Has Emergent Emerged?

From Christianity Today:

Will emerging churches replace megachurches as Gen-Xers move toward the mainstream? There's some debate whether the megachurch will die out, or if the smaller, less organized emergent churches will need the support of larger churches. We're waiting to see what emerges once Emergent becomes mainstream.

I'm not sure emerging churches want to go mainstream or that they need the "support" of larger churches. I'm not even sure the labels are useful. What the article calls emerging churches are just groups trying to abadon some of the baggage of modernism. They're not the end goal, and as modernism fades, no doubt they'll be replaced by something else. I can't resist highlighting the name of one of the churches mentioned: Scum of the Earth. That's some name.

Comments

[kevin]

I don't think emergent churches "need the support of the megachurch" nearly as much as our culture needs a variety of different churches and different church models. Without the megachurches to meet those people who like that sort of thing, the smaller churches wouldn't have nearly the freedom.