emerging church

Postmodernity & the Emerging Church Movement: Reading Room

This page is designed to provide resources on emerging church/emergent theology to those without easy access to a theological library. Many of the links below connect you to scanned, published books and articles made available by Google Books (often 75% of content). This virtual bibliography collects these materials on one page.

NB: For bibliographic management and notetaking while reading, Zotero is highly recommended (“a free, easy-to-use Mozilla Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources”). For page snapshots and printing of Google Book pages, try Microsoft’s snipping tool (paste text into Word — or Zotero).

Postmodernity and Theology

• Adam, Andrew. Faithful Interpretation: Reading the Bible in a Postmodern World. Fortress Press, 2006; What is Postmodern Biblical Criticism?. Fortress, 1995.
• Adams, Daniel J. Toward a Theological Understanding of Postmodernism, Cross Currents, Vol. 47, Issue 4 (Winter 1997-98).
• Blackwell Companion to Postmodern Theology. Graham Ward, ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2001.
• Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, ed. Cambridge, 2003.
• Allen, Diogenes. Christian Belief in a Postmodern World: The Full Wealth of Conviction. Westminster John Knox, 1989.
• Batstone, David B. Liberation Theologies, Postmodernity, and the Americas. Routledge, 1997 (and copy).
• Boeven, Lieven. Interrupting Tradition: An Essay on Christian Faith in a Postmodern Context. Eerdmans, 2003.
• Boeven, Lieven, and Lambert Leijssen, eds. Sacramental Presence in a Postmodern Context. Peeters, 2001.
• Borgmann, Albert. Crossing the Postmodern Divide. University of Chicago Press, 1992.
• Brueggemann, Walter. Texts under Negotiation: The Bible and Postmodern Imagination. 3rd edition. Fortress, 1993.
• Caputo, John. God, the Gift, and Postmodernism. Indiana University Press, 1999; Against Ethics: Contributions to a Poetics of Obligation with Constant Reference to Deconstruction. 2nd ed. Indiana University Press, 1993.
• Cobb, John B. Postmodernism and Public Policy: Reframing Religion, Culture, Education, Sexuality, Class, Race, Politics, and the Economy. SUNY, 2001.
• Collins, John J. The Bible after Babel: Historical Criticism in a Postmodern Age. Eerdmans, 2005 (also copy).
• Cupitt, Don. Mysticism after Modernity. Wiley-Blackwell, 1998.
• Downing, Crystal L. How Postmodernism Serves (my) Faith: Questioning Truth in Language, Philosophy and Art. InterVarsity, 2006.
• Gallagher, Michael P. The Postmodern Situation: Friend or Foe?, in: Clashing Symbols: An Introduction to Faith and Culture. Rev`d ed. Paulist Press, 2003. Ch. 8, pp. 98-114 (also copy).
• Greer, Robert C. Mapping Postmodernism: A Survey of Christian Options. InterVarsity, 2003.
• Grenz, Stanley J. A Primer on Postmodernism. Eerdmans, 1996.
• Grenz, Stanley J. and John R. Franke. Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Context. Westminster John Knox, 2001.
• Griffin, David Ray. Sacred Interconnections: Postmodern Spirituality, Political Economy, and Art. SUNY, 1990; God and Religion in the Postmodern World: Essays in Postmodern Theology. SUNY, 1989 (also copy); (ed.), Spirituality and Society: Postmodern Visions. SUNY, 1988 (also copy).
• Griffin, David R., William A. Beardslee, and Joe Holland. Varieties of Postmodern Theology. SUNY, 1989 (also copy).
• Groothuis, Douglas R. Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism. InterVarsity, 2000.
• Hiebert, Paul. The Missiological Implications of Epistemological Shifts: Affirming Truth in a Modern/postmodern World. Continuum, 1999.
• Hunt, Stephen. Postmodernist Perspectives: The Yet and the Not-Yet, in: Religion and Everyday Life. Routledge, 2005. Ch. 2, pp. 28-43 (also copy 1; copy 2); cf. also ch. 6: From Church to Choice: Transformations in Contemporary Christianity (check copies above for missing pages).
• Hyman, Gavin. The Predicament of Postmodern Theology: Radical Orthodoxy Or Nihilist Textualism?. Westminster John Knox, 2001.
• Ingraffia, Brian D. Postmodern Theory and Biblical Theology: Vanquishing God`s Shadow. Rev`d ed. Cambridge, 1995.
• Jobling, David, Tina Pippin, and Ronald Schleifer, eds. The Postmodern Bible Reader. Wiley-Blackwell, 2001.
• Kirk, J. Andrew. The Future of Reason, Science and Faith: Following Modernity and Post-Modernity. Ashgate, 2007.
• Küng, Hans. Karl Barth: Theology in the Transition to Postmodernity, in: Great Christian Thinkers. Continuum, 1994. Ch. 7, pp. 185-211.
• Lundin, Roger. The Culture of Interpretation: Christian Faith and the Postmodern World. Eerdmans, 1993.
• Lyon, David. Jesus in Disneyland: Religion in Postmodern Times. Wiley-Blackwell, 2000.
• Michener, Ronald T. Engaging Deconstructive Theology. Ashgate, 2007.
• Milbank, John, Catherine Pickstock, and Graham Ward, eds. Radical Orthodoxy: A New Theology. Routledge, 1999 (also copy 1 and copy 2).
• Muldoon, Tim. Postmodern Spirituality and the Ignatian Fundamentum, in: A Jesuit Education Reader. Ed. George W. Traub. Loyola Press, 2008. Pp. 285-298.
• Oden, Thomas C. After Modernity–What? Agenda for Theology. Zondervan, 1992.
• Osborne, Kenan B. Christian Sacraments in a Postmodern World: A Theology for the Third Millennium. Paulist, 1999.
• Patterson, Sue M. Realist Christian Theology in a Postmodern Age. Cambridge, 1999.
• Phillips, Timothy R., and Dennis L. Okholm. Christian Apologetics in the Postmodern World. InterVarsity, 1995.
• Poloma, Margaret, and Ralph Hood. Blood and Fire: Godly Love in a Pentecostal Emerging Church . NYU Press, 2008.
• Rayment-Pickard, Hugh. Impossible God: Derrida`s Theology. Ashgate, 2003.
• Riggs, John W. Postmodern Christianity. Continuum, 2003.
• Smith, James K. A. Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2006.
• Tanner, Kenneth, and Christopher Alan Hall, eds. Ancient & Postmodern Christianity: Paleo-Orthodoxy in the 21st Century: Essays in Honor of Thomas C. Oden. InterVarsity, 2002.
• Taylor, Mark C. Erring: A Postmodern A/Theology. University of Chicago Press, 1987
• Thacker, Justin. Postmodernism and the Ethics of Theological Knowledge. Ashgate, 2007.
• Valantasis, Richard. Centuries of Holiness: Ancient Spirituality Refracted for a Postmodern Age. Continuum, 2005.
• Van Erp, Stephan, and André Lascaris, eds. Who Is Afraid of Postmodernism? Challenging Theology for a Society in Search of Identity. LIT, 2006.
• Walsh, Brian and Sylvia Keesmaat. Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire. InterVarsity, 2004.
• Ward, Graham. Theology and Contemporary Critical Theory. 2nd rev`d ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2000; Christ and Culture. Rev`d ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2005; Cities of God. Routledge, 2000 (also copy 1 and copy 2).
• Waters, Brent. From Human to Posthuman: Christian Theology and Technology in a Postmodern World. Ashgate, 2006.
• Wells, David F. Above All Earthly Pow`rs: Christ in a Postmodern World. Eerdmans, 2006.
• Westphal, Merold. Overcoming Onto-Theology. Toward a Postmodern Christian Faith. Fordham, 2001 (and copy); Postmodern Philosophy and Christian Thought. Indiana University Press, 1999.
• Wilson, Jonathan R. Practicing Church: Evangelical Ecclesiologies at the End of Modernity, in: The Community of the Word: Toward an Evangelical Ecclesiology. Ed. Mark Husbands and Daniel J. Treier. InterVarsity, 2005. Pp. 63-74.
• Wyschogrod, Edith. Saints and Postmodernism: Revisioning Moral Philosophy. University of Chicago Press, 1990 (also copy 1; copy 2).
• Yates, Paul. Postmodernism, Spirituality and Education in Late Modernity, in: Spiritual Education: Cultural, Religious, and Social Differences: New Perspectives for the 21st Century. Ed. Jane Erricker, Cathy Ota, and Clive Erricker. Sussex Academic, 2001. Ch. 16, pp. 207-219 (also copy 1 and copy 2).
• See also our Christian Theology Reading Room for more resources in Christian Theology.

Click for the newest “Emerging Church” books available with Google preview.

Emerging Missional Church

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Brian McLaren slide show: “Emerging Missional Church”

Emerging Church Movements/Conversations

• Anderson, Ray. An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches. InterVarsity, 2006.
• Bader-Saye, Scott. The Emergent Matrix: A New Kind of Church?, Christian Century, November 30, 2004.
• Beckwith, Ivy. Postmodern Children`s Ministry: Ministry to Children in the 21st Century. Zondervan, 2004.
• Brasher, Brenda E. Give Me That Online Religion. Rutgers University Press, 2004.
• Burke, Spencer, with Colleen Pepper. Making Sense of Church: Eavesdropping on Emerging Conversations about God, Community, and Culture. Zondervan, 2003.
• Campolo, Tony. Letters to a Young Evangelical. Basic Books, 2006.
• Campolo, Tony, and Mary Darling. The God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism, and Justice. John Wiley and Sons, 2007.
• Careaga, Andrew. Eministry: Connecting with the Net Generation. Kregel, 2001.
• Carson, D.A. Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and its Implications. Zondervan, 2005; The Dangers and Delights of Postmodernism, Vol. 12, No. 4 (July/August 2003).
• Conder, Tim and Dan B. Allender. The Church in Transition: The Journey of Existing Churches Into the Emerging Culture. Zondervan, 2006.
• Creps, Earl. Emerging Church/Emerging Culture: Resource List (Oct. 2004 edition). Pp. 104.
• Croft, Steven, ed. Mission-Shaped Questions: Defining Issues for Today`s Church. Church House Publishing, 2008.
• Crouch, Andy, et al., eds. The Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives. Zondervan, 2003.
• Dawson, Lorne L., and Douglas E. Cowan, eds. Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet. Routledge, 2004 (copy copy 1; copy 2).
• De Vine, Mark. The Emerging Church: One Movement–Two Streams. Forthcoming overview chapter in E3: Evangelicals Engaging Emergent. Ed. William D. Henard and Adam W. Greenway. Broadman & Holman, 2009. Pp. 50.
• Driscoll, Mark. Confessions of a Reformission Rev: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church. Rev`d ed. Zondervan, 2006; A Pastoral Perspective on the Emerging Church, Criswell Theological Review, vol. 3, no. 2 (Spring 2006): 87-93.
• Fitz-Gibbon, Jane, and Andrew Fitz-Gibbon. A New Monasticism, CFR: Community of Friends in Renewal, Occasional paper (n.d).
• Flory, Richard W., and Donald E. Miller. Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-boomer Generation. Rutgers University, 2008.
• George, Susan. The Church and the Internet, in: Religion and Technology in the 21st Century: Faith in the e-World. Idea Group, 2006. Ch 7, pp. 129-154.
• Gibbs, Eddie. Preparing Leaders for an Emerging Church. In: Mission to the World: Communicating the Gospel in the 21st Century. Ed. T. Engelvisken. Oxford Centre of Mission Studies. Pp. 329-340.
• Gibbs, Eddie, and Ryan K. Bolger. Emerging Churches; Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.
• Greenway, Adam, and Thom S. Rainer, eds. Evangelicals Engaging Emergent: A Discussion of the Emergent Church Movement. B&H Publishing Group, 2009.
• Hammett, John S. An Ecclesiological Assessment of the Emerging Church Movement. Pp. 11 (no date).
• Hansen, Collin. Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist`s Journey with the New Calvinists. Good News Publishers, 2008.
• Harrold, Philip. Stealing Past the Watchful Dragons: C.S. Lewis`s Incarnational Aesthetics and Today`s Emerging Imagination, in: C.S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy, Vol. 3: Apologist, Philosopher, & Theologian. Ed. Bruce L. Edwards. Greenwood, 2007. Ch. 8, pp. 183-208.
• Højsgaard, Morten T., and Margit Warburg, eds. Religion and Cyberspace. Routledge, 2005 (also copy 1; copy 2).
• Hunsberger, George R. ed. The Church between Gospel and Culture. The Emerging Mission in North America. Eerdmans, 1996.
• Johnson, Gary L.W., and Ronald N. Gleason, eds. Reforming Or Conforming?: Post-Conservative Evangelicals and the Emerging Church. Good News, 2008.
• Jones, Tony. The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier. John Wiley and Sons, 2009 (and copy 2008); Church Planting from the Ground Up. College Press, 2004; Postmodern Youth Ministry: Exploring Cultural Shift, Creating Holistic Connections, Cultivating Authentic Community. Zondervan, 2001.
• Karaflogka, Anastasia. Religion on – Religion in Cyberspace, in: Predicting Religion: Christian, Secular, and Alternative Futures. Ed. G. Davie, L. Woodhead, and P. Heelas. Ashgate, 2003. Ch. 16, pp. 191-202.
• Kimball, Dan. They Like Jesus But Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations. Zondervan, 2007; Emerging Worship: Creating Worship Gatherings for New Generations. Zondervan, 2004.
• Larson, Elena. Deeper Understanding, Deeper Ties: Taking Faith Online, in: Society Online: The Internet in Context. Ed. Philip N. Howard and Steve Jones. SAGE, 2004. Pp. 43-56.
• Lee, Shayne, and Phillip Luke Sinitiere. “A New Kind of Christian: Brian McLaren and the Emerging Church,” in: Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace. NYU Press, 2009. Ch. 4, pp. 77-106.
• Liederbach, Mark, and Alvin L. Reid. The Convergent Church: Missional Worshippers in an Emerging Culture. Kregel, 2009.
• Long, Jimmy. Emerging Hope: A Strategy for Reaching the Postmodern Generations. 2nd, revised. InterVarsity, 2004.
• McLaren, Brian D. Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. Thomas Nelson, 2007; A Generous Orthodoxy. Zondervan, 2006; The Church on the Other Side: Doing Ministry in the Postmodern Matrix. Revised. Zondervan, 2003; A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, …. Zondervan, 2006 (and copy); The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003. See also individual published articles by McLaren posted on his webpage; articles on McLaren).
• McKnight, Scot. McLaren Emerging, Christianity Today, Sept. 2008; Five Streams of the Emerging Church, Christianity Today, Feb. 2007; What is the Emerging Church? Fall Contemporary Issues Conference, Westminster Theological Seminary. Oct 26-27, 2006. Pp. 30.
• Monts, Aaron J. The Emerging Church. Report presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course TH710 Insights for Ministering to Contemporary Minds, Lincoln Seminary. Nov. 2005.
• Morgenthaler, Sally. Worship Evangelism: Inviting Unbelievers Into the Presence of God. 2nd ed. Zondervan, 1999.
• Moynagh, Michael. Emergingchurch.intro. Kregel, 2005.
• Myers, Joseph R., Renee N Altson, Ivy Beckwith. The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy, Community, and Small Groups. Zondervan, 2003.
• Pagitt, Doug. A Christianity Worth Believing: Hope-filled, Open-armed, Alive-and-well Faith for the Left Out, Left Behind, and Let Down in Us All. John Wiley and Sons, 2009; Reimagining Spiritual Formation: A Week in the Life of an Experimental Church. Zondervan, 2004.
• Partridge, Christopher H. Cyberspirituality, in: The Enchantment of the West. Vol. II: Alternative Spiritualities, Sacralization, Popular Culture, and Occulture. Continuum, 2006. Ch. 4, pp. 135-164 (also copy)
• Peatross, Fred. A Mobile Church for E.P.I.C. Times: Moving Across Faith Community Borders. iUniverse, 2003.
• Pennington, David. The Emergence of the Emerging Church: What’s Oozing from ‘the Ooze’?. Paper presented at the National Leadership Conference, Calvary Baptist Seminary, Feb. 2006.
• Perriman, Andrew. Otherways: In Search for an Emerging Theology. Lulu.Com, 2007.
• Piper, John, and Justin Taylor, eds. The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World. Good News, 2007.
• Rowell, Andrew. Innovative Ecclesiastical Practices: Emerging Churches in Dialogue with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. January 2007. Pp. 47. (See also our Bonhoeffer Reading Room).
• Savage, Carl, William Presnell. Narrative Research in Ministry. A Postmodern Research Approach for Faith Communities. Wayne Oates Institute. 2008.
• Schwartzentruber, Michael, ed. The Emerging Christian Way: Thoughts, Stories, and Wisdom for a Faith of Transformation. Wood Lake, 2006.
• Smith, R. Scott. Brian McLaren, the Emerging Church,     and the Issue of Foundationalism, Knowing and Doing (Winter 2006): 1-4.
• Suderman, Robert J. Missional Ecclesiology and Leadership: Toward an Understanding of the Emerging Church. (Mennonite Church Resource Centre)
• Sweet, Leonard I. SoulTsunami: Sink Or Swim in New Millennium Culture. Zondervan, 2001.
• Sweet, Leonard I., Brian D. McLaren and Jerry Haselmayer. A Is for Abductive: The Language of the Emerging Church. Zondervan, 2003.
• Taylor, Steve. The Out of Bounds Church? Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change. Zondervan, 2005.
• Thumma, Scott. The Shape of Things to Come: Megachurches, Emerging Churches, and Other New Religious Structures, in: Faith in America: Changes, Challenges, New Directions. Ed. Charles H. Lippy. Greenwood, 2006. Ch. 10, pp. 85-206.
• Webber, Robert. Worship Old and New. Rev`d ed. Zondervan, 1994.
• Webber, Robert, John Burke, Dan Kimball, Mark Driscoll, Doug Pagitt, Karen M. Ward. Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches: Five Perspectives. Zondervan, 2007.
• Withrow, Lisa R. Claiming New Life: Process-Church for the Future. Christian Board of Publication, 2008.

Click for the newest “Emerging Church” books available with Google preview.

Missional Church

• See Missional Church Reading Room

Postmodernism: Philosophical / Cultural Sources

• Aylesworth, Gary. Postmodernism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (online), 2005.
• Drolet, Michael, ed. The Postmodernism Reader: Foundational Texts. Routledge, 2004 (also copy 1, and copy 2).
• Natoli, Joseph P., and Linda Hutcheon, eds. A Postmodern Reader. SUNY Press, 1993 (also copy).
• Sim, Stuart. The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism 2nd ed. Routledge, 2005 (also copy and 1st edition).
• Taylor, Victor E., and Charles E. Winquist, eds. Encyclopedia of Postmodernism. Taylor & Francis, 2001 (also copy 1 and copy 2).
• Woods, Tim. Beginning Postmodernism. Manchester University Press, 1999.
• … under construction …
• Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Robert Audi, ed. Cambridge University, 1995. Pp. 1001 (available as eBook to the Tyndale community only over the Gale Virtual Reference Library).
• EpistemeLinks: Philosophy Resources on the Internet
• RS-Web: Philosophy Links
• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Articles, Essays

• See Christianity Today`s special collection of articles on The Emergence of Emergent.
• Theological Journals Search (theological journals for which full text is freely available on the Internet; links to many good sources).
• See Tyndale’s eJournal Database (Choose EBSCOhost database; log in; choose “EBSCOhost” and then “All” databases; over 170 full-text theological journals available to you from home; for a few additional journals, go back to Tyndale Journal Database and choose the ProQuest Religion or JSTOR databases); see list of Tyndale’s academic ejournals with full-text articles for download.
• Search with PDF Article Search Engine

Other Sources on the WWW

• Brian D. McLaren
• Deep Church.org.uk
• Emergent Village (Brian McLaren et al, with blogs, podcasts, etc.); see also Emerging Church Resources: A Beginners Reference Guide
• Vintage Faith (Dan Kimball)
• Nidus Festival: faith.arts.justice (Festival: Toronto, Sept 26, 2009)
• Lindisfarne Community: A Neo-Monastic Network with a Heart for Spirituality and Service
• Fresh Expressions Canada (also UK main site).
• Tall-Skinny-Kiwi
• Next-Wave: Church and Culture
• Emerging Church.Info
• The Ooze: Conversation for the Journey
• Mosaic (Pasadena, Calif.)
• Alternative Worship
• Mosaic Church (Austin, TX)
• Open Source Theology: Collaborative Theology for the Emerging Church
• Search Google videos for terms like: “postmodernism and the emerging church”, “emergent church”; or search for videos by/with authors above (e.g., Brian McLaren, Eddie Gibbs, Mark Driscoll, Tony Jones, etc).
• … under construction

How do I cite my sources?

See “Turabian” and “Chicago” Styles or SBL Handbook of Style (similar to Turabian; cf. sec. 7)

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