{"id":2237,"date":"2006-12-18T17:45:16","date_gmt":"2006-12-18T21:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=2237"},"modified":"2026-07-11T13:18:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T20:18:21","slug":"how-to-know-when-the-emerging-church-shows-signs-of-emerging-in-your-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/how-to-know-when-the-emerging-church-shows-signs-of-emerging-in-your-church\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Know When the Emerging Church Shows Signs of Emerging in Your Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

by <\/strong>Understand the Times with Roger Oakland <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong>The world is changing. So is the Christian evangelical church. There was a time–not that long ago–when the Bible was considered to be the Word of God by the majority of evangelical Christians. Now that we are well into the third millennium and the post-modern, post-Christian era, the term evangelical can mean almost anything. What has happened? Why is this happening and what is the future for mainstream Christianity?<\/p>\n

For the past several years, I have been speaking around the world on current trends that are impacting Christianity. After these presentations, I am approached by Christians who come from many different church backgrounds. Many are expressing their concerns about what is happening in their churches, troubled by the new direction they see their church going. While they may not always be able to discern what is wrong, they know something is wrong and that it needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n

Further, many have told me they have attempted to express their concerns with their pastors or church elders. In almost every case, they were told they had a choice to make–get with the new program or get out of the church.<\/p>\n

This move towards a reinvented Christianity (one designed to “reach people”) seems to be here for the long haul. It is not just a passing fad. I am often asked by concerned brothers and sisters in Christ to provide an explanation in order to help them understand what they have encountered. They want to know why these changes are underway and what to expect in the future. As well, they want to know what, if anything can be done, to stem this tide. It is for this reason I am writing this commentary – to provide biblical insight regarding the Emerging Church and where it is heading in the future. Click here to read this entire article.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Understand the Times with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-progressive-emerging-church","wpcat-25-id"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Know When the Emerging Church Shows Signs of Emerging in Your Church - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/how-to-know-when-the-emerging-church-shows-signs-of-emerging-in-your-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Know When the Emerging Church Shows Signs of Emerging in Your Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Understand the Times with...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/how-to-know-when-the-emerging-church-shows-signs-of-emerging-in-your-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-12-18T21:45:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-11T20:18:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Roger Oakland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Roger Oakland\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-know-when-the-emerging-church-shows-signs-of-emerging-in-your-church\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-know-when-the-emerging-church-shows-signs-of-emerging-in-your-church\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Roger Oakland\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30980de19ee37515b4a51f2c69630085\"},\"headline\":\"How to Know When the Emerging Church Shows Signs of Emerging in Your Church\",\"datePublished\":\"2006-12-18T21:45:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-11T20:18:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-know-when-the-emerging-church-shows-signs-of-emerging-in-your-church\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":328,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"EMERGENT \\\"PROGRESSIVE\\\" CHURCH\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-know-when-the-emerging-church-shows-signs-of-emerging-in-your-church\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-know-when-the-emerging-church-shows-signs-of-emerging-in-your-church\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-know-when-the-emerging-church-shows-signs-of-emerging-in-your-church\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Know When the Emerging Church Shows Signs of Emerging in Your Church - 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