rUrevolutionary.com - Carson and Emerging Church Down Under

I didnt blog it last month because i was blog-fasting, but i followed closely the conversation in Perth between Don Carson and two leaders of the emerging missional church - Andrew Hamilton (Hamo from Backyard Missionary) and Geoff Westlake. And since then, FORGE have posted the audio online. HT: Adonis Vidu

Don Carson Critique of Emerging Church (50 mins)
Andrew Hamilton Response (15 mins)
Geoff Westlake Response (15 mins)
Don Carson Reponse (10 mins)
Forum (20 mins)

Carsonconvoblog-1

Ohhh great . . . of all the possible candidates for emerging church leadership, Carson ends up in the Baptist Theological College with 2 YOBBOS!

I have to say that because both guys have been my mates since our late teens. And we were all Baptist pastors in Perth in the early 90's - so you see i am constrained to insult them as a token of affection. The other reason I feel compelled to give them a hard time is because both guys were very good looking IN THEIR DAY [he he he] and managed to have a constant stream of girlfriends while yours truly - blessed in areas other than stunning good looks and cursed with severe shyness and poor self-image - only on a blue moon managed to have female company. And the girls who did go out with me had somehow already gone out with either Andrew or Geoff.

But putting the past aside, and not holding anything against these playboys . . uh hum . . . pastors, I am honestly glad that they were picked to stand with Carson for their conversation about the emerging church. And despite the obvious handicaps and the tarnished reputations from their dating years (i can testify truthfully that before they were married, both guys went out with practically every eligible Christian girl in Perth and probably a few other cities also . . . i have witnesses . . really . . ) they did a spectacular job and enjoyed a profitable conversation with Dr. D. A. Carson, author of Being Conversant with the Emerging Church.

Tskatbc-1

Hamo said some excellent things that i could have easily said myself:
“Am I part of the emerging church? If I define myself by the caricatures on Purgatorio then probably not…
I’m a tad old and boring and bland to be a funky hip post-modern church leader. And yet I am here today because I do find myself for better of worse aligned with the tag of ‘emerging church’. I don’t fit the descrip very well!
(Ned Flanders as the ‘evangelical’ rep!)
The thing is I don’t think I fit the description in Don’s book very well either. I don’t know many in the Aussie emerging missional church who do. In fact if I did I would be concerned. (If I did then I think some of you would have had some fierce arguments with me by now!)” link

Hamo (who dated a Church of Christ pastor's daughter named Shannon Randall long before she went out with me . . . and i should say . . . although it pains me . . . that he went out with a great looking girl named Julie back in 1981 who turned me down flat a few years later) diligently blogged the Carson Conversation [Part 1, 2 3 and 4 and the final reflections] while Geoff (who once dated one of my worship leaders) went out for a beer and didn't say anything at all on his spasmodic log. Actually, Julie refused me because she already had a boyfriend at the time. So she said. . . I am sure it was true. She probably dropped Hamo like a ton of bricks . . I must ask him about that.

Speaking of dating, I was hanging out a few months ago with one of my Church Mission Society colleagues named Carol Walker who not only went to Cambridge, but went to Cambridge at the same time as Don Carson who - despite being a hard-core intellectual, managed to find it within himself to be deeply impressioned with Carol's roommate. And through careful and somewhat sneaky planning, Carol was instrumental in helping the Bible-geek Don Carson to start dating the girl who would eventually become his wife.

Which shows that you don't have to date a thousand girls before you marry one [Hamo?? Geoff??] At least both guys ended up happily married with great wives and were taken off the circuit.

But what about the conversation? Read the Final Reflections to hear Hamo's conclusions. As for the romance between Carson and the Emerging Church, it sounded like some relationships were mended and the way opened for a little flirting in the future. Hamo and Geoff are good at that . . . mending relationships i mean.

Related:
D.A. Carson and the Australians (2005) and on Backyard Missionary

The Carson Chronicles on TSK:
1. Carson and My Sleepless Night (Sept 1, 2004)
2. The Skinny on Carson's Emerging Church Tapes (Sept 2, 2004)
3. The Skinny on Emergent Criticism (Dec 13, 2004)
4. Are We A Threat to the Gospel? (March 26, 2005)
5. Open Blog Post for Don Carson 1.1 (April 15, 2005)
6. The Carson Chronicles: Where Now? (April 16, 2005)
7. The Book of Dr. D.A. Carson