This “Diagnosing Emergent” site was researched and written by Brad Sargent, known online as “futuristguy.” This is a work in progress, with the first pages being posted January 26, 2015. Material will be added until all 12 planned pages are complete, and then the Expanded Table of Contents (found on page 01 Introduction) will be finalized. Meanwhile, you can check the Site Notes and Updates page to see the latest status of progress on the site.
Brad has been blogging since 2003 and, since 2009, he has written extensively on dynamics of spiritual abuse and toxic systems. This site is one in a series of case studies he has produced on organizations and movements. Brad participated in the beginnings of the “emerging ministry movement” in the mid-1990s through early 2000s, and has tracked the arc of the Emergent Movement more closely since 2009. He has written extensively about the New Calvinism/Resurgent and Missional streams of the emerging ministry movement.
The first occupation Brad declared wanting to do when he grew up was to be an archaeologist. That was in second grade. Instead, he became a trained futurist – a sort of “archaeologist of the present,” who tries to figure out before the dust settles in the here and now what future historians will dig up about us in the there and then. He is also an amateur culturologist, and is working to refine his “cultural GPS” model for determining cultural distance, cross-cultural conflicts, and social transformation. So, his writings often combine strategic foresight skills with complex systems studies of organizational development, cultural contextualization of ministry, and indicators for measuring qualitative change through social transformation endeavors.
All material is © Brad Sargent, except as noted.
[Notice on 03-20-2015: I have completed all main sections of this site, and will add other sources and links as time allows.]
Diagnosing the Emergent Movement 