Phyllis Tickle brings generosity, rich understanding to LifeTogether visit

This post was contributed by Micah Intern Natalie Finstad.

She may have titled herself a “one-trick pony” but those of us who spent the afternoon with Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence know this demarcation is deceiving. Filled to the brim with knowledge of polity, history, science, and philosophy – Phyllis came to teach us much more than just “one trick.” Guided by the Spirit, she bore news of a movement currently transforming the church. She came, not to “endorse” this movement but to share her “observations,” additionally she shared with us her soul.

Her soul was beautiful. In my years working with the church I have met many people, rarely do I encounter a person as authentic and graceful as Phyllis Tickle. Her wealth of knowledge – overwhelming to us novices– rolled off her tongue like nursery rhymes. In addition to her knowledge she had a grace about her that made you feel loved. Through all her learning and teaching and writing and traveling – she has not lost sight of the goodness of God which resides in each one of us.

This quality certainly results from her full encounter of humanity. Phyllis is without a doubt a product of a rich life. At 76, she has seen almost everything: a parish community hatefully shun a divorcee, birth control’s effect on theology, gay men become priests, women become breadwinners. All things her childhood church swore would never happen, yet they did and Phyllis is here to bear witness.

She came also to bear witness of facts – emotions can hardly carry a movement as powerful as Phyllis describes. Phyllis talked about the inevitable 500-year cycle of the church. According to church scholars the church experiences a major shift of sorts every 500 years, The Great Schism and The Great Reformation are both examples of these. These shifts occur when political, social and religious climates are ripe for change. Phyllis Tickle believes we are as ripe as can be.

Political and social causes such as the: family planning movement, women’s liberation movement, gay rights movement, abolition movement and the normalization of divorce have caused us to evaluate how literal scripture is really to be understood. Church rifts over issues such as these are abundant and more often people are seeking other venues to experience God. Whether that may be a home meeting of Christians, an AA meeting, a social justice cause or a quiet meditation pillow – the traditional church is losing ground because of its refusal to acknowledge the urgency of these matters.

What’s the result? The Great Emergence.

Out of this turbulent time the church is emerging in a new way. It’s letting go of the traditional hierarchy and acknowledging the power of the Spirit and the Christ in us all. You can see this type of church in many different cities, many different denominations and many different forms. Phyllis described a Catholic Church of 150 whose entire congregation gathers at the alter, something once reserved for priests alone. She talked of Episcopalians who are willing to throw away our “Episcocrat” status and instead welcome the homeless, poor, outcast and unbeliever to the Lord’s Table. She talked about Christians around the country, returning to the central message of how Christ lived and how we can best emulate him. She said this was spreading like a wild fire and it wasn’t up to us to validate it – rather we better just acknowledge it.

I can say without a doubt that we here at Life Together are acknowledging it, even better; we’re a part of it.

Phyllis Tickle says you can tell an Emergent Church by the order of the 3 B’s. Traditionally churches have matriculated members by this process: first you BELIEVE what we believe, then you BEHAVE like we behave and finally, only then, you BELONG. A central part of the Great Emergence is a reordering of our B’s. First and foremost, you BELONG, no matter what. Then, if you hang around, you’ll BEHAVE like we do – primarily referring to the behavior of practicing Christian traditions. And finally, it’s in the experience of those practices that you BELIEVE.

I have never experienced a BELONG> BEHAVE> BELIEVE culture such as Life Together. The night before our training started, many of us gathered together to share in a meal. It didn’t matter where we were from, what church we grew up in or what our core belief about salvation was – what mattered was that we belonged. Together, we made up Life Together; we were an "us." Quite quickly, we began behaving similarly: we read the Holy Scripture, we celebrated Eucharist, we worshiped through song, we served our communities. We did all this in the name of Christ. Sure enough, slowly but surely, we came to believe. We came to believe that we all are carrying a powerful and urgent message. We came to believe that we are bearers of good news that needs to be loudly shared and proclaimed. We all believe that Christ is the center of this message and that in His power we can do anything. I’m not sure we would all have checked the believe box about that statement August 21st when we first met but I believe we would now.

The Great Emergence is about that slow and steady progress towards a powerful and intimate relationship with Christ. It’s about breaking down barriers and co-creating the church we want to be. Phyllis Tickle carried that message loud and clear. She may only have “one trick,” but the ability to arouse and inspire in the name of Christ, that’s a incredibly good trick to have.