Emersion Books

The Latest Emersion Books Reviews

Organic Community, by Joseph R. Myers

• Namahatta: review by Adam Walker Cleaveland: “I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the ideas behind creating community in a church or other setting.” To see the full review, click here.
• Jonny Baker’s Blog: “If you are involved in a community like a church then I'd encourage you to read the book. It's also very interesting for organizations like CMS who are trying to rethink how people connect - where the old way has been membership, creating an environment where people participate is definitely the way it's going.” To see the full review, click here.

Signs of Emergence, by Kester Brewin

• Matt Wilson’s Blog: “Signs of Emergence by Kester Brewin is another book put out by the “emersion” resources with Baker Books. Personally, I feel this is the best work yet. […] I highly recommend this book whether you are into the emerging conversation and discussing church and how it looks in this day and culture but also for the casual reader as well.” To see the full review, click here.

Intuitive Leadership, by Tim Keel

• Scott McKnight's Blog: Jesus Creed: "If you think this is your typical, here's-how-to-do-it leadership book, forget about it. This book is part autobiography and part ecclesio-graphy (biography of a church) and it is one fine book." To see the full review, click here.
• Also, for those of you who haven't visited Tim Keel's Blog, check it out: www.timkeel.com

Reviews

Here are some links for the latest reviews on emersion books:

Organic Community:

Out of the Cocoon: Review by Paul Walker; Planting God Communities: Review by Ron Robinson; Emerging Women: Review by Sonja

Justice in the Burbs:

New Wine Skins: Review by Fred Peatross

Emergent Manifesto of Hope:

iamjoshbrown.com: Review by Josh Brown; The Nick & Josh Podcast: Interview of Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt (both in archives)

Signs of Emergence:

TheBolgBlog: Review by Ryan Bolger

Green Press Initiative Info.

Some of you have asked about our Green Press initiative that you see on all the emersion books. Here is some info. on Baker's Green Press/ Recycling.

Recycled Paper Time-line at Baker Publishing Group

2003: Baker Publishing Group begins purchasing recycled paper selectively for non-fiction paperbacks.

2004: BPG directs the printer, Bethany Press International, to permanently stock recycled paper for BPG's use.

2005: To promote responsible paper use, BPG mailed a sample copy of a book, using recycled paper, to the CEOs of all ECPA member publishers. // Baker Publishing Group becomes the only Evangelical company listed as a member of the Green Press Initiative. http://www.greenpressinitiative.org

2006 - All paperback non-fiction now uses recycled paper, both new titles and later all reprints. // The Green Press logo is adapted for use on the copyright page of all our books using recycled paper. // In November, BPG submits a stewardship advocacy piece to the ECPA e-link.

2007 - In January, BPG hosts a lunch meeting at their office for four local Christian publishers and two Michigan printers. Two representatives from Green Press Initiative lead a discussion on recycled paper choices. // BPG adds the following categories to the books using recycled paper: hardback, academic, and Short Run. // Baker Publishing Group is one of five publishers on the Leadership Council of the Book Industry Treatise on Responsible Paper Use.

Phyllis Tickle to Write Book for emersion

Phyllis Tickle, founding editor of the religion department at Publishers Weekly, will write a book on emerging Christianity for Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. The book, whose current working title is The Great Emergence, will be the seventh in Baker emersion series, a partnership between Baker Books and Emergent Village, intended to provide a practical, positive vision of the church as it steps into the future.

Tickle says the book will discuss the development of the emerging church, what she calls the Great Emergence, placing it among the other great phenomena in the history of Christianity, including the Great Schism and the Great Reformation. "Every 500 years," Tickle said, "the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity, whatever they may be, become an intolerable carapace that must be shattered so that renewal and growth may occur. Now is such a time."

Tickle is widely regarded as a leading authority on religion in North America. She has been quoted on the subject by a wide variety of media outlets, including USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, PBS, NPR, and the Hallmark Channel. She is author of numerous books, including The Divine Hours series, God-Talk in America and The Shaping of A Life.

"We are thrilled to partner with Phyllis on this important book. Phyllis will explore one of the most significant developments of American Christianity in recent history," said Chad Allen, acquisitions editor for Baker Books. "Church leaders, laypeople, and observers alike will be able to locate themselves in this narrative of profound change and come away with ideas about how to live constructively in the days and years to come."

In addition to being a best-selling author, Tickle has long had a special interest in what is happening within the emergent community. "Phyllis Tickle is the best friend the emergent movement could ever have," said Doug Pagitt, series editor for emersion. "She's a keen observer of the American church scene. She's also gracious and wise. Her books, from The Divine Hours to her memoirs, are essential reading. We look forward to the release of The Great Emergence with much anticipation."

The book is tentatively scheduled for a Fall 2008 release.

Future book ideas from the poll

This OpinionRepublic poll is now closed. See the results below and let us know any further thoughts in the comments below. We will be posting a new poll soon.

Do you have an idea for an upcoming emersion book?

Top Ten Opinions #Votes: 203 #Views: 1045 % Who Agree The Theology of the Emerging Church 16 / 47 34% 16 out of 47 emerging movement in mainline denominations 32 / 102 31% 32 out of 102 the emerging church worldwide 19 / 74 25% 19 out of 74 leadership in the emerging culture 23 / 91 25% 23 out of 91 The Emergent embrace of Art 23 / 97 23% 23 out of 97 Emerging Rural Ministries 21 / 100 21% 21 out of 100 how about one on women's leadership? 20 / 103 19% 20 out of 103 children in emerging churches 8 / 43 18% 8 out of 43 "evangelism" in the emerging church 7 / 39 17% 7 out of 39 Emerging Youth Ministry 13 / 79 16% 13 out of 79 Emerging movement in a reformed context 7 / 60 11% 7 out of 60 Emerging Urban Ministry 7 / 61 11% 7 out of 61 singles ministry 6 / 101 5% 6 out of 101

Have a Question?

Do you have a question for one of the authors in the emersion line? It could be a question about their ministry, life, their specific chapter/ book, the emerging church, etc.

Contribute your questions by e-mailing emersion@bakerpublishinggroup.com.  Selected questions will be a part of an upcoming interview series. To motivate you, the first 10 readers to submit two thoughtful questions each will receive a free pre-release copy of Organic Community, by Joe Myers. 

Thank you for your contributions!

Emersion Meeting (Part 2)

Twice a year the emersion publishing committee meets to discuss the details of the emersion book line. This past meeting consisted of three Emergent Village representatives (Doug Pagitt, Carla Barnhill, and Tim Condor) and three from the Baker Books team (Chad Allen, BJ Heyboer, and Lauren Forsythe). We met in Durham, NC for three days in early March to discuss emersion. Here are some more thoughts from this collaboration:

Tim Conder: founding pastor of Emmaus Way in Durham, NC. He also serves as a leader in Emergent Village, a member of the Board of Directors of Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle, WA, and is the author of The Church in Transition: The Journey of Existing Churches into the Emerging Culture

It was truly fantastic to host the past emersion board here Durham, NC at Emmaus Way’s loft just off of Duke’s East Campus. The board arrived early and was able to worship with our community, Emmaus Way Doug Pagitt and I lead a dialogue on gospel, missionality, and status quo structures). We also were able spend some time with the Raleigh-Durham Emergent Village Cohort at a pub down the street. Thankfully (at least from the perspective of this Minneapolis-and Grand Rapids-laden board), I stopped short of force-feeding them Carolina BBQ and demanding a choice in our Duke-Carolina basketball rivalry. The two days of work in this new line were extremely fruitful. I received my first copy of An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, our first book in the line. This treatise is consistently excellent—in its content, diversity, trajectory of hope, and in the aesthetics of cover and presentation. I’ve heard the criticism for years that Emergent or Emergent Village desperately needs to offer bold words on its mission, intentions, and hopes. This book truly accomplishes this goal without succumbing to the temptation to diminish our diversity into labels, generalized doctrinal assertions, or homogeneous voices. Doug and Tony have done a fantastic job editing this work. Participating in this book was an honor and a privilege. Of all our work, I most enjoyed a long session where we envisioned future works. Envisioning arenas of conversation and matching them to voices (especially new authors) that can inspire us to join with thought, passion, and dialogue in this arenas is a privilege. As our “publishing board” of anticipated books begins to fill up for the next three years, I have the highest expectations of this line’s impact. 

~~~

BJ Heyboer: Baker Books Senior Director of Marketing

As a marketing director for Baker Books, I enjoy engaging in conversation with both writers and their readers. One cool thing about our recent emersion meeting in Durham was that—as we began to look at what authors and topics we should pursue next in our line of books—we first went to the emersion blog and checked the opinion poll to find out what people were asking for. We took time to brainstorm and consider the different suggestions, and we incorporated them into our future plans. It’s energizing to offer readers what they have specifically requested, and to continue the emerging conversation.

Emersion Editorial Meeting

Twice a year the emersion publishing committee meets to discuss the details of the emersion book line. This past meeting consisted of three Emergent Village
representatives (Doug Pagitt, Carla Barnhill, and Tim Condor) and three from the Baker Books team (Chad Allen, BJ Heyboer, and Lauren Forsythe). We met in Durham, NC for three days in early March to discuss emersion. Here are some thoughts from this collaboration:

Chad Allen: Baker Books Editor

We all arrived in time to join Emmaus Way, an emerging church planted by Tim Conder a year or so ago, for its Sunday evening service. BJ, Lauren, and I (the Baker contingent) shuffled in a little late and took our seats in a loft-style studio (wooden floors, couches, candles, art) while Wade Baynham, the Emmaus music guy, sang a beautiful rendition of All Along the Watchtower. We listened to Doug Pagitt talk about the crucial role of “the joker and the thief,” received communion together, and met some great people in this vibrant community. Our worship at Emmaus Way, where we also met to do our work on emersion the following day, spilled into the rest of our time in Durham.

The joker and the thief. The trickster. Civilizations since time immemorial have been variously vexed and challenged by this archetypal figure. Jesus was often the trickster in his community, knocking over tables in the temple, kissing blind people, loving on the hookers. In some ways emersion is a trickster of the Christian publishing world. We want to vex and challenge people. We want to resource the church with books that help followers of Jesus storm the gates of hell and bring heaven with them. I think we made some progress in that vein. Stay tuned for updates…

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Carla Barnhill: author of numerous articles and two books, The Myth of the Perfect Mother, and Blessings Every Day. Carla has also edited many books, including Preaching Re-Imagined by Doug Pagitt, Postmodern Children’s Ministry by Ivy Beckwith, The Sacred Way, by Tony Jones, and The Importance of Being Foolish, by Brennan Manning. She serves on the editorial board of emersion books.

Almost two years ago, a group of us sat in my living room in Minnesota and started a book line. We talked about the kinds of books this line should include, the kinds of voices it should welcome, the kind of vision it should offer. And now we’re about to see the very first of these books, An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, hit the stores and the shelves. Chad handed us our early copies and I flipped through the table of contents. What an amazing collection of writers and subjects and ideas! It wasn’t just the book we’d talked about, it was the book we dreamed about—thoughtful, provocative, hopeful. To those of you who were part of the Manifesto: Well done! And to those of you who will be reading it: Get ready!

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Lauren Forsythe: Baker Books Assistant Marketing Manager, Blog Coordinator

There was a lot of excitement as we passed around the first book from emersion, An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, straight from the printer. This title is a starting point, and we have lots of ideas for the future. The concept of community was key for this meeting. For the six of us, it was three days as a small community with time to worship together, eat pancakes, smell Doug’s sweaty socks, watch YouTube videos, and also have some thoughtful dreaming of the future of emersion. Throughout our conversation was the constant acknowledgment of the larger community of writers and readers who are
interested in joining this conversation. This line of books is unlike most. It is one where we can all share ideas and dream with new hope for the future of Christian community…beginning with a small group and a hopeful invitation for anyone who wants to join in…

~~~
Notes from BJ, Doug, and Tim coming soon...

Book Order Links

Emersion Books are available through BakerBooks.com, Amazon.com, ChristianBook.com, and BarnesandNoble.com.