Reading List

"The Great Emergence" by Phyllis Tickle helped me gain broader perspective of what is happening in the religious world. Understanding that we are all players in a much bigger historical drama of church history helped me to depersonalize the schism and disconnect a bit from my feelings about the chaos in the church. The Great Emergence helped shift my perspective from the microcosm of broken personal relationships and loss at a local level, to move beyond the focus on the institutional system or denomination, and see the macro level of the 500 year cycle of the Church.

Tickle helped me to see the big picture in context and grasp the truth that we all are doing the best we can "to be on the right side of history." We will see some local impact, witness institutional decline or renewal, but gaining the perspective that the shifts happening in the Church are a much larger theological sorting out has helped me to move forward personally and professionally. Reflecting on this has helped me to  process my thoughts and feelings so that my anger, anxiety, and depression could be set aside so that resolve, hope, and a new sense of call could emerge.