Fuller Seminary and Emerging Churches

This last spring, I had the opportunity to speak at the Association of Theological Schools “SPAN” conference for administrators. They asked me to speak about the changes in the American/British church scene that I wrote about in the book “Emerging Churches”, a book I co-wrote with Fuller professor Eddie Gibbs.

My talk addressed the need for seminaries to be transformed if they are to continue to serve the needs of churches in the Twenty-first century. As I spoke, I realized that Fuller has already made many of these changes and is well suited to partner with emerging churches in the future.

For me, the conversation on the emerging church and Fuller started in a little conference room located in Glasser Hall, one of the older converted homes on the Fuller campus, back in thee mid-nineties. About five to ten of us would have a “brown-bag” lunch weekly. Some were Masters students, such as myself, and Barry Taylor, some were doctoral students, and some were professors: Wilbert Shenk and Eddie Gibbs. The conversation always strayed to conversations about how the church must adapt in the coming few years.

Wilbert Shenk, the instigator of the meeting, suggested the subversive idea, brought over from England and Lesslie Newbigin in the early nineties, that the West functioned as a mission field: that the church ought to see its surrounding cultures in the same way as good missionaries do. Eddie Gibbs brought his deep understanding of everyday church life to the meetings; Eddie had recently penned “In Name Only”, the classic text on nominality, and was working on a subsequent book, “Churchnext”.

In the 1990s, there were very few examples of churches that were communicating within the perspectives and practices of new urban cultures. More typically at that time, the strategy consisted of making the church service relevant to outsiders: play the right music and light the right candles and they will come. However, in our collective experience at our lunch in Glasser Hall, the trendy service didn’t solve the problem. Instead it revealed deeper problems in the church.

At the same time that many church leaders were asking themselves if the problem in the Western church was simply a generational one, we at Fuller, in our little room in Glasser Hall, were asking the same questions. Perhaps, instead of a generational shift in the church, we were experiencing a cultural shift? In 1998, the so-called ‘Gen-X’ churches began a move to ‘postmodern’ understandings of church, rather than generational. However, the cultural shift was only the beginning. After a couple of years, towards the year 2000, we realized that culture language only got the church so far, that postmodern culture needed a positive response from within that culture. We realized, through the help of many scholars of the day, that it was the kingdom of God, or in mission terms, the missio Dei, that was the missing ingredient in church life. At the same time, emerging churches were asking themselves the same questions.

In the year 2000, the emerging movement got its start. Characterized by a renewed focus on the life of Christ, emerging churches clung to the gospels as a pattern for church life within urban cultures. In 2004, we at Fuller hosted the first think-tank for emerging leaders to discuss the challenges of working with entirely new forms of church, churches dedicated to living out the Sermon on the Mount in new contexts. 
Overcoming the sacred/secular split has been a huge concern for emerging churches. They desire to see the world become a spiritual place through their activities in it. Conversely, they desire their worship to become more ‘worldly’ – more connected to everyday cultural practices, shedding God’s light on them.

We at Fuller were wonderfully situated to contribute to the cultural question. In a bold move, Fuller hired Donald McGavran in 1965 to found the School of World Mission, the first of its kind. The school’s first hired professor was an anthropologist, Alan Tippett. However, it wasn’t just the School of World Mission that understood culture to be paramount, other spheres of Fuller addressed cultural issues as well. 

Our current president, Richard J. Mouw, serves as an ambassador to the culture, speaking about redeeming all levels of culture – even the local Burger King. In addition, the Brehm Center, through a focus on music, film, TV, and the arts, takes full advantage of living adjacent to LA/Hollywood. Brehm runs the gamut from fine arts to popular culture, and represents the kind of holistic approach to culture advocated by the emerging church.

Emerging churches place a high value on community. The community precedes church – no community, no church. At Fuller, I see some of these high levels of connection in our cohort groups and online programs. In these endeavors, students meet at least weekly with their peers, sharing and praying together. In our online program, that intensity deepens as they form a learning community that builds on the spiritual community. The pedagogy shifts as the peers teach each other, all the while being mentored by the professor. When Fuller seizes the moment to create mini-learning/spiritual communities, it embodies the type of ministry that the emerging church craves, thus resembling a neo-monastic model of ministry.

Emerging Churches place a great emphasis on hospitality. They create space for the other, be it at home, a coffee place, or school. They want to hear the thoughts and opinions of those different from them. They pursue those of other faiths and traditions – simply to listen and learn. Some entire emerging churches have been trained by monasteries to learn how to create space for the other.

When I heard of this practice, I immediately thought of the kind of evangelicalism we practice at Fuller. Rather than focus on our differences with others, thus objectifying and distancing them, Fuller walks with other traditions, whether that be Mormons, Jews, or Muslims. We focus on similarities, discussing our common histories and perspectives. We establish relationship with others. At that point, when the other has become a friend, we discuss our very real differences. But it is done in love, with a friend, rather than with a caricature of someone we don’t really know.

The emerging church values holism in regard to social justice and evangelism. They weave together words and works in such a way that one does not exist without the other. One is simply the spoken version of the physical reality. At Fuller, we practice such a holistic faith. Both social justice and the proclamation of the word are explored and discussed in our classes. We do not create a hierarchy; we practice a holistic evangelism, where word and works are united.

Emerging churches facilitate high levels of participation and creativity for their members. In a youtube culture, identity is formed through what we create. For something to transform us, we need to physically participate in its creation. At Fuller, I think of our internship programs and practica. These give students the opportunities to practice the cognitive and affective changes they experienced in class. Flexible programs allow students to participate in their course design at a deep level as well. Some courses experiment with service learning options, giving students the opportunity to participate in transformation in really practical ways.

Emerging churches practice the priesthood of all believers. They question the elevation of some gifts over others. They desire to see different leaders minister at different levels. Fuller, through its many different degree programs, gives opportunity for multiple avenues to training, not necessarily tracks focused on future pastors. This makes sense as more communities move away from the one-person-per church-seminary-trained model. With its breadth of programs, Fuller serves this constituency well.

Emerging churches practice historic forms of spirituality. In addition to practicing the Eucharist weekly, they often pray the hours and participate in the Christian calendar. Fuller is in a good place in regard to practicing the tradition -- because of its mainline roots, Fuller’s brand of evangelicalism is rooted in historic practices. These traditions are reinvigorated each year as Fuller practices the Christian calendar.

As I wrapped up my discussion on the emerging church at the ATS seminar, I became so grateful to be teaching at Fuller. I work within a community that serves the church today – and tomorrow.

--

Here are a couple of my classes for Fall 2008...

Mission in American Culture

Church in Mission

Comments

[JR Rozko]

Brilliant piece Ryan. It's these sorts of distinctives and connections that made me feel at home while I was at Fuller and compel me to brag about having studied there every chance I get - including this morning during my first opportunity to address the Living Hope community.

[ryan]

JR -- thanks -- you are our star!
Congrats on your new opportunities at Living Hope...
Ryan

[Patrick]

Ryan, this was a brilliant post for me to read this morning. I'm starting a PhD at Fuller this Fall, and have up and down feelings about what it will mean and where I'll go with it. What you wrote so much describes the reasons why I decided to let go some other plans for the time being and get myself back at Fuller. I'm excited again about beginning this new step. Thanks for the great overview and the needed encouragement.

[Patrick]

Ryan, this was a brilliant post for me to read this morning. I'm starting a PhD at Fuller this Fall, and have up and down feelings about what it will mean and where I'll go with it. What you wrote so much describes the reasons why I decided to let go some other plans for the time being and get myself back at Fuller. I'm excited again about beginning this new step. Thanks for the great overview and the needed encouragement.

[Cathryn Thomas]

Ryan nice job on that one... both from a linear that transect the horizontal and the vertical spirit space. For what ever reason i'm hearing this in my spirit-
That when Jesus prayed.... (how we know it as "The Lord's Prayer") the "thy kingdom come, thy will be done" is more of His declaration/proclamation -rather than a request. Why that is nudging at me ... i think is because in all of the discussions - open dialogue - and occasional rants... is really to honor that declaration.... and be in divine participation to see that happen.
Be blessed... thanks for putting it out there!
shalom,
cathryn

[Tim Miekley]

Hey Ryan -

I found your site off the Jesus Creed site and really enjoyed reading your thoughts. I am a student at Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, PA. We too are embarking in the Emerging Church, as I am sure you know. In an on-going conversation I have been having with another student at Biblical, I too have come to some of the same conclusions you have regarding the Lord's Prayer and the Lord's table. I am glad that I am tracking on the same page with someone. God bless.

[Steven M Kuitems]

Hi Ryan,came across your blog after reading Dave Dunbars missional journal. I'm from a different generation than you but some of your thougthts remindid me of things in the early 70's. Used to have many old phrases for different approaches like friendship evangelization and hospitality outreach, coffee houses for interacting with quite radically different viewpoints on life,faith,and cutting-edge new music. This was at odds with many who prefered a confrontational approach, which was never my forte, or those who felt that people would just have to come inside the four walls of a traditional church to get the real message of truth. This ostracism of the consevative status-quo culture toward the emerging counter-culture is certainly not new to the church world. So maybe what I am seeing and reading is not so much re-inventing the wheel but redefining the terms for this generation.

[len]

Ryan, I'm with you on much of this, but I wonder about the connection to neo-monastic models. Does Fuller invite students into a covenant relationship or to embrace a rule of life? Is there some thought or experiment in this direction? As we move in this direction ourselves and examine the implications, and as we use words like "Abbot," and "authority" and even (shudder) "obedience" I realize just how much I am immersed in a fragementing and individualist culture. One of the great values of the process itself in embracing a shared rule is making explicit some of our assumptions about "the good" and "the goals" of the disciplined life. peace bro

[Patrick Oden]

Len, to answer your question as a Fuller M.Div grad... yes and no. Both pretty are pretty big, in fact. First the no. Fuller isn't very good about promoting spirituality. From what I can tell no seminary is very good at that. We've intellectualized the faith a lot and made te spirituality aspects sort of an assumption. Which really isn't part of Christian history of discipleship. Spirituality has always been a part of the transmission of the faith.

The Spiritual disciplines, and associated courses, are offered but they are not requirements.

However, I have to also say yes because of my own experiences. Because I was intentional about studying that side of our shared faith I made a point of taking the available courses and pursuing conversations. Fuller very much is a place that is what you make it. It doesn't force anything on anyone and there are enough people to facilitate working out what you want to work out. The faculty really do have an amazing balance of ministry and academics, meaning they are often quite willing to come alongside.

Early on I took the class on spiritual disciplines and it really opened my eyes. So much of the neo-monastic movement as I've seen it is pretty shallow, to be honest, taking a lot of the forms and the words, but not really studying those who went before to discover the depths. Being able to study more thoroughly opened my eyes to the breadth of teaching and the depth.

I notice how the neo-monastics don't always tap into that, with a distinct historical limitation, it seems. There's not a lot of engagement with Cassian, for instance, or the Eastern monastics, or so many others that tap into the depths of the struggles and goals of such a task. Fuller offers so much help in bringing depth to a neo-monastic side of things. No, it's not going to say how to live it out, but what it can do is offer real training in how to approach those who offer so much teaching on the subject from centuries past and help to broaden one's understanding.

For my spiriutal disciplinse class one of the assignments was to write a rule and then keep it up for at least the duration of the class. There's no accountability after the class, unless we pursue it on our own, but there was definitely emphasis and introduction of key themes to help those who are new become better versed.

One of the desert fathers noted that no one should go out to the desert unless they are already a teacher. Committing to those disciplines has an advanced quality of learning that can so easily be lost in just copying the forms. Having the ability to teach--to self-teach and apply within community--means having the maturity and understanding to best embrace this advanced spiritual life. Fuller offers such a great way in becoming that kind of teacher. For me, I know, going to Fuller helped to absolutely prepare me for more 'advanced' courses of God's training through a monastic lifestyle after I graduated. If I didn't have that background I would not have had the tools to understand how to deal with various issues, topics and challenges.

So no Fuller doesn't emphasize this or offer formal, required training. But yes, Fuller offers what could not only help but also radically ground a neo-monastic lifestyle and community.

[Corky]

These changes changed the course of my studies and probably created my particular cohort. Welcome back.

[John Oakes]

Wow how great to read this. I Have been considering Fuller but didnt know jack about seminaries - who is who and all that. But after reading this I feel that I could be comfortable there and intellectually stimulated. Making the shift from Social Theorist/Geography PhD to seminary student (imagining myself surrounded by pharisees in the making) seems at times like asking for trouble. They might bring back stoning just for me haha. But I know that probably will not be the case...especially after reading about your take on Fuller. Thanks so much. John Oakes joakes@ku.edu

[גני אירועים]

So much of the neo-monastic movement I have seen is rather low, to be honest, taking a lot of forms and words, but did not really study that has gone before to find the depth.

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