Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging And Traditional (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
With clarity and empathy, Belcher explains the crossroads at which the evangelical church has found itself: between traditional and emerging churches. Both camps, Belcher shows, unfairly oversimplify and attack the beliefs and practices of the other. Emergents denounce the traditionalists as self-righteous, judgmental, culturally disengaged, and irrelevant; traditionalists rail against the emerging church's "sell out" to postmodernism and moral relativism in its attempt to be all-inclusive. Belcher not only critiques the faults of both but offers a third way: "deep" church. He envisages a model of church life that incorporates the best of both movements: clinging to the orthodoxy of basic Christian theology in preaching and in confession, but also tailoring worship, community formation, and cultural engagement to address the needs and understanding of the post-Enlightenment, spiritually seeking Millennial Generation that constitutes one of the fastest-growing demographics of Christians. This book was very meaningful for me and was something that I needed to read. Over the years of ministering through LifeQuest we have tried to find "our way" through being true to the gospel and relevant to the culture, to redefine the ancient truths in relevant cultural terms. Often the way wasn't clear. And usually those on both the traditional side and the so-called "liberal" side stood on the sidelines and yelled their disagreement. Yet you try to listen to God and to do as you believe He directs. This book describes (or partly describes) this third way, and it was both comforting and enlightening to see that we have been on "the right way" and that others are being called to walk the same path. This is an amazing book that really is seeking to unit the Christian Church (both Traditional and Emerging) around the truth of the Gospel and the need to present it to this generation. I highly recommend the book to everyone.
What do You think about Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging And Traditional (2009)?
very good book - trying to figure out what it might mean to me and where i go to church
—resurrectedk
