Recent Reads {Deep Church}

Deep Church by Jim Belcher - It took me a very long time to read this book, partly because it's very meaty and full of information and 'thought-provokers' that I wanted to turn over in my mind for awhile before reading further.  And partly because I took lots of breaks from reading it.  8-D  Belcher, a church planter and lead pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in California, has background in both the traditional or mainstream church and the beginnings of the emerging church movement, so he is well-qualified to discuss the merits and criticisms of both sides in this debate.  He begins the book by giving some of his own background and experience, and by carefully defining for the reader what he is referring to in using the terms "traditional" and "emerging".  Just as there are many denominations and a broad spectrum of church personalities that would fall in the traditional/mainstream church category, there is a broader range of styles and approaches within the group generally referred to as the "emergent" or "emerging" church than many of their critics may recognize.  He also discusses how the movement began and how it is influenced by post-modernism, while much of the traditional church is still influenced by Enlightenment rationalism. After establishing the groundwork, Belcher goes on to explore the seven main protests that the emergent movement (in general) brings against the traditional church.  In each case, Belcher discusses the issue, the criticism the emergent church has of the traditional church, the criticism the traditional church has of the emergent, the defenses of each, and the validity of these arguments.  Then the chapter dealing with that issue ends with a discussion of how the "deep church" (a term coined by C.S. Lewis) may be able to forge a third way, providing "constructive models of what this alternate, dep church looks like - a missional church committed to both tradition and culture, valuing innovation in worship, arts and community but also creeds and confessions." (from the book cover)  Most of these suggestions for the third way have been tried and proven by Belcher's own Redeemer Presbyterian or other churches.

I found the entire book very informative and thorough in presenting both viewpoints, and fair in offering defense and criticisms.  It gave me a bit of pause in reading the endorsements appeared to be from leaders associated with the emergent church, and I wondered why I didn't see endorsements coming from traditional church leaders.  I still don't know why that is the case, but I was satisfied in reading that Belcher was giving equal time and consideration to the concerns raised on both sides of the issues.  While reading his suggestions and experiences in seeking the deep church ideal, I sometimes had to fight the perception that Belcher was in effect saying that HIS church was getting it ALL right, but he really didn't have a haughty demeanor in presenting these thoughts - it was more in the vein of sharing what their church adopted as its mission and goals in these areas and how they were living those ideals out in the real world.  Not everything was a success, certainly not on the first try.

My opinion on the tension between traditional and emergent is generally that both may be valid viewpoints and approaches to doing church, but whenever the church is out of balance there will be a problem.  Reading this book has, for the most part, reinforced and expanded that idea by exploring ways that the church can avoid veering sharply to one side or the other and instead look for ways to go deeper and beyond the extremes.  For example, we shouldn't focus solely on personal righteousness and ignore the responsibility to serve in our communities and impact the world, or vice versa.  The vastness of God's grace and mercy can only be grasped when we also recognize His holiness and the seriousness of sin.  When we cut off our ties to our history and our roots, we become less relevant to our present day.  While the church needs boundaries, we need to keep our focus on the "well" that is Jesus Christ in our center that draws people in, not on the fences that can keep people out.  (I especially appreciated that analogy!)