CE National on the Emergent Church

CE National has come under criticism recently from a couple of organizations. In an effort to clear up any confusion, CE National has posted below its position on several issues.

CE National Does Not Endorse the Emergent Church...
...if by the definition of Emergent Church it means a re-definition of what the church is, what Truth is, or what absolutes are.

In an effort to reach the lost, the Emergent Church started by considering how to reach the thousands of persons who are lost and disinterested in Christianity. Some leaders and writers in this movement, however, have strayed from biblical truth.  They have gone beyond helping believers understand how to reach the lost, and have tried to re-define absolutes.  For example: the Emergent Church will lean heavily on experience and church tradition as its foundation--not the Scripture.  This leads to heresy.

CE National does not endorse or follow people in this movement!  We have been able to gain ideas from them, however.  For example: The Emergent Church helps people understand what non-believers think of the church and how we can make the Gospel easier to understand for those persons without Christ.  The Emergent Church also insists that authentic relationships form the foundation of Christian community.

For more on the topic of the problems with the Emergent Church, see the Mark Soto, Fireside Dialgue at www.cenational.org/fireside. Or view the notes from the lecture.  The entire dialogue is available free as an electronic download.

While methods and trends change, we must never lose truth. The purpose statement of CE National itself says we must be both biblically accurate and culturally relevant. While we want to be culturally relevant, if we “water down” the truth of the Word, we’ve lost the battle.

CE National does not promote New Age practices, contemplative prayer, or other forms of religious mysticism.

CE National does encourage students and adults to have concerts of prayer and prayer walks. But this is not any type of mystical methodology.  CE National is merely encouraging prayer whether walking, standing, sitting, running, or kneeling.  All are demonstrated in Scripture.

CE National Is Committed to Teaching “The Whole Counsel of God.”
CE National’s core values contain seven principles which drive CE National to biblical accuracy. CE National also agrees to and teaches the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Church’s statement of faith.  Biblical Truth is at the heart of what CE National teaches and practices.  CE National produces materials like Biblical Beliefs, Mack and Company, Bible Quizzing, and other resources. We have never strayed from teaching the whole counsel of God.  We even produce the Readables and materials that teach our distinctives.

CE National’s Lending Library
While CE National agrees theologically with most of the resources we have purchased for our lending library, there are portions of some materials with which CE National would not agree.  Stickers are placed on each resource that we lend indicating that CE National may not agree with all the teachings of the author.  These materials are made available so people can understand other ministries and their unique perspectives in our religious culture.  For example: pastors have commentaries by people with whom they would not agree theologically, but it does not mean the entire book needs to be avoided.

CE National Groups Visit Other Ministries
CE National understands that even though we do not completely agree theologically with an organization or church, there can be some principles which will help our churches.  Because of this, CE National groups visit other churches and organizations in an effort to glean principles of ministry that can be used in the local church. These visits are accompanied by a teacher or leader who can help students/adults understand truth from error and evaluate both their strengths and weaknesses.

CE National and the Changing Culture
CE National understands that culture will change.  Christians must learn and understand the “language and thoughts” of the secular, American mindset in the same way a missionary to Africa must learn how to reach the people of Africa.  Through studying the culture the church can prayerfully learn of ways to share Jesus with the thousands who are totally disinterested in Christianity.   The objective of CE National continues to be to impact the church to be biblically accurate AND culturally relevant.  Truth never changes; culture always changes.   We must share biblical truth, but how we share that may change from culture to culture.  (1 Corinthians 9)

To see other’s response to this type of criticism, go to...
Kary Oberbruner's blog

Moody Bible Institute's response