Yes, you read right: The Emerged Church?
The obvious insinuation is the the Emerging brigade have finally emerged from their ‘conversation’. I suppose there is a tad of irony in this given that I like a lot of the questions that the ‘Emergers’ ask, though, I’m not so keen on their image of being evangelistically flimsy.
Jonathan Brinks article over on Emergentvillage.com suggests the end of the revolutionary church movement. Brink indicates that Driscoll was the first to flinch, followed by Kimball, with Tall Skinny Kiwi even talking of the end of the movement.
The Church in Ireland consumed a bit of their nonsense – but not much. Yet, positively, inherited some of their sharp awareness in regards the understanding a disconnected globalised generation of 18-35’s. The reality is that most Irish Christians still see the Emergents as American. Period. And with that, they see it as an acute response to a volatile church culture there, imploding into a kaleidoscope of toxic ideas: the epitome of the western Church.
Broadly speaking, the Irish Church can’t chuck anything from their glassy cathedrals; they have a plethora of their own in-house issues: pedophiles to megalomaniacs – I suppose like all sections of society, sadly. Working intensively with the Saint Patrick Foundation has afforded my hope for Christianity here again – the legacy of Saint Patrick, Ireland’s Patron Saint – a Holy Spirit driven legacy of reconciliation, redemption and restoration: the Gospel. My hope is that the Irish Church will quickly return to their vintage roots again and study how they can (again) become a land of ‘Saints and Scholars’, without waiting on the next ‘Transformational Church’ leadership book from the Amazon.com.
N
Related posts:
- Renewing the Republic
- Transcendent Breakfast of Prayer
- Mad Church Disease: Exposed
- Into the eye
- Post-Christendom Realities
{ 5 comments }
Now they just need to deploy some of their idealistic thinking into effective marketing and branding.
“The logo is the one constant in the marketing and advertising armory.
It will be around when the last brochure becomes out of date, when the business moves location, when the website is due for a system wide redesign, when the CEO or MD retires, when staff come and go, when clients come and go, when the Conservatives get back in power…
Yet when it comes to the crunch, the logo design often gets the lowest priority when it comes to the allocation of these critical advertising and marketing expenses. It’s easier to part with the business cash when it’s about how you are perceived as a person rather than the business.”
GRAHAM SMITH imjustcreative
http://imjustcreative.com/logo-design-you-often-get-what-you-pay-for/2010/02/22/
I agree… to a point.
Logo is a priority for sure, particularly for the younger image-driven generations. BUT, the real identity of the ‘Church’ and para-church orgs (like SPF) is not totally found in a logo, or even how it markets itself. Its true identity is found (i’d argue) in who they really are in their communities/homes/workplaces. and how they respond and communicate there. Basically, what they do with the Gospel. The people are the Church see.
Don’t get me wrong, branding is right up there too, but I have seen lots of flashy clever branding that is worthy of some awesome org, or group, only to find that its just a pretty face; a fly-by-night. Alternatively, I’ve seen lots of humble, established hardworking groups who don’t market themselves well too… There argument is – and should be – spiritual: they, like Christ exercise humility and seek no glory in this world, just to continue to mission of the Father in Christ, empowered, and reliant on the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, the image-driven side of me would want to target the generations who look for branding too. Agghhh! Its a tricky combination, and a healthy tension to constantly wrestle with in missions, and needs constantly assessed for each and every individual context.
N
If the Charity is going global, and the window into that Charity is the web, then the logo is supposed to be the iconic symbol that will truly represent what they are about.
There’s nothing fresh or innovative about that logo, which kind of degrades what the Charity is alleged to be all about.
I’m not a marketing expert, but I have to agree that it could be improved.
Very rarely do you get a really good outfit with a really good brand package in the Christian world.
Ironic.
One key thing that certain personality types don’t grasp, is that Photoshop and Illustrator skills are not the same thing as design skills – completely different.
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