Phyllis Tickle (1934–2015)

Perhaps the best devotional I have used to date (and the only long one I’ve remotely stuck with). The Divine Hours provide short but thought-provoking prayers and readings that will start your day on the right foot, or end your day in peace. Using these intermittently throughout the last few months has been wonderful, as these readings are easy to apply in busy seasons, when even sitting to read Scripture feels like a luxury of time one does not have.

As a theology student, it can be show more difficult to read Scripture devotionally—to separate the academic and the relational aspects of Christianity. The Divine Hours offers a small but significant solution to this issue, as one is encouraged to see Scripture through the lens of prayer and meditation, instead of exegesis. (As much as I love my academics, they can be extremely spiritually and mentally exhausting.) The Divine Hours was a pleasant reminder of the sheer beauty of Scripture, and the promises of God each and every day.

I will certainly continue to apple Phyllis Tickle’s Divine Hours in the coming year and beyond. If you have never tried a daily office, or if you are looking for an accessible way to apply prayer/liturgy into your day-to-day, then The Divine Hours may just be the series for you. I CANNOT recommend it enough!! show less

Context.

As a pastor, context is something I try to provide for people who are walking through crisis. It's difficult to see things in perspective when the moment becomes all-consuming. In Emergence Christianity, Phyllis Tickle does just that. She brings some welcome context to the current state of Christianity.

Changing Christianity

You don't have to be a pastor to see that the Christian landscape is changing. Shane Claiborne and the New Monastics are living communally while engaging in show more ancient liturgical practices. People as diverse as Mark Driscoll, Phillip Keller and John Piper are leading the Neo-Reformation revival. Hard-to-classify groups like Darkwood Brew are bringing a jazz-infused emergent message to the online theological sophisticates. The house-church movement in North America is stronger than its ever been. Homebrewed Christianity is a leading a surge of interest in Process Theology. The list goes on ...

In response to all of these options, it's easy to fall into dualism. We're tempted to think that Emergence Christianity (in whatever form) is either the enemy's greatest deception or the next Saviour of the world. People in ministry (like myself) often think in terms of whether or not this expression of Christianity is a threat to our particular brand. Phyllis Tickle brings some welcome perspective for those of us charting a course through the change.

Emergence Theory

Tickle begins by situating Emergence Christianity within the broader cultural shift. Emergence Theory explains how culture is changing. In an emergence, authority shifts from hierarchical to grassroots and the "resultant structural complexity is greater than what could have been logically predicted from the structure and substance of the composing parts" (33). Christianity isn't the only cultural institution to be swept up in this shift. You can speak of Emergent Judaism, Emergent Islam—indeed, Emergent twentieth first century life as a whole.

Since the shift involves all of life, it necessarily affects all brands of Christian religion. (Contrary to some people's impressions, it's not merely a collection of disgruntled white middle-class Charismatics!) We see the emergent impulse in Catholicism through the grassroots Catholic Worker Movement. You can interpret Azusa Street and the whole charismatic movement as an experiment in the decentralization of authority. What could undercut authority more than the allowing every member, through prophecy, to be a direct spokesperson for God?

Past, Present and Future

Emergence Christianity is a masterful historical study on the roots of this change, the current state of Emergence, and where it's going next. Tickle has managed to think and write clearly about a very complex and multifaceted cultural shift. This book along with its predecessor (The Great Emergence), has helped me to understand where the disparate forms of modern Christianity are coming from and, more importantly, where I fit in. show less

History will decide whether Tickle is a prophet or not.

Here’s her idea: Every 500 years the church undergoes major change. During that period of change, a new form of Christianity is born which becomes the dominant form of the age. The remaining forms of Christianity stick around but lose their priority. Every time this happens, the gospel is proclaimed to more people than ever before.

Around 500, Gregory the Great laid the foundation that saved the Church during the fall of the Roman show more Empire and into the dark ages. Around 1000, the Great Schism took place which separated the Eastern and Western church. Of course, around 1500, the Great Reformation took place which spawned Protestantism. Now, 500 years after the Great Reformation, Tickle places us on the cusp of The Great Emergence.

Her final chapters on how modern denominations are shifting towards a common center are very important. Tickle seems to know precisely how to interpret the multitude of changes that are taking place in our churches.

This is a book about hope. Even the forms of Christianity that do not get involved with the Great Emergence have an important role to play in the future of the Kingdom of God (albeit as ballast).

I think history will treat Phyllis Tickle very well. show less

How does the Church shed its stodgy, antiquated feel while retaining its reverence for 2,000-year-old ritual? How does it jettison denominational pigeonholing and institutionalization while still clinging to Christ?

Answer: Emergence. This seems to be one of the labels that nobody understands; perhaps not even its practitioners. Emergence Christianity is a relatively new worldwide movement in the Christian world, and it's still evolving. It generally transcends such labels as "liberal" or show more "conservative," stepping sideways to address, instead, issues like social activism. It usually emphasizes the "here and now" over eternal salvation, but beyond that, its decentralized structure can make it very hard to tie the movement down in terms of doctrine. Tickle likes to think of Emergence Christianity as “spiritual Christ-knowing,” not as religion. Compared to their secular neighbors, however, Tickle says Emergence Christians are both spiritual and religious.

Maybe it's best to explain by example. Readers of my reviews may recognize radical Christian leader Shane Claiborne and mega-church pastor Rob Bell, who share the face of Emergence Christianity. However, while the increase in mega-churches probably is a result of the same cultural pressures that evoked the Great Emergence, it would be wrong to put Emergence Christianity entirely in the mega-church corner. Most Emergence Christians may still prefer house churches, and an unwritten doctrine seems to be that the "church is a people to be, not a place to go." Says Tickle, "Emergence Christians think of themselves as communal and relational more than sacred or holy."

Still confused? Consider the title of Brian D. McLaren's recent book: A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, anabaptist/anglican, catholic, green, incarnational, depressed-yet-hopeful, emergent, unfinished Christian.

Yeah. Dig it. If you buy Tickle's book—and you should—I suggest eating dessert first: in the center of the book is an annotated section of full-color pictures. Start by paging through the pictures of Emergence Christianity in practice, and read there a little about its methodology, before returning to the meat in chapter 1. I particularly loved seeing the communion table in one picture: outdoors, on the grass, lies an American flag rug, and on top of that stands a beautiful chess set. On the chess board sits a small loaf of bread and a glass of red wine. (Scotch, perhaps? For you chess enthusiasts, the opening looks like it's transposing into the Scotch Gambit. Could this possibly be coincidence? Did anyone else notice this?)

This book hit the mark with me, because Tickle legitimizes Christianity among scholars. For better or worse, Emergence Christians generally share a higher education level, and more of a willingness to embrace technology in the service. If you find that authors like Bell and Claiborne write down to the eighth grade level of reader, you'll find the opposite is true of Tickle. Her writing is intelligent and informative, and she knows her stuff. I have not yet read Tickle's The Great Emergence (2008), but I'm thinking now that I must. show less