On March 21, 2008, Tony Jones was talking to Krys Boyd about the "changing face of Christianity". Krys is a local PBS infobabe; she's short on thought and long on those stage affectations which are intended to convey thoughtfulness to witless audiences. And by witless audiences I mean the unthinking consumers who have actually believed that PBS represents quality television. Krys tells non-readers here in Dallas what they might find in recently published books—if they read books.

It helps greatly if these books are pointless because studies show that lengthy pointlessness on camera tends to come across to PBS viewers as erudition, and lengthy pointlessness is something Tony Jones brings to the table.

I hold Texans accountable for a lot of wicked things (like J. Frank Norris, Clyde Barrow, Lyndon Johnson, and Dan Rather), but I don't hold it against Texans for not reading Tony Jones's book: Tony Jones's book ain't fit readin' even in Texas. I'm guessing Tony would not even have been in the KERA studio if the producer had been fortunate enough to schedule an interview with a local potato.

Jones was telling Boyd all he knew about postmodernism and emergence. He said emergence was not so much about doctrine as it was about the church leaving the era of big, about a vibe and an ethos, and about the church becoming more egalitarian and participatory (like Wikipedia). He also suggested that the church of Jesus Christ might be called upon to deal with the looming problem of whether to allow human clones to attend their churches. Although if emergence has a problem with getting the participation of real people, what are the chances it will be inundated by the clones of real people?

You think I just made that up, but I didn't. It was one of those ideas Tony would think is far-sighted, Krys would think is relevant, and both would be prepared to discuss intelligently on a program called Think!

But it is worth remembering Tony's words about emergence being egalitarian and participatory because as of 8 September, 2009, participation has not been a conspicuous problem for emergence.

The EmergentVillage's Tim Hartman took a break from inhaling helium to tell us what he thinks is going to happen—eventually—to EmergentVillage.

First he offered a brief report on the inactivity of the last six months: Tony Jones became noticeably less participatory as the National Coordinator of Emergent Village, and while many emergents got on YouTube to declare themselves the new National Coordinator, apparently none of them showed up for work on Monday morning. In the last year or so, Hartman reports, the Emergentvillage has been "asleep or possibly even worse".

Anyway, Brother Tim expects more participation in the future, in the next "iteration" of EmergentVillage. A lot has been happening behind the scenes and the village now prepares to emerge from its "hibernation". It has not emerged yet, but it is preparing to emerge. More precisely, discussions as to the possibility of its emerging from hibernation are being had. The bear has not come out of its den, but it dreams of the day when it will.

The same EV link includes a contribution from Danielle Shroyer, the aforementioned pastorette of Journey Church of Dallas, wherein she expresses her excitement with the unfolding discussions, discussions on the impending possibility of emergents coming out of hibernation. "Energy and intentionality" have emerged since April, and she's encouraged about the "events we hope to plan over the next two years".

No events were actually announced, you must understand. The events are not even yet planned. But there is the hope for the planning of events, and this could possibly occur in the next two years, or hibernation periods, as I like to think of them.

Sister Danielle looks forward to a more "communal place of connection", to more impromptu Frisbee games, to "good conversations of theology done while sitting on a blanket in the grass".  She can imagine picnics and "barbeques of people" [a concept I hope is run by some lawyers and chefs], and she anticipates eating and laughing together at a common table. She hopes for great things from people "from a variety of different traditions and backgrounds".

Emergents will be gone in a thick cloud of buzzwords and shallow sentiments; and if things go according to their highest hopes, amid the fragrance of "barbeques of people".

Do plan to attend.