Liturgics Scholar Patrick Malloy On Emergent Christianity and the Episcopal Church

In his article, “Rick Warren Meets Gregory Dix,” liturgics scholar Patrick Malloy describes the unfolding trend of “Emergent” Christianity as a movement seeking to escape the model of Modernist, Evangelical mega-churches, in hopes of re-capturing the transformative medium of ancient, sensory-engaging Christian worship.[1] This, he believes, is being guided by a culture-wide, philosophical shift towards Post-modernism, which has resulted in a prevailing distrust of absolutes.[2] Malloy sees this disposition as a shared commonality between Episcopalians and “Emergents.” The Episcopal Church has a long history of embracing a spectrum of differing theologies, while clinging to a unity firmly tethered in ancient Christian beliefs and practices.[3]  

            Malloy raises these points to lay the groundwork for discussing a point that has been noted by numerous scholars from both inside and outside the “Emergent” movement—an unsettling lack of solid theological foundation underpinning “Emergent” Christianity’s aim to reengage sensory worship. Although many of the practices used by Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox churches (weekly celebration of the Eucharist for instance) have been adopted by “Emergents,” rather than taking on the corresponding theology supporting these practices, “Emergents” have, as Malloy puts it, “unreflectively retained dominant theology[ies] [from] the tradition[s] from which most of them [have] emerged.”[4]

 

            Malloy’s ringing critique is issued as a reminder to “Emergents” that, with liturgy, “the medium is the message.”[5] His aim is to stress that liturgical worship is more than just the weekly production of a gripping, emotionally moving worship experience—it is a statement of and participation in a greater Divine reality.[6] As such, Malloy believes the Episcopal Church is well poised to reach out to “Emergents” searching for what he calls a, “grand framing story.”[7] It has the “ancient anchors—creedal, structural, and liturgical (all intertwined)—[which] allow the Episcopal Church to move forward with roots planted deep in the past, and that, it seems, is the quest of emergence.”[8] He concludes by noting that “Emergents” too have something to share with Anglicans—their lack of “institutional ties” may allow them to “see the [spiritual] landscape more accurately,” which could be helpful for a church seeking to minister to people where they are.[9]    

*For those interested in reading the original article, you can find it here: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3818/is_201007/ai_n55067962/

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[1] Malloy, Patrick. “Rick Warren Meets Gregory Dix: The Liturgical Movement Comes Knocking at the Megachurch Door,” Anglican Theological Review, (Volume 92: Number 3), 439.

[2] Patrick Malloy, “Rick Warren Meets Gregory Dix,” 446.

[3] Patrick Malloy, “Rick Warren Meets Gregory Dix,” 451.

[4][4] Patrick Malloy, “Rick Warren Meets Gregory Dix,” 449.

[5] Patrick Malloy, “Rick Warren Meets Gregory Dix,” 441.

[6] Patrick Malloy, “Rick Warren Meets Gregory Dix,” 443-444.

[7] Patrick Malloy, “Rick Warren Meets Gregory Dix,” 445.

[8] Patrick Malloy, “Rick Warren Meets Gregory Dix,” 452.

[9] Patrick Malloy, “Rick Warren Meets Gregory Dix,” 452.