Emergent UK site winding down
19 Mar 2009
I’ve made the decision to close down the Emergent UK site following on from the review in September last year. (Whilst the site will close down, apart from a placeholder the spirit and people and projects involved will live on – I’m adding this after the comments below)
The one section of the site that gets the most hits is the resource section, which we’ll try to locate somewhere else. Some of the resources are showing their age, but there are some classics.
So if you want to get them, go to here, before we take them down/move them.
The site will have a placeholder page and direct people to Deep Church and Reflective Practice.
The front page will soon say:
“After 10 years of being part of Emergent, and our involvedment in the larger emerging church conversation, we’ve decided to celebrate, by moving on to pastures new. A review of what we are grateful for, and why we are moving onto other projects, with our web presence relocation, can be found here .
Meantime, you can see the ongoing projects we are part of at:
www.deepchurch.org.uk & www.reflectivepractice.net”
Tagged: Emergent
26 comments
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Comment by Existential Punk
2.23 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Jase,
This REALLY saddens me that Emergent UK is RIP. Is there anyone else that can take it over? This conversation is FAR from dead and we need a global cohesiveness. REALLY, PLEASE PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER HANDING THIS OVER TO SOMEONE ELSE IN THE UK! i personally have benefited greatly from Emergent UK. i understand completely if you are in a different space but please consider those of us who are not and see the benefit in it.
Thanks!
Respectfully,
Adele
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Comment by Jason Clark
2.32 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Hi Adele,
The web site is closing, and has had little development for such a long time, that this seems a logical conclusion.
The conversation is still happening here, and at http://www.reflecticepractice.net, it just won’t carry the name Emergent UK.
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Comment by Existential Punk
2.38 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Jase,
The link says it cannot be found.
Also, i just think continuity and name recognition are important. i think people will have a difficult time finding this even if the conversation is continuing there. There is still a world-wide emergent network and the UK is a vital and important part of that, IMHO.
Tony Jones stepped down as Emergent USA Coordinator but someone else is still running the site. That’s all my point is and i am not criticizing you. Everyone has a season!
i know many who identify and resonate with Emergent UK.
Thanks!
G-D speed, my friend!
Adele
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Comment by Jason
2.42 pm on 19 Mar 2009
I just checked all the links in the post and they are working, which one are you having problems with.
We are much smaller than Emergent US, and as I said we’ve morphed into something else, and the name change and new sites, mean the old site has been mostly out of use.
The site will be there, but point people to what is taking place on the other sites, and projects, with their new names.
We don’t own the name, anyone has been free to use the name Emergent in anyway they want to.
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Comment by Existential Punk
2.44 pm on 19 Mar 2009
The reflectice practice link. Is it supposed to be reflective?
Comments won’t nest below this level.
Comment by Jason
2.49 pm on 19 Mar 2009
The spelling is ‘reflective’ and when I click it, the link works?
Comment by Existential Punk
2.52 pm on 19 Mar 2009
the spelling in your comment is reflectice and when i click it it does NOT work!
http://www.reflecticepractice.net is what you have in your comment.
Comment by Existential Punk
2.54 pm on 19 Mar 2009
the link in your post is correct and works now that i see it but in your comment to me it did not, which is where i was clicking originally!
Comment by Jason
2.55 pm on 19 Mar 2009
The link in the main post works
http://www.reflectivepractice.net sorry for any confusion
Comment by Existential Punk
2.59 pm on 19 Mar 2009
i know it does as i stated above. At first i did not see that link in your post! Since you posted the link in your comment that was what i was clicking on!
OK< the confusion is cleared up now. YAY! 
Reply here
Comment by Existential Punk
2.43 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Jase,
i totally get where you are coming from and things need to grow and evolve. Yet, i believe things can evolve and there can also remain things for others who are not in the same place as you or others moving on. i still see merit in the Emergent conversation and so do many others.
Thanks for all you have done to serve Emergent UK. YOU RAWK!
Warmest Regards,
Adele
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Comment by Jason
2.49 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Tnx
Comments won’t nest below this level.
Reply here
Comment by Zach
2.37 pm on 19 Mar 2009
I find this something that will continue to happen both in the UK and in the US. And for good reasons. If we are truly an evolving generative conversation and movement, then stasis will have little place.
Its okay to be sad in the sense of missing past things that were good and fulfilling, but life and faith cannot stay in one place. We should celebrate the ability and willingness to evolve as a movement.
Godspeed!
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Comment by Jason
2.42 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Tnx Zack, jase
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Comment by Existential Punk
2.57 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Zach,
i totally see stasis not having a place, but some people are not in that place because they are still getting a lot out of the conversation. i think the challenge is how to grow, not stagnate, but accommodate the different places where people are at in the conversation. Some people are in the place of moving to different places, but we ALL move at different speeds/paces and need to include everyone.
Adele
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Comment by Becky
3.27 pm on 19 Mar 2009
I agree Adele, I’m sad to lose the emergent ‘brand’ in the UK, because I think it incorporated a lot of what people were thinking and feeling, but were unable to articulate.
I still think people will use the word, it does seem as though some of the new stuff is going in a very different direction, so I’m sure someone somewhere will take on the emergent candle and keep it burning brightly
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Comment by Existential Punk
3.33 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Thanks, Becky! We just have to remember that everyone is not in the same space/place and recognize that is ok. But to declare something dead when others do not see it that way is harmful imho. Let it be dead for them who feel the need to move on. If i were living in the UK i’d seek out people to help me carry on the UK Emergent name and what it means. Again, i am not accusing Jase of anything. Just spouting off my thoughts!
Adele
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Comment by marc
9.11 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Hi All
Having closed the emergent uk media arts site earlier this year myself I am not suprised that Emergent UK is now closing.
I dont think emergent was the place we were going but more like a
stop along the way, a resting place like a good pub, a chance to stop, have a conversation, gain our bearings, prepare and
then move on towards the next destination.
I feel that this part of the conversation is now done and valuable it has been.
I look forward to the next stop along the way…as the saying goes..
“It is better to travel than to arrive”
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Comment by Existential Punk
9.25 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Hi Marc,
I respect your thoughts and i do not mean to burst your bubble, but i have to ask, ‘Who are you to decide this part of the conversation is over?’ Maybe for you and others it is but for many others it is not. Many people move at different speeds and for a group of people to decide it’s all over for everyone is arrogant in my opinion. People like Jonny Baker, Mark Berry, Pete Rollins, and others in the UK have been a part of this ‘alt. worship/emerging church for a really long time and still are greatly involved and see the need for it. Rollins told me once that deconstruction is not a one time thing and then we move on to something else. It is a continual process. Yes things evolve and it is healthy to do so. Why are some so quick to rush and say this is over and now we ALL must evolve? There are those that are just in the beginning stages of joining this conversation. Thus my point in how do we make room for ALL people – those that are ready to move on and those who are just beginning and all those in between? This is not supposed to be a ‘one-size fits all’ ‘cookie-cutter’ faith is it? That’s my challenge to all of us. ok, i have ranted enough with my thoughts.
Warmest Regards,
Adele
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Comment by marc
9.48 pm on 19 Mar 2009
Hi Adele
Dont worry you havent burst my bubble:)
This part of the conversation is over for me, not neccesarily you or others. Emergent wasn’t my destination but as I have said agood stop on the way.
For me, emergent was not about deconstruction, I saw a someone deconstruct himself out of a faith. Emergent was about a journey, a world view, an orthodoxy and I have very much enjoyed the conversation but moved on.
I asked Jonny Baker 5 or 6 years ago just how long can alternative worship be alternative…is it still alternative or is it now part of the main stream? From my view it is part of the mainstream.
I dont think the conversation has finished it has just moved on which always happens in conversations doesnt it?
If no one ever moves on how can we grow and learn, explore and enrich the Body of Christ?
Pax
Marc
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Comment by rodney neill
12.02 am on 20 Mar 2009
I last attended a Soliton gathering in Feb 2007 and since then the ‘emerging church’ conversation seems to have lost momentum/energy in the UK – most of the time there is such a lack of shared understanding of what ‘emergent’ actually signifies it is very hard to communicate about this especially on the web!!! There is probably quite significant personal differences between some of the leading UK personalities which means that the conversation will splinter in different directions. This is only my take and I could be wrong!
Rodney
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Comment by Phil Groom
10.02 am on 23 Mar 2009
Not so much a case of RIP surely as emergence at last? How long can a caterpillar remain in its chrysalis? A butterfly cannot be always emerging: it has to take wing and fly.
Fly high and fly happy, people!
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Comment by marc
10.24 am on 23 Mar 2009
Hi Rodney
I tend to agree with you to a point. I dont think emergent UK lost any momentum but has emerged into something else.
I think past of emergent and deliberate use of teh name emergent was to emerge and not to stay the same and I think the conversation will and is going off in several directions.
pax
Marc
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Comment by Rogier Bos
9.40 am on 24 Mar 2009
Jason,
I understand the reasoning in closing the site down. Thanks for your service to the body of Christ through the Emergent conversation. Like any prophet you took a lot of heat for it. But let’s not forget how many people were blessed by it.
Thanks!
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Comment by Jason Clark
9.46 am on 24 Mar 2009
Thanks for your encouragements and kinds words Rogier. Some time since we were both in Belgium, I hope you are well mate,
Jason
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