Preaching: In The Emerging Church book, you said this really isn't a generational issue, so much as it is more of a philosophical or worldview approach.

Kimball: When I first started, I thought it was generational. I just thought it was an 18-30 year old thing or a Gen-X thing at that time period. And then the more I was listening to people and watching who became part of the community that we were starting, I recognized that there is a difference. Most of the emerging churches are generally people who are under the age of 40, but it isn't like when you like hit 30 . . .

Advertisement

I know a church where, when you hit 30 you have to change to the other part of the church. Or I know churches that still start an age-specific worship gathering and say: well, when you hit age 30, you now have to shift out of to how you have found yourself accustomed to wanting to worship when you're in the community and express your love and worship to God in a certain way. If I'm in my 20s and hit 30, how I learn is already ingrained in me and I may not want to have a business presentation of four application points to these two verses — that may totally go against my whole concept of what preaching should be. So making a big shift, I would say most of the time, won't work. And that's what I think we all realized. It is more than just an age thing.

Preaching: What can a traditional church learn from the things emerging churches are doing, even as they continue to have a traditional style?

Kimball: See, this is an interesting observation because my only experience — I didn't grow up in a church, so my only experience really was a conservative Baptist Bible Church. We were never taught the worship practices throughout church history. You'd only light a candle at Christmas Eve or something. I think that there is a desire to not go back and be the church of medieval times, but to appreciate different forms of worship. I was never even taught the liturgical calendar year. I couldn't have told you what lent was. They never taught me in seminary, it was never mentioned in the church that I was taught in, so I'm like, "Boy, I've missed out on that richness." So if you're coming from a Baptist, conservative type church like I was, I'd say to learn to not just think in your own particular denomination or your own particular form of ministry but to search church history.

The ironic part is then I've talked to people who are coming from Episcopal churches and some Methodist churches who may be doing some totally liturgical things, but they're saying all the young people are leaving, they want to do all the pop music and break out. And for them it's like reintroducing these forms of worship, but doing it with life and meaning and not ritual so that it becomes almost lifeless and routine. It's become so dry that many younger people are just saying this is not connecting at all with me. But I think there are opportunities to reintroduce it.