The Emerging Church, Millennials, and Religion: Volume 1

The landscape of American religion is changing dramatically, Millennials are dropping out of church, and new experimental types of Christianity such as the Emerging Church are coming to the fore. But what is the future of religion in America, and what role will Millennials play in that? The results of three years of scholarly inquiry, this collection of essays looks at the Emerging Church and Millennial religious responses and seeks to define and explore both phenomena, always on the lookout for their intersection. Bringing together a diverse collection of scholars in theology, sociology, history and comparative religion, this book highlights the importance of both the Emerging Church and the Millennial generation's future for religion. ""Reed and Zbaraschuk's The Emerging Church, Millennials, and Religion tackles a thorny problem: How to define a religious movement that refuses to define itself? The Emerging Church movement avoids simple answers; it distrusts charisma, seeks those on the margins, avoids the catchy phrase; it seeks to serve, include, and agitate . . . This movement has the feel of Jesus, the taste of his words, and the passion of his actions. As revolutionary force, the emergent movement is not meant to be domesticated or bureaucratized, and for all that I say thank God "" --Jim Wellman, Professor of American Religion, Culture and Politics, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington Randall Reed is Professor of Religion at Appalachian State University. He is the author of A Clash of Ideologies (Pickwick Publications, 2010). G. Michael Zbaraschuk is Associate Professor of Religion at Pacific Lutheran University. He is author of The Purposes of God (Pickwick Publications, 2015).