I don't advertise us as an emerging church because in all reality I don't know what that really means. If it means progressive, constantly changing, centered on Jesus, viewing ourselves as missionaries in our community...maybe we are. Others would say that to be emerging you have to sit in a circle and let everyone say their piece so they feel like they are contributing to the conversation. (When I said that you perked up and said "Exactly!")
My struggle is this: I've done both extremes. I've done the super traditional approach and I've done the hyper alt-emerging worship approach. I've done the house church approach. I've done the 'Re-Imagining Preaching' approach. And I've come to a conclusion: There is not one approach that fits all. I hear it constantly from the emerging church side that the traditional church has it all wrong and that the seeker sensitive approach is from the devil. Trust me, I've got my opinions on this too...I just try to keep my mouth shut about them cause in the end they don't really make any different except stir the pot. It seems to me that the emerging church is just making what will become the 'new traditional church' and something else will come along saying they are all wrong.
But for TXC, we will just be us. We will do whatever is needed to be done to reach this community. We will be missionaries to our community. We will serve tirelessly. We will give beyond generously. We will meet collectively on Sunday mornings with amazing music and interactive teaching. We will meet in small sub communities where connection with each other can better take place. We will have a separate time for our kids to meet on Sunday mornings where they are engaged with truth that they can understand and that truth will be the same as what the adults are learning. We will function as a sent faith community that does everything we do as a means of connecting the disconnected to Jesus.
So if this makes us emerging, traditional or something in between, I don't really care. The label really means nothing. The question we are asking ourselves is "If we were to, for some reason, have to leave this community in 10 years, would anyone notice?" Would there be people that got connected to Jesus because of us that would notice? Would there be people that we served that would notice? Would there be people that we gave generously to that would notice?
If we are known as a faith community that is contagiously living out their faith and is creatively connecting the disconnected to Jesus...I'm a happy camper...cause in the end..that's what we're all about.
