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“The church is a habitat for creative emergence; it is called to be the creative presence of Christ in and for the world.” This densely-packed statement was the thesis of this year’s Zeisberger Lectures given by Bruce Sanguin, United Church of Canada pastor and author of The Emerging Church: A Model of Change and a Map for Renewal, when he visited Moravian Theological Seminary on April 27. Drawing principles and metaphors from the Bible, evolutionary biology, organizational theory, and developmental psychology, the speaker discussed his own transformational journey with the Canadian United Memorial Church in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the challenges pastors and congregations face as they seek to make disciples in the 21st century.
Noting that nature, culture, and the human psyche all show patterns of emergence that incorporate earlier stages of development into genuinely novel and inclusive forms, Rev. Sanguin suggested that the secret for churches that wish to thrive in the future is not to “transcend and trash” the traditions and practices that have served us well in the past, but rather to “transcend and include” them as we seek to be the body of Christ in an increasingly complex and connected world. This means, he argued, being both biblically grounded and genuinely open to the “new story” of unfolding creation being revealed by the natural and human sciences. All in all, the lectures provided a heady mix of visionary thinking and practical pastoral wisdom for church leadership in a new day. |
