listening in, coming to hear Brian and reading my weekly e-mails.' But 'thousands of churches and pastors are. There is no way to know how many congregations are putting 'emerging church' ideas into practice, Jones said. The movement has no membership rolls, set beliefs or creed liturgical diversity is encouraged. 'To conservatives, we seem like relativists, and to liberals, we seem like Jesus freaks.' 'We are questioning a lot of presuppositions of conventional Christians: What should a church look like? How do we really understand Scripture in a modern context?' said Tony Jones, the conversation's national coordinator.

Participants refer to their interaction as a 'conversation,' much of which takes place on the Internet at sites such as and blogs such as. 'Emerging church' is a loose network of mostly young evangelicals who believe the Christian message needs to be made more relevant in a time of rapid technological and societal change, particularly to those who've never been part of any church. Though a 'creative, sparkly writer,' added Carson, McLaren has 'got so many things wrong in his analysis that his work is not going to last that long.' Carson, professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, who has criticized McLaren's theology. 'If you have some person or movement coming along calling into question the non-negotiables of Christianity, then those who espouse Christianity find such a challenge dangerous,' said Donald A. Noting that he fails to condemn homosexuality, one conservative Web site called him 'A True Son of Lucifer' for ignoring 'absolute biblical truth.' And last year, Baptists in Kentucky revoked a speaking invitation after McLaren said that followers of Jesus might not be the only ones to gain salvation. What makes McLaren's ideas attractive to progressive evangelicals appalls the more numerous conservatives. pursue what is right, regardless of the political party's platform.' Scot McKnight, a professor of religious studies at Chicago's North Park University who has studied McLaren's career, said that 'he wants there to be greater cooperation among Christians, and he thinks evangelical Christians have aligned themselves too closely with the Republican Party. 'When we present Jesus as a pro-war, anti-poor, anti-homosexual, anti-environment, pro-nuclear weapons authority figure draped in an American flag, I think we are making a travesty of the portrait of Jesus we find in the gospels,' McLaren said in a recent interview. In the latest of his eight books, 'The Secret Message of Jesus,' which has sold 55,000 copies since its April release, he argues that Christians should be more concerned about creating a just 'Kingdom of God' on earth than about getting into heaven.Īlong with such other progressive evangelicals as Washington-based anti-poverty activist Jim Wallis and educator Tony Campolo, McLaren is openly critical of the conservative political agenda favored by many evangelicals. He contends that people can follow Jesus's way without becoming Christian.

McLaren, 50, offers an evangelical vision that emphasizes tolerance and social justice. But the steady popularity of McLaren's books over the past eight years signals an expanding diversity of thought in this important political constituency. Progressives, who range from 11 to 36 percent of all evangelicals, according to various polls, are still overshadowed by the Christian right among evangelicals. He also is an intellectual guru of 'emerging church,' a grass-roots movement among young evangelicals exploring new models of living out their Christian faith. McLaren has emerged as one of the most prominent voices in an increasingly active group of progressive evangelicals who are challenging the theological orthodoxy and political dominance of the religious right. 'He's leading a conversation that needs to happen,' one that 'I've been hungry for.'

'He always talks about the environment as a priority when he talks about the church being relevant to the world,' Moseley said.

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