Her main thesis is that every 500 years in history, specifically Christian history, something BIG happens. 500 years ago, it was The Protestant Reformation, 500 year before that, all kinds of events like The Council of Chalcedon, The Fall of the Roman Empire, and The Coming of the Dark Ages.  Now, we are in another one of those shifts she calls “The Great Emergence,” where a new, more vital form of Christianity emerges (p. 17). All earth shattering events and its very interesting that they occurred about every 500 years. I’m not a numerologist and don’t think there is anything magical about that number. The fact is that many things are changing and will continue to change but that’s been happening rapidly since the late 1800’s and will continue to do so. We live in an age of technology and some believe that human knowledge, doubles every five years. . How’s that for change. 

Some things she did say struck me greatly and it has to do with how our relationship to one another and in our families have been shot through the heart with change. I spoke about this to some degree in this post on Leadership and the New Science.

First – the advent of the automobile. This little invention changed everything. Family afternoons on Grandpa’s front porch after Grandma’s sabbath lunch gave way to spins in the countryside without a Sunday picnic. Within a few decades Saturday’s and Sunday’s weren’t about friends and family, but about mall visits, movies, and dozens of Little League games (p. 86).

Second – It was Grandma who asked little Johnny what he learned in Sunday school around the table. Conversations occurred around that table of life, love, and spirituality. When the Tin LIzzie (the auto) took away her kingdom influence, it was Protestantism more than Grandma that came untethered and was diminished (p. 87).

Third – Rosie the Riverter. With the advent of WWII the role of a woman changed completely. The men were at war and the women (Rosie) went to work in the factories. Making weapons, drilling rivets and becoming a different kind of woman. The little ones when down the street to the Aunt’s house or Grandma’s – the definition of family change. Then she came home and chopped wood, did laundry and ran the house. She also had a paycheck and a sense of independence she didn’t have in a man-centered world. When the men came back, everything was different. The domestic structure shifted, the rules changed. Mom could earn a paycheck so the family could have more, she also didn’t have to put up with fights, anger, and the drunkenness of her spouse if she didn’t want to (p. 108-111).

In short, everything changed in those years. American consumerism would set its teeth deeply in the lives of most families, two-income households became the norm, childcare was a fairly new invention, and people began to know their neighbors less and less. Add to that the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and Second Life, and you can practically go through life without any meaningful relationships. 

There is a Great Emergence, that is a fact. The question is: Where will it lead us? To be more connected or less so? For me, culture has fractured me enough. I need deeper relationships, human contact, face to face interactions with my family and friends. I pray this causes us to realize that machines and things will never satisfy us. We need meaningful family relationships, deep friendships. In short, we need each other. How is The Great Emergence impacted you?