At the end of December I wrote about the Emergent-S3K Controversy. As Aaron Monts put it, “I’ve heard people scream of emergent ’syncretism’, or ‘you’re selling out and joining the gospel to secularism!’”

Now that we’ve met, where do things stand?

Rabbi Dov Gartenberg of Panim Hadashot has posted an extensive reflection on his experience. Some highlights:

1. Hospitality is making a huge come back as a central religious ideal….
2. A spiritual or ethical life is not centered in a sanctuary, but must extend to all areas of life. This is actually a very old Jewish teaching….
3. The traditional church and synagogue are not destinations for many people even though they may identify with their religions of origin. …A presenter shared the motivation for much of the emergent’s efforts: “I love Jesus, I hate the church.”

This was the first gathering in my career with Christians and Jews (and I have had many encounters) when Christians could talk easily and openly about Jesus and Jews could talk about God and Torah comfortably and unapologetically. This was more than an ecumenical gathering, but a sharing in how we live and work out our respective faith traditions in a complex culture. The differences remained quite pronounced, but I came away with an awareness of common approaches to practice and religious community that are very promising.

Tony Jones, National Coordinator of Emergent U.S., was the key conversation partner for us in planning the event and he has become a good friend. His comments reflect the warmth and integrity of our new friendship:

…Instead of suspicion and skepticism, I was received with the warmth and hospitality that made me think, “These really are ‘People of the Book.’” The hospitality toward strangers that is such a prevalent theme in the Hebrew Scriptures was exemplified in spades by the rabbis, cantors, and Jewish leaders present.

And the worship! To describe it would be a disservice, so it will have to suffice to say that it touched my soul in ways that Christian worship has not since I-don’t-know-when.

Was my confidence in Jesus, the Messiah, shaken by my time with those who do not accept his Messiahship? No, it was bolstered. But not in a fist-shaking, white knuckle way. More in a quiet, humble, this-is-going-to-be-alright kind of way. Oh, you can bet that Emergent will be working with these Jewish leaders more in the days to come. They are beautiful people.

The spirit of conversation and spirit that Tony and I had envisioned so clearly came to fruition during this gathering, and it was beautiful to encounter.

Ryan Bolger, a featured speaker at the event, has begun to post posted his reflections; in his second post, he observes “the depth to which American religion (and not just the church) has adopted the language of consumer spirituality”:

…I saw a real connection for those not buying it: the emerging church and emerging synagogue types at this gathering. There was a solidarity between each other that often was lacking with those in their own faith traditions. “Whew! There are other people going through the same frustrations that I am!!” It was very cool to see. Remove the yarmulkahs and you would think you were at an Emergent gathering.

In his third post, entitled “Godtalk sneaks in the back door,” Ryan writes:

I don’t know if this was intentional in the planning of the event, but it worked out brilliantly. The explicit focus of the gathering dealt with congregational change in the light of culture. Because that was the main text there was little overt expectation or pressure on the many subtexts of the event, e.g. the content of specifically religious or theological dialogue. Because of this, discussions of our theological perspectives popped up everywhere, but with little positioning or defensiveness.

He offers some examples in his post. To be honest, I was hoping that the “Godtalk” would happen, not least because so much of our efforts are about changing the discourse, the language, the vocabulary of sacred community. As I remarked during a wrap-up session, the “Jewish Emergent” leaders who were present are some of the most God-immersed Jewish leaders I have had the privilege to encounter. So I’m glad to read Ryan’s reflections on that aspect of the conversation!

Ryan concludes his series with photos from the gathering and this comment:

Emerging synagogues and churches have deconstructed these forms, creating simple spiritual communities formed around texts (texts that share a good deal of common ground). Because of these similarities from one to another, I believe we will see much fruitful interaction between the two communities in the years to come.

It’s safe to say that I share Tony and Ryan’s confidence that this conversation is only just beginning.

Another Christian Emergent participant in the gathering, Dwight Friesen, writes:

Though there were so many beautiful moments - from times of prayer to lively-vision-expanding discussions – the moment that I find myself sitting with came from an exchange between the Rabbi of a mega-Synagogue and Tim Keel. A question regarding how Rabbis of successful, established Synagogues might come alongside and support these new expressions of faith was voiced. Tim responded by taking us to the story of Eli and Samuel. The text tells us that “in those days messages from the LORD were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.” Eli had not heard from God for a long time, and Samuel didn"t know what he was hearing or how to respond when he heard from God. But together they both heard. Eli coaching Samuel and Samuel sharing with Eli, and by working together the people of God were blessed.

I have come away with much to consider, and new voices and faces to shape my soul.

Ryan Bolger was present for that exchange:

After [Tim] finished, there was a hushed silence in the room, and then, quite spontaneously, one of the Jewish elders spoke a few words of Hebrew (or were they Yiddish?) affirming Tim by saying the ‘rabbi has spoken wisely’ or something to that affect. Powerful stuff. I still get goosebumps.

(I would imagine Having seen the video, I now know that the phrase was yasher koach, a Yiddishization of the Hebrew yishar kochachah, meaning, “More strength to you.” Often shortened to shkoyach, it is a traditional expression of appreciation and respect for an interpretation of Torah or other Jewish texts.)

Nanette Sawyer, from Wicker Park Grace in Chicago, also attended. She writes,

I think it’s absolutely vital to our future health as a world to know each other in real ways, to share in deep conversation, to acknowledge the limits of our own traditions, and to joyfully express the beauties and strengths of our own traditions.

I think we’re all striving to be better human beings, or we should be, and being in relationship helps us be better - that is, if we approach one another with mutual respect and open hearts.

I feel that the Jewish and Christian leaders really did approach one another with that kind of mutual respect and open hearts. I look forward to future opportunities for more dialog and friendship.

A little further on, Nanette highlights a quote from fellow attendee Lauren Grabelle Herrmann, of Kol Tzedek in Philadelphia:

It’s amazing some of the similarities of vision we have, even though we practice different faiths. I think it’s really cool actually.

I like that Lauren talked about “the organic creation of holy communities.” I think that’s what we’re about at Wicker Park Grace.

Participant Scott Collins-Jones of Woodland Presbyerian Church and the Philadelphia Emergent cohort has posted an extensive reflection on the meeting. His lengthy post is very helpful, as it moves from reporting on the gathering to substantive commentary on some of the differences and similarities between Christian and Jewish Emergents:

I came away with a renewed commitment to and appreciation for robust pluralism. This isn’t the sort of pluralism advocated by liberal protestantism, a kind of bland “i’m o.k., you’re o.k.” ideology which ignores real difference in the interest of creating what winds up to be a synthetic hegemony, grounded in what George Lindbeck calls an “experiential expressivist” theology. [...]

…Emergent as a movement has to define itself theologically because it is emerging from the context of Christian communities that identify themsevles that way. The Jews in the conversation seemed more interested in practice than theology. This isn’t a criticism, just an observation. For many Christians communities the question of whether you belong is closely tied up with a particular set of beliefs. This just didn’t seem to be that case with many of the Jews with whom I spoke.

On a related note, I was envious of the ability of different sorts of Jews (Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox) to identify with common liturgical practices. The prayer services seemed to be a uniting factor throughout our time together. …When the prayer book was opened at different points in our time together, all the Jews in the room seemed to know what they were doing and why. This kind of common liturgical culture seems to be invaluable. It’s something we Christians didn’t bring to the table, and I think that’s not to our credit. The common point of contact seemed to me to create connection without hegemony, offering solidarity amidst difference. I hope that SK3’s desire to take contextualization seriously doesn’t jeoporadize this valuable asset.

Blog coverage of the event

Adam Cleaveland, who has been covering the event and the controversy from the beginning in a spirit of appreciative inquiry, writes,

I’m very excited by this opportunity to meet and discuss with progressive Jews about community formation and spirituality. I hope this is just the beginning of future times of dialogue and joint-endeavors between emergent Christians, Jews and hopefully those from other faiths.

Karen Ward, who was invited to participate but could not attend, observes that our gathering was “way more significant than another faux emergent coffee and candles tryingtoohardtoseemcool conference or poorly written and hastily published book.” Commenter Jon Myers notes, “i think this is very exciting. and it is really going to piss off a lot of people too. good tension to be in.”

Karen goes further, calling for a gathering of “emerging abrahamic chat-fellows” that includes “next gen muslims,” so that “something might really get shaking, when the chilldren of the children of abraham can come together in Inter-faith emergent conversation.” (Well, Karen, let me point you toward FaithJam06 – Christian, Jewish and Muslim – Comedy, Music and Spoken Word, being organized by S3K’s own Craig Taubman and me for April 8 in Los Angeles (at the Islamic Center of Southern California, no less….)

Paul Littleton maintains a wait-and-see attitude and Mike Lamson is cautiously optimistic, though he wonders, “How much can you do for the “Kingdom of God” if you don’t agree on what some of that might be?”

Still, Matthew Hall remains skeptical–

Frankly, this sounds like something out of a comedy sketch. Can you imagine a bunch of rabbis attending national Emerging conferences, talking about their “narrative,” hawking fair-trade matzah, and drinking organic Mogan David?

–Fair trade matzah? Why couldn’t we think of that?!

Seriously, though, he, John Divito, and Running Well register serious critcisms of the gathering. As I commented to John, though, independent of my respectful disagreement with his assertion that our “faith is not in the One who can reconcile [us] with [our] Creator,” I find his worry about “sharing our missional insights and strategies” to be a bit overstated. This sounds a bit like Pepsi vs. Coke, and if anything is true of the emerging movement (regardless of faith tradition) it is the rejection of a program/product-oriented paradigm. I could assure him that there were no conversations in the vein of “We tried X program, and it boosted attendance by 38.4% and affiliation/converstion by 12.7% in the first six months,” but that would be missing the point. Like Ingrid Schlueter at Slice of Laodicea, who calls S3K “an insult to the Holy Spirit,” Running Well’s D.R. Brooker is openly hostile toward Judaism as a living religion, suggesting that Jews and Christians do not read the same Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) and going so far as to write that Jewish worship “could hardly be called worship of the God of heaven and earth”; there really is nothing to say in response to that level of frankly Marcionite enmity.

On a more positive note, New Reform Jew observes, “If this isn’t one of the most important issues on the organized Jewish community’s agenda, it should be.” Reformodox agrees, calling us “right on point.”

News of our meeting made it to the Jewish community of Argentina, among other places.

In the “thanks for noticing us!” category, greetings to readers of Deep South Jewish Voice, Urban Onramps, DJChuang, TheoSpeak, and the venerable Holy Weblog, Established December 2000. Via the AP story, we also attracted the attention of the Christianity Today Weblog and Crosswalk, which is best known for publishing Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler, Jr.

As for Aaron, well, he thought it was “nothing less than inspiring!”

Pioneering (and we daresay Jewish Emergent) J-blogger Dan Sieradski has launched Radical Torah , “a weblog which features multiple takes on parshat hashavua (the weekly Torah portion), as seen through the lens of progressive religious and political viewpoints. The project seeks to create a resource of authentically Jewish responses to pertinent social justice issues, timed in accordance with their relevancy to the Jewish calendar.”

This week, UJ rabbinical student, feminist author, and J-blogger Danya Ruttenberg tackles Va-era וארא.

Shabbat shalom!

Sarah Price Brown covered our event on Monday and Tuesday, and her comprehensive article just appeared in today’s Jewish Journal, with a photo by Larry Hirshowitz.

I shared this quote during our Emergent gathering. It captures beautifully our intention:

Religion is at its best when it becomes a countercultural force; when it has no power, only influence, no authority except that which it earns, no claim to people"s attention other than by the way it creates values that cannot be found elsewhere. It is then that it loses its perennial tendency to corruption and becomes again what it once was—a startling new voice, redeeming us and teaching us to remember what so much else persuades us to forget—that the possibilities of happiness are all around us, if we would only open our eyes and give thanks. – Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “Faith: the undiscovered country.” In his Celebrating Life: Finding Happiness in Unexpected Places (Continuum, 2000), p.192.

Shabbat shalom.

Gillian Flaccus and Ric Francis of the Associated Press covered and photographed our event on Monday and Tuesday. We’ll keep this post updated as more pictures go out over the wire [it appears there were only two AP pictures].

AP photo links: here and here.

Here is the story, with a photo featuring Rabbi Darren Kleinberg, Margie Klein, Amichai Lau-Lavie, Cantor Ellen Dreskin, and Dr. Dwight J. Friesen.

Another photo with Rabbi Ken Chasen, Margie Klein, and Bruce Whizin appears in the Washington Examiner version.

(In a few versions, I’m identified as a female rabbi. Though honored to be placed in such august company, I am neither.)

Synagogue 3000 has identified a contemporary Jewish religious phenomenon that it is calling Jewish Emergent. This week, S3K convened for the very first time the Working Group on Emergent Sacred Communities—visionary Jewish leaders committed to the establishment of transformative sacred communities unbound by conventional expectations about what a synagogue is “supposed” to be. To enrich the conversation, S3K invited members of the Working Group to exchange ideas with forward-thinking Christian leaders from Emergent-U.S., as well as leading scholars of American religion—Wade Clark Roof, Steven M. Cohen and Ryan Bolger.

This meeting of the Working Group on Emergent Sacred Communities also marked the first time ever that Emergent-US had met with any religious group outside the Christian faith. It was exciting and inspiring, even historic. In addition, the members of the S3K Working Group on Spiritual Leadership—some of the most accomplished and creative Jewish rabbis, cantors, and artists in the country—were also in attendance.

What was learned during all this? A few things.

Not only are many Jewish religious communities looking to the experiences of Christian innovators, especially in the context of worship that engages the unaffiliated, but they are seeing a similar paradigm shift from an individual-oriented seeker mode to a relational conversation aimed at spirituality in intentional community.

The nebula of emergent Jewish communities is beginning to define itself and work out what kind of network they"ll form. In many ways they are where the Emergent Christian group was in 1996-97, as it formed within The Leadership Network. The journey of Emergent-US up to this point in its existence was instructive and illuminating to the emergent Jewish leaders: time has helped the emerging Christian community become a relatively more tight-knit and well-defined group.

Both Jewish and Christian emerging communities practice what one leader called “orthoparadox” — the creative tension that arises when doctrine and intentional practice are given equal weight in organizing a community’s priorities.

Not only are there no set answers or rules when it comes to building a congregation and a community, the similarity of the journey and the process across faith lines are what these leaders share. Many expressed frustrations and talked about challenges, but the act of coming together in conversation and friendship was a significant building block in the growth process of both groups.

The conversation across traditions allows us to understand more clearly what the “Emergent” phenomenon is. Within each tradition, there are two broad streams: a “congregational” stream based in communities of practice, and an “encounter-based” stream based in individual spiritual expression. Neither is “pro-” or “anti-” institutional — the distinction is one of degree.

Mentorship matters. Whether it be the counsel of more experienced rabbis, cantors, and artists, or the sharing of stories from progressive organizations of different faiths, building any kind of congregation is not new and we can all learn from those who have done and are doing what we"re up to.

The priorities of American spiritual communities are changing as Generation X comes of age and takes over leadership positions. The work of Wade Clark Roof, Steven M. Cohen and Ryan Bolger all points in a similar direction: younger people crave spirituality but they aren"t interested in either rote rules or in lightweight, “easy” worship.

Instead, they are interested in a devotional experience that moves beyond congregational walls and buildings, that builds community and, perhaps most of all, gives them what they call an “authentic” connection to their traditions and to God. The emerging leaders at this conference, both Jewish and Christian, are actively attending to that desire.

In the January 9 Jerusalem Post columnist Marvin Schick asks, “Where is Chabad heading?”

As it grows, Chabad’s options are in a sense limited by certain realities, primarily the wholesale Judaic abandonment that we are witness to, and which is accelerating. Increasingly, the movement operates in a framework of postdenominational Judaism. For the Orthodox, who - except when they travel or in special situations - are not the primary Chabad participants, denomination matters.

For Conservative and Reform Jews, affiliation now refers overwhelmingly more to a social rather than religious connection. Huge numbers of Jews identified by demographers as Reform or Conservative rarely show up in synagogue and their affiliation provides few clues to their religious practices and beliefs. In a word, denomination has lost much of its relevance.

Chabad flourishes in this environment by providing a low-cost brand of Judaism. It is low-cost in financial terms, which is another meritorious aspect. It is also, however, low-cost in Jewish expectations.

Participants in Chabad can observe very little and have no interest in adding to their performance of mitzvot. This may seem unfair, yet the attitude being conveyed by Chabad to a great number of its participants bears a resemblance to Reconstructionism. There are, of course, conventional Chabad synagogues and day schools, and they must not be discounted because they often fill gaps in our community’s ability to adequately provide religious services.

Yet there is a vast network of institutions and programs that require little of participants and where deviance from Halacha is evident.

Is this a fair reading of Chabad, postdenominationalism, and American liberal Judasm?

(Hat tip: Out of Step Jew.)

From the JTA, Rio de Janeiro’s answer to B’nai Jeshurun?

Welcome to the Jewish Congregation of Brazil, where Rabbi Nilton Bonder has melded Conservative and Jewish renewal movement ideas to create a 550-member congregation that is perhaps the most politically and socially liberal Jewish religious group in the country.  

In Brazil, the minority of Jews which are ritually observant are nearly all Orthodox. The rest are called liberals, the equivalent of Reform Jews in the United States.

Like the Orthodox synagogues in Rio, Bonder"s congregation chants in Hebrew. Congregants wear yarmulkes and prayer shawls, and most keep kosher. Many also attend daily services in the morning and afternoon.

But as is common in the renewal movement, Bonder"s services feature a lively musical accompaniment, in this case a guitarist, flutist and keyboard player. Some congregants occasionally join hands and spontaneously break into a circle dance around seated or standing prayers.

The rabbi"s sermon, which ends the service, often embraces mystical, kabbalistic teachings.

Women also read from the Torah, and men and women sit together, unlike the seating arrangements at the 20 Orthodox synagogues in Rio.

Newsweek columnist Rabbi Marc Gellman considers the five most important religious trends of 2005:

1. “Pathetic prayer”: “…A soul-changing prayer experience is hard to come by. …Many Jews know how their rabbi feels about “Desperate Housewives,” but not about eternal salvation under the wings of God’s protecting care.”

2. “The continuing demise of the black church,” due to the increasing economic strength of the black community: “When the rabbi was the only Jew who spoke good English in a Jewish community filled with immigrant tailors, the synagogues were full to hear how to survive as a Jew in America. Now rabbis are more likely to consult Jewish CEOs whom they see twice a year at synagogue about how to survive as a rabbi in America. It seems like only Episcopalians have figured out how to keep rich people coming to church.”

3. “The energizing of the evangelicals”: “eople who cannot appreciate the energy of evangelicals for good after the experience of their posthurricane mobilization have eyes, but they do not see. Most pious people flee from the culture and its needs. Evangelicals are engaging the culture and producing the most constant and cogent critique of cultural crud that we are seeing from any religious group in our time.”

4. “Biblical illiteracy”: “We are people of the Bible but you would hardly know it going to church nowadays. I think we Jews do better on this score, but most of the baby rabbis I mentor still preach sermons (if they preach at all) that sound more like Dr. Phil than Rabbi Phil.”

5. “Revolutionaries“: “…These revolutionaries …are really passionate Christians who have no patience for the moribund bureaucracy of organized church life. The havurah movement in Judaism [and Jewish emergent --JSL] is fed by the same spiritual energy. For many people faith comes from a fire within, not a cup of coffee and a Danish after services in the social hall. And let us say, amen.”

Hat tip: Rabbi Daniel Alter, S3K Working Group on Emergent Sacred Communities.

The official Religion News Service Press Release:

LOS ANGELES, MINNEAPOLIS — Synagogue 3000 (S3K) and Emergent will host a groundbreaking meeting to connect pioneering Jewish and Christian leaders from dynamic and innovative congregations on January 16-17, 2006, at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley, CA.

In their first-ever formal gathering, emerging leaders from across America will share experiences and exchange ideas about reinventing the meaning and practice of community in their respective faith traditions, especially for unaffiliated Christians and Jews who are not attracted to conventional congregations. A debate with leading clergy in mainstream synagogues will explore the relationship between the congregational establishment and emerging groups. Internationally respected experts on religion and generational change Wade Clark Roof, Steven M. Cohen, and Ryan Bolger will lead a provocative panel discussion.

Prominent Emergent Christian theologian Brian McLaren has met with S3K three times to discuss recent trends among younger Christians and Jews. “We have so much common ground on so many levels,” he noted. “We face similar problems in the present, we have common hopes for the future, and we draw from shared resources in our heritage. I’m thrilled with the possibility of developing friendship and collaboration in ways that help God’s dreams come true for our synagogues, churches, and world.”

S3K Senior Fellow Lawrence A. Hoffman stressed the importance of building committed religious identities through conversation across faith lines. “We inhabit an epic moment,” he said, “nothing short of a genuine spiritual awakening. It offers us an opportunity unique to all of human history: a chance for Jews and Christians to do God’s work together, not just locally, but nationally, community by community, in shared witness to our two respective faiths.”

The meeting has historic possibilities, observed Emergent-U.S. National Coordinator Tony Jones. “As emerging Christian leaders have been pushing through the polarities of left and right in an effort to find a new, third way, we’ve been desperate to find partners for that quest,” he said. “It’s with great joy and promise that we partner with the leaders of S3K to talk about the future and God’s Kingdom.” S3K Director of Research Shawn Landres concurred. “We hope to learn from their experiences and also to build bridges by engaging and challenging one another,” he said.

Synagogue 3000 (http://www.synagogue3000.org) empowers congregations to create sacred communities that are compelling moral and spiritual centers of Jewish life. The S3K Leadership Network includes working groups on Spiritual Leadership and on Emergent Sacred Communities. A synagogue studies institute is in development.

Emergent (http://www.emergentvillage.com) gathers reflective practitioners and engaged scholars for conversation and missional action around the issues of Christian theology, practice, spirituality, justice and church life. The network developed in the 1990s and includes a wide range of Christian leaders from progressive evangelical, mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic backgrounds.

PARTICIPANTS:
ATLANTA–Rev. Troy Bronsink
BOSTON–Margie Klein, Rabbi Jeremy Morrison
CHICAGO–Rabbi Menachem Cohen, Rev. Nanette Sawyer
DENVER–Rabbi Daniel Alter
KANSAS CITY (MO)– Rev. Tim Keel
LOS ANGELES—Rabbi Sharon Brous, Shawn Landres, Rev. Rebecca ver Straten-McSparran
MINNEAPOLIS– Rev. Tony Jones, Rev. Doug Pagitt
NEW YORK–Julia Andelman, Rabbi Andy Bachman, Rabbi Shir-Yaakov Feinstein-Feit, Amichai Lau-Lavie, Rabbi Shoshana Leis
PHILADELPHIA– Rev. Scott Collins-Jones, Lauren Grabelle Hermann
SAN FRANCISCO area– Rev. Dieter Zander
SEATTLE– Dr. Dwight Friesen, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
WASHINGTON DC area–Rev. Heather Kirk-Davidoff

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Ryan Bolger, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena (CA)
Dr. Steven M. Cohen, Hebrew Union College, New York
Dr. Wade Clark Roof, University of California, Santa Barbara