Emergent church movement comes to Sandpoint

    SANDPOINT - The Reformation of the 16th Century did not go over well with church leaders at the time. Jump forward several hundred years and a similar, albeit much smaller, movement is causing some consternation of its own in contemporary religious circles.

    Those involved call it the “emergent church” - a trend United Church of Christ minister Bob Evans says is aimed at “the post-modern human who accepts science and believes there is a higher power.”

    That alone has been enough to get the movement cross-wise with some churches that believe science and Christianity don’t mix. But according to Evans, an increasing number of the faithful are rethinking what they hear from the pulpit and wondering why the two can’t coexist. In a way, he offered, the emergent church is a continuation of a centuries-old trend of embracing new ideas without rocking the foundations of personal faith.

    “We know the world is round,” he said. “And we know the Sun doesn’t revolve around the Earth. That knowledge didn’t destroy our faith.

    “If Christianity is going to survive into the 21st Century, we have to re-emerge,” the minister added. “It’s another Reformation.”

    On Tuesday evening, Evans will lead the first of what he hopes is a long history of services based in Sandpoint. The church, he explained, is designed to be “roots-based” - steeped in a form of Christianity that pre-dates even the writings that make up much of the modern Bible.

    “The earliest Gospel was written 40 years after Jesus’ death,” said Evans, “and the latest Gospel was written 70 years after that - the tradition has been based on those. The emergent church is missional and pre-traditional, as much as possible. We want to have the faith that Jesus had.”

    The mission aspect also harkens back to the early church, he continued, with its focus on compassion and caring for others.

    “That’s what really got Christianity going,” the minister said. “They fed those who needed food, clothed those who needed clothes.”

    Just as Martin Luther drew the ire of the Catholic Church when he braced the hierarchy over matters such as the selling of indulgences to those who could afford to buy their way around the wages of sin, the emergent church has no shortage of ordained opponents who, in Evans’ words, “look at us as being heretical.” One of the key reasons, he said, is the notion that the modern church has become bogged down in a morass of man-made rules and regulations that obfuscate the power of faith itself.

    “What has happened to Christianity?” Evans asked. “At its deepest roots, it’s about spiritual renewal. Rather than a ‘faith tradition,’ it got lost and became a ‘belief tradition’ that says, ‘You have to believe this and this and this.’”

    Besides recognizing science as being valid, one of the hottest points of contention has been the emergent church’s stance on whether much of scripture is meant to be taken literally or viewed as metaphor. Evans compares it to Joseph Campbell’s groundbreaking work on the origins and meaning of myth in ancient cultures. Applying that concept to Christianity has, in part, been responsible for the charges of heresy.

    “But a myth is not a lie,” said the minister. “It’s something that gives power and meaning to our lives.

    “It’s like a Native Indian telling a story around the campfire and saying, ‘I don’t know if this really happened, but I know it’s true.’”

    The search for truth, Evans added, is what’s fueling interest in the emergent church movement. At its most basic level, he depicts it as being like a spiritual estuary. In the natural sense, the co-mingling of fresh water and salt water create an environment where life thrives. From a spiritual perspective, personal faith and new ideas generate an interplay that allows personal faith to grow.

    “Like an estuary, if you cut off the mingling of those waters, the circle of life gets cut off and things die,” he said. “It gets abandoned.”

    According to Evans, the fundamentalist church has taken particular exception to the direction of the emergent church. Rather than turning the other cheek, he responds with tough language that shows just how stark the line between them has become.

    “Fundamental Christianity suffers from the same kinds of prejudices as fundamental Islam,” he said. “It has become the judge and jury as it decides who gets saved and who doesn’t. But the truth is that both Heaven and Hell exist right here.”

    Paraphrasing a section from the New Testament, he added: “The Kingdom of God is right here, but human beings don’t see it.”

    Along with questions about the validity of science, the politicization of some churches has pushed new members toward this modern-day reform movement, according to Evans. One thing churchgoers won’t find at his service are homilies on how to vote or sermons that ramble off into stump speeches.

    “I will never preach anything political from the pulpit - you have to deduce those things for yourself,” he said. “But I would like to open hearts in a way that deems it necessary for people to take care of one another.”

    In keeping with the reform-centric nature of the movement, even the services are structured to encourage open discussion and thoughtful interaction between congregation and pastor in a format Evans calls “the give and take.”

    “Our service is more spontaneous than regimented,” he said. “It’s not, ‘You take what I said and go home.’ It’s ‘What do you think about that?’”

    The first service for the United Church of Christ will be held on Tuesday, March 19, at the Lakeview Chapel, located at 301 Olive St. in Sandpoint. Music will be shared starting at 6:30 p.m. and the service begins at 7 p.m.

    Information: (208) 946-7314