDS Church and think, “one true church.”

How about your plans for the future? Do you think they will include further interactions with people who are LDS?

At this point, I can’t imagine my future not involving Latter-Day Saints in some way, but I have no idea what that looks like. My concrete plan right now is to finish up at BYU and then attend law school.