Paradigm Shifter:
Asked at a conference last spring what he thought about gay marriage,
Brian McLaren replied, "You know what, the thing that breaks my heart
is that there's no way I can answer it without hurting someone on
either side." You might call his a kinder and gentler brand of
religion. At a mere 48, McLaren, a nondenominational Maryland pastor,
qualifies as elder statesman of a movement called the "emerging
church." Its disciples, mostly 35 or younger and including mainline
Christians and Catholics, have in recent years moved from cyber
bulletin boards to pulpits of their own. Their goal: to deconstruct
traditional church culture yet remain true to Scripture. A typical
emergent church service is likely to include digital imagery and open
dialogue.
McLaren's 2001 book, A
New Kind of Christian, resonated
with ministers worldwide and is
enormously popular in seminaries. If his movement can survive in the
politicized world of conservative Christianity, McLaren could find a
way for young Evangelicals and more liberal Christians to march into
the future together despite their theological differences.
