Charlie Wear’s Notes

When I founded Next-Wave I was a burnt out and discouraged failed pastor. I read Willard’s Divine Conspiracy and wondered if I had ever been a follower of Jesus. I had recently closed a normal church and was involved in the beginnings of a ministry to skateboarders. The name of Next-Wave was inspired by a leadership lecture by John Wimber. John was talking about the life-cycle of movements. He was drawing these wave-like symbols on a whiteboard depicting the rise and then crest of a movement. He was talking about the stages of a birth, life and death of a movement. You know, something like: Man…Movement…Machine…Monument…Memorial.

John’s audience were leaders in the Vineyard movement. John had been working on his leadership transition for a while but thought it was important the leaders of the movement know that, without constant renewal, movements die. Wimber’s encouragement in that message, pointing at the crest of the wave, “When you get here. Take the Best and Go.”

The cover story in this month’s issue of Next-Wave is entitled: The Decline of the Emerging Church (?). In the weeks leading up to its publication there are stirrings that the title of the story might be more than descriptive.

My discouragement 11 years ago was born out of my perceived judgment that the institutional church had failed to bring the message of Jesus to my generation, the baby boomers. I was not only angry, I was sad. I didn’t believe that it was the will of God that so many of his children should never hear about his unfailing love. I blamed the older generation for clinging to their traditions. I blamed them for protecting their institutions. I blamed them for hanging onto positional leadership at the expense of forward momentum.

Don’t get me wrong, I acknowledge that God had birthed a number of movements that did multiply and minister to the baby boomers, the Calvary Chapels and the Vineyards among them. However, to me, it just wasn’t enough. Having experienced the failures of my church fathers, I realized that it was highly likely that MY generation would make the same mistakes. I was pretty convinced that this was happening all around me and that another generation, the people I thought of as Gen-X, were missing out on the life that following Jesus promises.

When I approached future church planter, Rogier Bos, about starting Next-Wave I wanted an “e-zine” that would speak to these issues. About six months into the project Next-Wave launched in January 1999 and it was full of articles about postmodernism. I hadn’t even heard of postmodernism! The words “emerging” and “church” had not yet been juxtaposed. Emergent had not been founded. That came later along with terms like ancient-future worship, neo-monastic communities, transformational, incarnational and missional.

I had been discouraged because I thought that nobody was doing anything to reach the rising generations based on my observation of the movement I was involved in and the readily observable institutional and mainline denominations. Imagine my surprise a few months after the birth of Next-Wave to discover that God’s Spirit was at work all over the world birthing new expressions of his kingdom! Along came Emergent and their cohorts, Acts 29 was planting churches to beat the band, Mosaic pastor Erin McManus was energizinging artistic expression, McLaren’s writings and others like Neil Cole were organically going about the business of doing what has always been done by those who are inspired by the Holy Spirit, they were following Jesus and building his church.

One of my favorite writers in this realm has been Andrew Jones, a practicing missionary who has traveled the world with his family encouraging and nurturing what God is doing. There has been some controversy in the past few weeks as Andrew wrote an article entitled: Emerging Church Movement (1989-2009)?

This prompted a response by Tony Jones: Lonnie Frisbee and the Non-Demise of the Emerging Church. I’ll have to admit that I was really irritated by Tony’s treatment of Lonnie Frisbee, the Calvary Chapels and the Vineyard based on the documentary film. I knew Lonnie Frisbee in the last years of his life. I knew him to be a follower of Christ. One in a long line of wounded people who have been mightily used by God. Jones’ application of Weber’s conclusion is in its best light, misplaced. Lonnie was not the leader of either the Calvary Chapel or the Vineyards. He was a catalyst, to be sure.

I think a fairer observation would be an application of Weber’s conclusion to the current transition taking place in the leadership of Emergent. A group that first appoints a National Coordinator and then dissolves that office in a matter of years is more than likely experiencing a transition of leadership.

Next-Wave has always endeavored to be inclusive of viewpoints. It has been our intent to be a reflection of what God is doing to bring his good news to those who have not yet heard it outside of the efforts of the established and institutional church. Over the years we have included articles about all of the flavors of the banquet that God has been preparing. It is interesting that so many cling to terms and language and work so hard to revise our language as a means to changing our thinking.

As for myself, I thought of Next-Wave as the “journal of the emerging church” for a number of years. (At least since “Emerging Church” became a term of widespread use.) I still think it is a useful term if it is not identified with a particular theological mindset. Emerging simply means that which is coming into existence. Unfortunately, “emerging church” now has its own set of Samsonite luggage to carry, much like evangelical church, the fundamental church, the pentecostal church and the charismatics.

Here is my prayer for the second decade of Next-Wave: “Father, may we be faithful to your call on our lives, to love you will all of our hearts and to love others and one another, as we love ourselves. Out of that love, Father, I pray that we may be winsome messengers of the good news of your grace and mercy for humanity. Empower us with your spirit, in the name of your son, Jesus, let it be.”

I saw Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon last week. Slumdog really blew me away. Very disturbing images and scenes. It is an astonishing film, very unpredictable in a sort of predictable way.

Frost/Nixon was a study in arrogance and devastation. I came away with a lot more respect for David Frost. I found Frank Langella’s performance as Nixon uncanny and strangely sympathetic.

Over at Next-Wave our Ten-Year Retrospective Cover Story earned some criticism for the lack of diversity in those interviewed. I will say this to women who are active in emerging church leadership, send us your articles. They will get a sympathetic reception.

Next-Wave editor Scott Bane has an excellent post on his blog, Fusing the Two Halves of Jesus. Read it and wait with me for the next part of Scott’s article.

I don’t know if the following quote is from Tim Stevens or from Tim Stevens quoting Andy Stanley at the latest Catalyst conference, but it rang a bell for me:

"When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near. You look back with smiles and lots to celebrate, but you don’t have a lot to work forward to."

I remember the good old days pretty well. When I am willing to be honest with myself I realize they weren’t that "good." However, there was a period when I was in the learning and discovering phase of an entire new area of thinking and doing. I was devouring material on church planting, church growth and evangelism. I was learning how to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. For me these good old days ran from about 1990 to 1995. It was in the late fall of 1995 that my voyage of discovery led me to become a pastor. It was really an accident. I often look back to that Spirit-orchestrated event and wonder what it was all about.

I have written about those three years at other times, but if they were dreams, they were of the nightmare quality. Ultimately all of these things crashed and since about 1998 I have been rebuilding, my psyche, and my vocation. Around that time, in the fall of 1998, I got clear instructions about my ministry activities for the next season and those have borne the predicted fruit.

Another quote from the Tim Stevens post:

"The best idea for reaching the next generation isn’t going to come from the existing generation, it’s going to come from the next generation.

• If you are over 45 years old, you aren’t going to have any good ideas. It’s your job to recognize the good ideas.
• Don’t do to the next generation what the previous generation did to you.
• Be a student, not a critic."

I think it is fair to say that I learned this lesson early. Next-Wave is an outgrowth of that learning. For the next few years I will be joining the readers of Next-Wave in learning from Scott Bane, Next-Wave’s new editor. Scott is one of the new generation of practitioners who are trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus in our day and age.

A father of four, Scott, and his wife Sheryl, give me a lot of hope for the future of Christianity. I met Scott a couple of years ago when I was working with Steve Sjogren and his publishing and web activities. Scott embodies all of the leadership qualities I wish I had at his age. He is generous and willing to serve and he is smart. He is listening hard for the voice of the Holy Spirit in his life. He is a good friend. I can’t wait to see what happens with Next-Wave under his leadership.

I must take time to thank Bob Hyatt for serving Next-Wave as editor over the last two years. For those of you who don’t check in at bob’s blog, he is lead pastor of a faith community in Portland, Oregon. From all I read he is an attentive father and husband and has an "apostolic" heart to see new expressions of faith started throughout his city and the US. His insights into the life of a practicing church planter and pastor have been helpful to many readers of Next-Wave over the last couple of years. Editing Next-Wave is a labor of love. It is a "pay-free" position. I think the true thanks for Bob will come someday when he can see clearly the influence his words and efforts have had for the kingdom.

Next-Wave has had five editors since it first started publishing in January 1999. In chronological order they are: Rogier Bos, David Hopkins, Jason Evans, Bob Hyatt and Charlie Wear. I put my name at the end of the list because I think of myself as the interim editor, that is, when my regular editor moves on to other endeavors, I fill in. This month marks the end of Bob Hyatt’s two-year tenure as editor of Next-Wave.

With the exception of myself and Rogier Bos, each of Next-Wave’s editors have started out as article contributors. In fact, David Hopkins probably still holds the record as the most prolific Next-Wave author. Each editor brought something unique to the mix. Bob Hyatt’s unique flavor has centered around his role as the founding pastor of a church in Portland, Oregon, the evergreen community.

Bob’s editorials and articles always had something of the pastor’s life in them. During his time as editor, he and his wife have birthed two children and his church has added an extra location.

Being editor of Next-Wave is a labor of love. It doesn’t pay much (in fact, the position is entirely voluntary). There isn’t much glory. I speak for myself here, there is a sense that one is playing a role in what the Holy Spirit is doing in the world today and that brings its own thanks.

Next month a new era begins as my friend, Scott Bane, takes over as editor of Next-Wave. Scott is a pastor starting a "church" in Northwest Indiana. More about him next month.

A little known fact about Next-Wave:
1. You can find Next-Wave through three web addresses: next-wave.org, the-next-wave.org, and the-next-wave-ezine.info. This is the result of an attempt to initiate a collaborative editorial content managment system using Manila. It was Jason Evans’ idea and worked great for the year that he was editor. After that, not so much :).

On the eve of publication of Doug Pagitt’s new book, A Christianity Worth Believing, Doug and Bob Hyatt sat down at the National Pastors’ Convention for a chat about how Doug thinks of his critics, about pressure from the left and right, that infamous interview with Way of the Master, and what’s next- a career in politics?

They started off talking about tattoos (part of the conversation we’ll save you from…)  but a sun/moon/stars/Psalms tattoo led us to talking about Scriptural cosmology and how some people see/deal with Scripture… and that’s where we jump into the conversation…

 

 A Christianity Worth Believing -- Interview with Doug Pagitt: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is an mp3 of an excellent article by Len Hjalmarson, Hope for a New Year, which appears in this month’s "Big" issue of Next-Wave. This quote encapsulates the essence of the article:

If I had something to speak into the emerging and missional conversation, it might be this wisdom of Francis. Let us begin again, for as yet we have done nothing.

The mp3 is in two parts…

 

 Hope for a New Year, pt. 1 by Len Hjalmarson: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Hope for a New Year, pt. 2 by Len Hjalmarson: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It is a rumor and probably a myth that Nero "fiddled" while Rome burned as a result of a fire that he set. No matter where the phrase comes from it has come to mean: "To occupy oneself with unimportant matters and neglect priorities during a crisis." Is this the story of the life of the church in America today, or what?

There has been a lot of conversation in the last year or so about "heresy." I suppose we can partially blame that on my friend, Spencer Burke, who titled his latest book, "A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity." Or perhaps we can thank those folks like D.A. Carson and the Pyromaniacs or Slice of Laodicea for occupying their time with hunting down those who do not adhere to their standards of orthodoxy.

On the eve of the start of the tenth year of publication for Next-Wave I wonder if most of us are not occupying ourselves with unimportant matters. But Charlie, you might say, what is the big crisis?

First of all, I will have to ask my younger friends to forgive me in advance for a couple of things. I am probably a "modern" thinker. I am a baby boomer. I think in terms of cause and effect. I don’t think you can build a building by picking out the color of the wallpaper first. I think sequentially. I believe that movements need to move. I have personally witnessed the rapid decline of a movement in the aftermath of the death of its founder. I was raised in the era of Billy Graham and the Four Spiritual Laws and just can’t shake the feeling that the world and its inhabitants are "going to hell in a handbasket" at a rapid pace.

I have to admit that I have been somewhat comforted by the ideas put forth by some of my friends that "hell" may not be all we thought it was cracked up to be, or that making a decision is not the same as making a disciple, but can we really be satisfied with the results of our "church" methodologies?

I was personally quite motivated to evangelize young people because my oldest son, who had been raised as a church goer and attendee of Christian school, was quite willing to tell me as he approached the age of 16 that he didn’t believe in God or, for that matter, the church he was raised in. I tried everything I knew to cause him to change his mind. I took him to evangelistic meetings. I reasoned with him. I gave him books. Nothing worked. Eventually he got married, had his firstborn son, and attended a Promise Keepers conference and went forward for the altar call on Friday night. "Whew," that was a close one, I thought.

As a teenager in the 60s, the era of sex, drugs and rock and roll, I was a poster child for the idea, "Don’t trust anyone over 30." And in fact, when I reached the age of 30, I didn’t trust myself very much. Certainly the church of my youth had nearly completely missed my generational cohort by refusing to usher our music and our desire to lead into their sanctuaries of worship. If this were not so, every church in America would be bursting to overflowing. We know that the megachurch success stories are the exception, not the rule.

If the parents and elders of my youth missed evangelizing my generation, what will happen as the "new" baby boomer elders make the same mistakes? What of the millions of young people who have been raised without any exposure to the Bible or church except what they can see as they whisk by Robert Schuller, Joel Osteen and Benny Hinn while on their way to MTV? I am sorry that I can’t abdicate my own role in the process of evangelization of the next generation by becoming "transformational," "missional," "incarnational," and leaving it up to the Holy Spirit to preach the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the next generation.

Perhaps I can join with so many others of my generation and proclaim that the younger leaders are "not ready" to assume leadership and responsibility. Bill Clinton was the first baby boomer president, and George Bush has been the second. Let’s be honest. Did they do that bad a job compared to their predecessors?

Today there are those who are praising Nobel Laureate Al Gore for his role in highlighting the global warming crisis. No matter what your politics, it is clear that Mr. Gore made a valiant effort to stop the "fiddling." I am wishing that church leaders of every age and every stripe would face an inconvenient truth. We are failing our children! Whatever we thought worked, no longer does. We have to do something more than just talk about it if we are going to change the outcome.

Just a quick side note in conclusion. My son has followed through on his Promise Keepers’ commitment and is an active part of his local church community. As I prayed with my daughter-in-law over the phone yesterday before she underwent surgery I realized that our faith in God is alive and well and continuing into the next generation. I am grateful for God for his intervention in our lives and for the hope that our faith provides as we face the challenges of daily life.

From 1990 to 1995 I went to school, well not really. I had gotten intrigued with the concept of church growth and church planting and attended conferences and seminars aplenty, bought books and audio material, and, in general, immersed myself in the subject. I guess that is why I have always liked conferences, they can be great learning experiences.

There are two events happening this week, or ten days, that I would really have liked to attend. One is Soularize. This year it is in the Bahamas. A highlight for Jordon Cooper was his opportunity to swim with the sharks, literally! My friend Spencer Burke puts on a great event and there are some people there I want to meet some day.

The other event is Off The Map by my friend, Jim Henderson. If you haven’t attended a Henderson event, you must experience it at least one time in your life. It is part Conan O’Brien, part Charlie Rose, part Oprah, part Deal or No Deal, and just downright entertaining as well as inspiring. For some reason I just knew I couldn’t make those events this year, too much happening in the Wear Family, Inc.

Tuesday my 4 yr. old has an outpatient hernia repair. I take the red-eye to Tampa tonight and then return to California on Wednesday. It has been hard to sleep this week with all that is happening in the family. But a thought for my friends in the Bahamas and next week’s Off The Map in Seattle bubbles to the surface once in a while.

Next-Wave editor Bob Hyatt writes:

I’m currently privileged to edit what Andrew Jones calls "possibly the greatest emerging church online publication ever."

It’s not only a privilege but even a pleasure to have a hand in shaping what has been and continues to be a voice, a reflection, a sounding board and even a challenge to this emerging church conversation we find ourselves in.

In this Issue of Next-Wave we have two ways for you to reflect with us…

One is the amazing e-book that Charlie Wear has put together. It chronicles the history of Next Wave by highlighting the contributions of all those who have edited over these last eight years. It’s an amazing compendium of articles, interviews and reviews as well as some bonus materials…

It’s official. Next-Wave has been publishing for 100 months. Amazing! I have spent a considerable amount of time compiling articles by the five editors of the ezine, interviews and bonus material.

You can download the ebook in either pdf or doc format. If you want to help defray the costs of keeping Next-Wave going, feel free to make a contribution.

100 Months — Five Editors  pdf
100 Months — Five Editors doc

Blessings…