Emergent Spirituality

Earlier this month I (LeRon Shults) was at a week long conference on the island of Lesbos, Greece, with a group of scholars discussing religion and spirituality in southern Norway, my new home.

I know virtually nothing about the topic, except they talk funny here, but I really wanted to go, so I accepted an invitation to give a lecture on Spirituality in the U.S.  Basically, I talked about my research into and experience of the Emergent movement.

I'll give a very brief introduction to the themes, and then I'd like to offer a couple of questions for conversation, one about the identity of "Emergent" in relation to other forms of spirituality and religion, and one related to a practical concern about the experience of spirituality in groups associated with Emergent.

First, here is a quote from the end of a recent book on Religion in Modern Times by two sociologists of religion, one of whom was at Lesbos (Linda Woodhead):

"In short, we predict that a wide variety of religions will continue to coexist, but that the winners will be those which put people in touch with a God beyond self, make a difference, sustain supporting and affective communities, emphasize experience, have a political or economic job to do, and empower."

This comes at page 495 of a carefully argued, empirical analysis of religions and spiritualities of all types across the western world.  Try to get past the idea of "winners"... this is not book about Christian missions, but an empirical analysis.

It seems to me that this sentence describes many of the Emergent communities that I have experienced and heard about.  Interestingly, the authors develop a spectrum of types of religious groups, those that they call "religions of difference" (RD), which emphasize the distinction between humans and a transcendent (often judgmental) God, and those they call "spiritualities of life" (SL) which emphasize an immanent experience of the divine, or even equate God, self and world.

I was critical of the theoretical formulation of the spectrum, but for the sake of conversation... it seems that Emergent types are somewhere in the middle, accepting the real transcendence of God (difference) but also emphasizing spiritual experiences that remind many of their evangelical parents (to their horror) of the New Age.

So, question #1: In light of the quote above, how does your experience of Emergent spirituality fit with these sociologists' projection, and to what extent does it fall between RD and SL?

The next part is more practical...

I'm wondering whether you think the experience of spiritual formation practiced by or promoted in your Emergent communities takes sufficient account of the need for "purgation," for what the mystics called the Dark Night of the Soul.

For those of you not familiar with the way of purgation, and its relation to the way of illumination and the way of union, click here, but I am assuming most of you are.

One of the things that used to annoy me (most) about many seeker-sensitive churches, or generic milk-toast evangelical churches in general, was the tendency to focus only on the positive... bright, cheery sanctuaries with smiley song leaders and upbeat music... and perhaps small groups focused on how to get more out of your life by finding "purpose" or some such thing that would help you  get an even bigger house in the suburbs.

OK, so now many Emergent churches have dark rooms with candles, and use mournful Celtic music... which is fine... but, is this really fostering PURGATION in the rigorous sense to which the contemplatives and mystics have testified?

If it is true that the real intimacy of participation in the divine life, of spiritual union with God in Christ, occurs only through the process of deep experiences of purgation, then somehow we need to foster communities that allow and even promote this journey.

So, question #2: How does your Emergent community sponsor, or provide room for, those who are pursuing the painful ecstasy of the dark night(s) of purgation?

Comments

[jenell]

My 'dark night' was assisted by my emergent church (Solomons Porch, Mpls) in that fellow Christians were my witnesses. For the most part, they did not offer rational explanations for what I was experiencing (that perhaps marked their care as postmodern), but they tracked my experience very closely. Though it was my road, much of it walked alone, I knew I was not alone or abandoned. They said, "We see you and we're with you as much as we can be." By knowing my past, they could remind me of who I had been and what I had believed, and by paying attention to my present suffering, they helped me gain perspective and put words -- sometimes even religious words -- to what I was experiencing. And by continuing to gather to worship, they held my place for me in the community until I could return.

Dark 'style' like low lighting and black clothing, weren't helpful at all in and of themselves. The substance to which that style refers, at best, is a capacity to lament through word, music, and relationship. I tolerate style for need of the substance.

Good to read your words, LeRon - hope Europe is suiting you well.

[LeRon]

Hi Jenell,

Yes, Europe is suiting me very, very well!

I love your description of the way in which the community did not try to explain or pressure you, nor abandoned you, but "held your place for you."

This being held in place, and holding in place is so important in spiritual formation, and it is hard for communities to find the balance.

But, given all of I've heard, and the little I've experienced, of Solomon's Porch, I'm not surprised to hear your positive story!

LeRon

[len]

I tend to take a developmental view of communal life as with individual. In my early years as a believer I experienced God mostly as the via positiva.. or through the metaphors of nature..as refreshing water or powerful (and mysterious) wind.. then in later years as often as the refining fire and the via negativa became more of my experience. I wonder if the same occurs in the life of new communities.. mostly joy and celebration early on, then as the community matures it experiences more fully the way of Christ: his death and his life. I know.. some communities never "grow up" and want to stay on the mountain top forever..

[Geoff Holsclaw]

LeRon,

interesting questions:
concerning #1 i suppose the way I would think about it is a severe oscillation between the two poles, moving back and forth from transcendence to immanence. On the one hand there is a in-breaking encounter with something (someOne) totally beyond our horizon of experience, that everything is called into question such that we are undone in the presence of the Holy One who is Transcendent as Creator. But on the other hand all of creation is charged with the presence of its creator, and every moment holds forth the possibility of encounter with the divine that our immanent life is always open to epiphanies of God.

At least that is the hoped for situation. But sometimes I feel that emergents might begin to lean too much toward the side of immanence against a transcendent spirituality. Of course, with the emphasis on both creation and the need to reconnect spirituality to everyday life, as well as exhaustion with the Charismatic Movement and the desire to move a little bit away from a Judgmental God (which LeRon, you note is connected to the 'religions of difference') all add up to emergents leaning toward a spirituality of immanence.

But my hope is that Emergent spirituality would not be embarrassed by a robust spirituality which claimed to experience God in mystical encounters beyond everyday life because they think it might sound silly to their enlightened postmodern, deconstructed contemporaries.

[Geoff Holsclaw]

len,
i like your development application of this to communities. I've heard that inorder for a community to truly grow up it much enter a process where all of its goals, hopes, and dreams for itself must be lost, and that the community must just decided that the community has value in itself (not in what in can do or produce). This is analogous to St. John of Cross' comment that in the dark night of the soul God removes his more tangible benefits (i.e. religion experiences) so that we might seek him for himself and not the titillating movements of his nearness nor the gifts of his grace, but solely himself.

[len]

geoff, that would resonate with Scot Pecks work on faith development, that communities move through four stages: 1) pseudo-community 2) chaos 3) emptiness 4) community (The Different Drum)

[Mike]

Great thoughts, LeRon--

My journey pales in comparison to Jenell's, but I am having a similar experience in my church community. Folks are respectful of the darkness through which I journey-- they don't dive in with me, nor pester me with questions or observations. For the most part, people have not tried to preach at me or fix me, but have been attentive and supportive.

So they've certainly given me space, and I suppose have reflected a kind of epistemic humility and personal respect. Yet at the same time, I'm often surprised that when I do speak about my struggles, they are right there with me, in much more than a metaphorical way. That's when I see that my struggle has become theirs, and I realize that they, too, are sharing in the darkness and embracing it and asking their own questions about what has become a communal experience.

Too, I've been surprised by a similar response with those in my extended community-- my friends who I see rarely, but who read my blog and email and who speak to me on the telephone. So I'm seeing that 'community' is best done up close and face-to-face, but there are some healthy and helpful supplements in this age of communication.

Oh, and I should say that you really hit the nail on the head in your description of what my wife and I refer to as 'shiny happy churches'. Never have the bright lights and smiley optimism that I've seen in these places been more painful, or disorienting.

[James Wheeler]

Ok, this is a dated conversation but i have a couple of comments.

1st. I think the comment about emergent spirituality can come across as superior at times. That is, those who find themselves operating within the mainstream of Evangelicalism (like myself) might be tempted to interpret this conversation as elitist. Sociologists of religion have lots to teach to us spiritualizers but they can collapse their conversations into immanent realities and ignore transcendent realities.

2nd. I am not sure that politically empowered and more embodied spiritualities are a big wave of the future simply because the mega church continues to churn out wildly successful models that are obviously working, if only on a pragmatic level. In my own experience, lots of wounded, hurting people find the message of therapeutic churches to be deeply profound as well as emotionally empowering. We can be critical of these church forms because they are not more rigorously theological or discipleship oriented but they provide a venue for spiritually hungry and hurting people who are desperate for a word of hope and encouragement.

3rd. My final comment relates to the lament about a lack of lamentation in the church or we might say, the desire to hear the affirmation of desire. I agree with the reality that many Christian communities feel awkward or nervous about lamentation, longing, desire and yearning as part of their worship experience/expression. I think the longing of a song like U2's 40 is a great example of a distinct kind of Christian longing for restoration and wholeness. Churches need to dig deep to find the courage to express the "not yet" part of Christian spirituality, and cultivate a longing that creates the space for its fulfillment. Whether this is embracing and not anesthetizing the deep struggles and contradictions of life or simply acknowledging the modern malaise that is the reality of urban living, this is an area that needs attention and focus. I discovered a wonderful little book by Dale Allison entitled "The Luminous Dusk". Good reading for anyone who is interested in emerging (post-fundamentalist?) spirituality.