The Hyphenateds: How Emergence Christianity Is Re-Traditioning Mainline Practices

by Phyllis Tickle (Foreword)

In an age when more people in America are leaving the church than finding the church, The Hyphenateds shares reflections from church leaders who draw on the best of their respective traditions in order to meaningfully connect with those who often (for good reason) feel like giving up on Christianity and the church altogether. With chapters by Nadia Bolz-Weber, Carol Howard Merritt, Stephanie Spellers, Phyllis Tickle, and many others, The Hyphenateds offers fresh possibilities for reimagining and refashioning the role of the church in twenty-first century America.
"Here a baker's dozen of the most influential Hyphenateds in this country talk boldly and unapologetically about what they are doing, how they are doing it, and why they are doing it. Whether one is an emergence Christian or a mainline Christian or a traditional Christian or even a disaffected Christian, one has the opportunity here to look at the future through the lens of an evolving present. What's written here is intimately told, without apology, and with no holds barred." - Phyllis Tickle

Genres: Church, Spirituality

162 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Phyllis Natalie Tickle was an American author and lecturer whose work focuses on spirituality and religion issues. After serving as a teacher, professor, and academic dean, Tickle entered the publishing industry, serving as the founding editor of the religion department at Publishers Weekly, before then becoming a popular writer. She is well known as a leading voice in the emergence church movement. She is perhaps best known for The Divine Hours series of books, published by Doubleday Press, and her book The Great Emergence- How Christianity Is Changing and Why. Tickle was a member of the Episcopal Church, where she was licensed as both a lector and a lay eucharistic minister. She has been widely quoted by many media outlets, including Newsweek, Time, Life, The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, C-SPAN, PBS, The History Channel, the BBC and VOA. It has been said that "Over the past generation, no one has written more deeply and spoken more widely about the contours of American faith and spirituality than Phyllis Tickle." A biography of Tickle, written by Jon M. Sweeney, was published in February 2018. Phyllis Tickle: A Life (Church Publishing, Inc), has been widely reviewed.

Reviews

[Sabrina Jennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the essays were very good. The only one I really did not like was "Satanism in the Suburbs" by Christopher Rodkey.

Nadia Bolz-Weber "Innovating with Integrity":
The onlly way for the edges to survive is with the liturgical, theological, and financial resources of the core. The core, in turn, needs the life that is brought back to it from the edges in order to not atrophy. (5-6)
We would do well to recall Jaroslav Pelikan's distinction between "tradition" and "traditionalism": Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. (7)

Nate Frambach "Why Luthermergent?":
If clericalism equates ministry with the ordained ones and therby depricves the whole people of God of their ministry, then culturally comfortable Christianity has turned the people of God into consumers of religious goods and services and church leaders (read primarily clergy) into religious entrepreneurs who dispense said goods and services. Christianity has become a "church" that one attends and suppors...rather than a way of being human in the world patterned after the life of Jesus (40)

Carol Howard Merritt, "Net-A-Narratives":

For me, as a postmodern Christian, the good news is not just in the story that happened a couple thousand years ago; it is the ways in which that story becomes lied out in individual lives and current communities. (66)

there is something sacred, not just in the Story but also in our stories. (67)

Nanette Sawyer, "The Imperative of Imagination":

God has given us this power-the power to imagine-and through imagination, te power to create meaning and to effect real change and tangible transformation...Healing can also be experienced through the thoughtful use of imagincation. Through it we can connect with places that are beyond wors in us, which are not logical or rational but are rather shaped b images and symbols. We can tap into these palces and draw them out into the light through music, art, poery, movement, and story. (72-73)

Part of the challenge of the riddle of life, though, is that once we
think we find an answer, the questin changes. (79)

To create a community that welcomes and fosters spiritual artfulness, get in touch with you hopes and dreams, you greaest hopes and dreams, the ones you are afraid to dare to dream. Be bold because God and God's love are dreams of that magnitude. You are a beloved child of God. God's love for us is bigger than our minds can grasp. We have to imagine our way into it. (80)

Mike Baughman, "Emergin from the Jersey Shore":
Rather than engaging the secular in order to bring Jesus into it-as many have done in mainline history-the emerging churches engage the secular assuming that Jesus is already there. (145)

[Rob Skirving · Rating 2 out of 5]

An uneven book. A series of essays around a common theme. Some strong and engaging, others just "ho-hum." Seemed to be an inconsistent expression of "emergence" ...didn't mean the same to each author. However I'm not sure that voices of the "emergent church" are seeking consistency! First chapters were easy to read. Eventually found myself struggling to finish the book and actually skimmed through one or two chapters near the end.

[Robert D. Cornwall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many Mainline Christians, especially younger ones, have sought to reenvision their church for the future. They have found partners in the Emergent Movement that has evangelical roots. Here, in this book, Phil Snider, like me a Disciples pastor, has gathered together a set of reflections on what it means to be both Mainline and Emergent -- that is, living in hyphenated families.

[Gene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book to discover a mosaic tapestry of hyphenated emergence from a distinguished, experienced group of ministers. I highly recommend it and would use it in a classroom setting for sure, if I were teaching anything concerning emergent Christianity or the mainline churches.

[Paul Rack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good essays from many perspectives by people doing emergence Christianity while remaining affiliated with mainline denominations. Lots of good ideas here.