Beyond Strategy,Towards the Kingdom of God: The Post‐Critical Reconstructionist Mission of the Emerging Church

Abstract : The Emerging Church is a diverse global phenomenon which envisions a radical reforming of the theology and praxis of the broader Christian church in light of the philosophical and cultural shift from modernism to post‐modernism. Differing from the evangelical New Paradigm seeker‐sensitive Church's generational focus, and the organizational unity and routines of Mainline Protestant denominations the Emerging Church conversation endeavors to create committed, authentic, day‐to‐day communities that embrace ecumenical and ancient Christian theology and practices in order to live out the reality of the in‐breaking kingdom of God. Though precise systemic theological unity within the Emerging movement is recognized as an elusive goal that is generally not even sought, the movement as a whole finds much in common with post‐conservative and post‐liberal theology, and shares a joint mission with those who have been called to the task of post‐critical reconstruction.     

The Mobilization of Evangelical Protestants in the Nonprofit Sector: Parachurch Foundings Across U.S. Counties, 1998–2016

The political mobilization of evangelicals has been widely chronicled, but their mobilization in the civil sector has received far less attention. That mobilization is embodied in parachurch organizations, which are nonprofits infused with religious purpose but independent of congregations and denominations. Here we examine the features of local communities that account for variation in the creation of parachurch organizations. Drawing upon a broad number of theoretical approaches, we develop a series of expectations about the variation in parachurch foundings across counties. Using IRS registration records and a diverse set of other secondary data sources, we assess the impact of religious structures and cultures, organizational densities, and government and social movement contexts on parachurch foundings across U.S. counties. Our analysis finds that counties with higher rates of adherence to evangelical Protestantism generate more parachurch organizations, but only if the county is not too saturated by evangelicals. On the other hand, counties with higher rates of adherence to Catholic, mainline Protestant, and Latter‐Day Saint traditions generate fewer parachurch organizations.