Every 500 years or so, the church holds a rummage sale as it experiences renovation. The Fall of Rome, the Great Schism, the Great Reformation, and now, the Great Emergence mark the 500-year periods so far. Surprisingly, older expressions of Christian faith are not destroyed by these semi-millennial eruptions, but actually adapted and updated, and Christianity has grown and spread as a result.
Tickle overviews the religious, political, and societal contexts that erupted in each 500-year shift. She then explains a quadrant chart that provides an overview of the major Christian traditions and what is emerging.
I'm glad that I heard Phyllis lecture on this material before I read the book, because I don't think I would have understood the book apart from this. You can check out my notes from her lecture by clicking here: Notes from the National Pastor's Convention 2007 and scrolling down to the header: 21st Century Church - Phyllis Tickle.
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