More open source thoughts

Andrew Jones may have the greatest, longest running blog around. He describes himself as a person who helps people start churches in the emerging culture and helps existing churches and leaders understand them. After my last post about open source as a metaphor for ways that we might consider interacting, I remembered that someone had mentioned a website to that effect, OpenSource Theology, and sure enough it is there and it is really good. And I think the very same Andrew is at the heart of it.

When I went there this morning I read that the most recent posting is announcing a conference on ecclesiology, or theology of the church, with N.T. Wright called The Future of the People of God. I have been reading Tom Wright recently, specificially What the Apostle Paul Really Said. It is an incredible book and now I have two other books on my shelf that are waiting in the dock, or the queue to stay in the right vernacular, The Challenge of Jesus, and Jesus and the Victory of God.

In the "church in the emerging culture" dialogue, specifically the theological discourse, I have noticed a natural progression of thought: epistemology (how we know what we know, the nature of knowledge, truth, etc.) and hermeneutics (dealing with text and interpretation) have dominated the early discussions. To me it seems that coming out of those two subjects must come an examination of ecclesiology (our understanding of the the nature and scope of the church) and missology (how the church understands her mission in the world). I am thrilled about this gathering in the United Kingdom (my friend and recent house guest Jason Clark is one of the hosts), the open source nature of these discussions, and the opportunity to participate.