On This Page:
- Purposes of This Site
- Expanded Table of Contents and Links to Sections in This Case Study
- Site Avatar
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Purposes of This Site
My main purposes in creating this site are:
1. To provide historical and contemporary resources for due diligence in diagnosing Emergent as a social movement whose initiators were originally part of what was then variously called the GenX, emerging, or postmodern ministry movement. This gives an overall context in which to evaluate not only the Emergent Village and Emergent phenomenon, but related streams (such as New Calvinism/Resurgence, Post-Evangelical, Progressive, and Missional that were likewise embedded in that emerging ministry movement which surfaced in the mid-1990s.
2. To provide a paradigm framework to consider layers of elements that make up the systems of what I am calling the Emergent Movement and Emergent Industrial Complex. These layers include historical, personal (key people and conflicts involved, whether they are public figures or not), organizational (as the Emergent Village website is not available on the WayBack Machine’s internet archive), institutional (organizational partnerships and collaborative efforts), and media.
3. To offer my perspectives and correctives related to big-picture technical questions about the emerging ministry movement, now that it has been about 20 years since it surfaced. For instance, Why did Emergent and Resurgent paradigms seem to end up polar opposites of each other, and yet the Emergent Movement and Mars Hill entities seem to have imploded at the same time? What underlying paradigm factors – epistemology (information processing styles), axiology (concrete values), theology (abstract beliefs), organizational strategies and infrastructures, cultural system, and forms of collaboration – precipitated the sifting out of six different streams from the lake of emerging ministry? Do/can spiritual abuse and sick organizational systems occur in each of those streams? Which streams are most susceptible to particular types of ministry agenda hijacking and why?
I hope you find something useful here, and that the site stimulates research and reflection about the Emergent Movement, what we can learn from its perspectives and its problems, and practical ways we can all move toward more holistic and healthy trajectories of Kingdom transformation.
Important Notes
This is a work in progress. I’m nearing completion after five years of more regular work on it in the midst of other projects on organizational systems and social transformation endeavors. Although many sections of this extensive site are nearly done, it is a massive job to vet the raw material so later articles are as accurate as possible, do a final selection of material, refine and edit it, add links, and create a site. Each page lists the tentative subsections on it. When the entire site is finalized, I will complete the expanded table Table of Contents here.
This is a static site by design. There are no comment sections for the pages. I am not available to debate anyone’s conclusions, but am fulfilling part of a long-term calling to provide as many primary (first-hand) resources and secondary analysis sources as possible for readers to be like the Bereans – learn and discern and reach conclusions for themselves, and decide what to do in light of that. (You can use the contact form to submit information about errors and suggest additional resources.)
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Expanded Table of Contents and
Links to Sections in This Case Study
I will add section titles from these pages as they are completed. Until they are, I will substitute a short description.
00A Purposes of This Site and Expanded Table of Contents.
- Purposes of This Site
- Expanded Table of Contents and Links to Sections in This Case Study
00B Reader’s Guide for Orienting to the Issues.
- 0. Purpose and Introduction
- 1. Brief Introductions to the History and Issues
- 2. Julie McMahon’s Account of Events and Alleged Abuse
- 3. Tony Jones’ Account of Said Events
- 4. Orientation to Emergent/Progressive System Problems, Key People, and Unfolding Issues
- 5. Tony Jones as a “Limited Public Figure”
- 6. How This Case is Affected By a Clinical Diagnosis of Axis II Narcissistic Personality Disorder
01 Introduction: Due Diligence in Diagnosing the Emergent Movement.
- Quite a Journey: A Personal Introduction to My Experiences with the Emerging Ministry Movement
- Due Diligence and “Playing the Complexity Card”
02 Historical: The Emerging Movement.
- Ancient-Future History: Background on the Pool of Emerging Paradigms
- Vocabulary of the Emerging Movement and How I Use These Terms
03 Historical: Differentiation into Streams.
- Emerging Ministry Movement as Postmodern Babel: Seeking to Find Who Speaks for Our Tribes
- How “EmergING” Became “EmergeENT”
- What Makes a Ministry “Safe/Hospitable,” Regardless of its Emerging Stream Paradigm?
04 Personal: Issues Between Tony Jones and Julie McMahon.
- Seeking Integrity and Justice for Julie McMahon Regarding Emergent’s Tony Jones (Executive Summary with links)
- How to Access Public Court Case Files
05 Social Media 2009-2010 – Exposure of the Personal Issues.
- Social Media, Julie McMahon, and Tony Jones ~ August 2009 through February 2010
06 Theological: Spiritual versus Legal Marriage, and Other Issues.
- Overview
- Two Marriages: Spiritual Versus Legal Marriage
- Emergent Theologies, and Theological Issues with Emergent
07 Organizational: Emergent Movement Timeline.
- Key Dates, Events, and News Related to the Emergent Incorporated 501(c)3 and the Wider “Emergent Movement”
08 Organizational: Official Profiles for Emergent Incorporated.
- Emergent Incorporated: Non-Profit Profile Sources
- Emergent Incorporated: IRS Form 990s
- Emergent Incorporated: Revenues and Expenses
- Emergent Incorporated: Boards of Directors, Coordinating Group, and Village Councils
09 Social Media 2014 – Exposure of the Organizational Issues.
- Introduction and Key Facts About the NakedPastor Thread of September 5 – December 15, 2014
- Readers Guide #1: Conventions of this Conversation (Case Study: Jenell versus Alex)
- Readers Guide #2: Doorways into the Discussion (Key Comments and Word Searches)
- Readers Guide #3: Reflection/Discussion Questions
- Readers Guide #4: What Others Thought of the Thread
- My Own Thoughts on the Significance of the 2014 NakedPastor Thread
10 Institutional: Christian Industrial Complex.
- Introducing the Concept of an “Industrial Complex”
- How a Very Creative Counterculture Can Eventually Become a Consumerist Culture
- Strategies and Structures that Increasingly Lock People into Institutionalized Systems
- Various Elements and Entities in a “Christian Industrial Complex”
11 Social Media 2015 – Exposure of the Emergent Complex. (I have divided this topic into five subpages – 11A through 11E – due to the amount of source material and number of steps in the analysis process.)
11A Framework for Detailing of the Emergent Complex [Steps #1, 2, 3].
- Before We Detail the “Emergent Industrial Complex” …
- The Appeal of an Industrial Complex
- Introducing the Identification Process and Core Issues
- Step #1. Overviewing the Elements
- Step #2. My Process for Detecting the Pieces
- Step #3. Your Turn: Identifying and Interpreting the Pieces and the Bigger Picture
11B Elements in the Emergent/Progressive Industrial Complex.
11C Emergent/Progressive Publishing Industry.
- Literary Agents and Agencies, Publishing Imprints and Conglomerates
- Chronology of Publishers and Publications for Emergent/Progressive Authors
- ēmersion Emergent Village Resources Series, Published by Baker Books, 2007-2011
- Books from Emergent Village Board of Director Members (2003-2008)
- Books from Emergent Village Council Members (2009-2012)
- Books from Select Other Emergent Movement Authors
11D My Initial Findings: Dominant Entities and Influential Individuals [Steps #4, 5].
- Step #4. My Initial Findings: Main Entities That Plug into the Complex
- 1. Associations, Networks, and Philanthropic Enterprises
- 2. Businesses, Brands, Events, Media, and Marketing
- 3. Publishing
- 4. Academia, Seminaries, and Training Programs
- Step #5: My Initial Findings: Majorly Influential Individuals in the Complex
11E Social Media Upheaval 2015 – Shining Lights onto the Emergent Movement.
- Introduction: What Makes the Social Media Interactions in 2015 Different?
11F Social Media 2015 – Select Sources, Chronological Listing.
- Social Media and Events January 2015
- Social Media and Events February 2015
- Social Media and Events March 2015
- Social Media and Events April – May – June 2015
- Social Media and Events July – August – September 2015
- Social Media and Events October – November – December 2015
12 Toxicological: Conclusions and Recommendations.
13 Untitled and Reserved for Future Use.
In case I have something significant new to say, I will use this page.
14 Responses to Statement by Tony Jones.
- Table of Contents: Allegations and Responses in the Statement by Tony Jones
- List of Links to Sources That Evaluate the Statement as a Whole
15 Responses to Statement by Brian McLaren.
- Potential Legal Issues
- Responses Evaluating the Statement by Brian McLaren
Since this is a big project and I’m building the site in layers, it seems easier to put notes on what is being added all in one place. My process goes slow. I am trying to sift through the flood of details just as others are, and make sense of it as best I can, in plugging away at it as what time allows. This page will chart the progress toward completing the site, for those who are checking back for updates. I will list the most recent notes first.
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Site Avatar
The avatar used for this website (and other futuristguy case study sites on situations of reported abuse/violence) is “Lady of justice” (c) Sebastian Duda, Fotolia #23929686, licensed to Brad Sargent.
Diagnosing the Emergent Movement 