Is Flatfish 'unconsciously' emergent?

The Kawan dalam Perbualan with Brian McLaren seemed to go well, even though I wasn't there. It is interesting to note that Brian shared about 'the emerging church'. He starts by using Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger's 9 points descriptors of emergent churches:

(1) Identifying with Jesus

(2) Transforming secular space

(3) Living as community

(4) Welcoming the stranger

(5) Serving with generosity

(6) Participating as producers

(7) Creating as created beings

(8) Leading as a body

(9) Merging ancient and contemporary spiritualities.

It left me wondering, are my flatmates and I, in Flatfish becoming unconsciously 'emergent'?

We certainly do agree with point (1), (3), (4), (8), and a bit of (9).

1)We prayed over being Christlike, sharing love and joy, loving our enemies, loving our neighbours etc. We try to reflect and act upon, what we learned and convinced from the Bible.

3)We live as a community of four people, two girls and two guys, two whites and two 'coloured', one irish, one english, one indian and one chinese, two studying and two working. Very different persons, yet united together.

4)We welcome strangers and guests. We have people coming in and out our flat. We have our neighbours popping in to ask for help with legal advice, for food, for a chat. We have tourist from Canada dropping by for lunch. We had people from Laos, Hong Kong, Iran, Malaysia, Australia and Zimbabwe stepping through our doors. All within the past 2 weeks. Awesome.

5)We lend out our cell phone chargers to our neighbours, we offer our neighbour to bring them to see the lawyer for legal advice, we offer food and car ride back to their homes, we offer pastas, we offer friendship, we offer free holiday to Goat Island for snorkelling :) We are still learning to be more generous.

8)We make decisions as a body. We do not have a leader. Everyone has equal rights. Everyone has equal say. Everyone has rights to agree and refuse. Though we may have differences in opinion which sometimes may lead up to heated conversations, we end it through prayer and submission to God's will. We have mentors looking after our emotional welfare.

9)We pray in the dark, with a candle and scent in the middle. One day, there was a neighbour who came unexpectedly, and thought that we were in deep meditation. It was so funny. Never would I thought that he would suspect meditation. We also make note of the Lent season although we never really observe it. We are still learning in spiritual formation.

But we are not quite good in (2), (6) and (7).

2)Not all of us are good in transforming secular places. I am involved in the Malaysian club. Mel is indirectly involved in the Auckland Youth Council. Natty is working in a sales company and Alan is reaching out to his ex-hostel mates. We are frustrated with juggling our time with our different commitments. We don't know much and can't do much to change our marketplace. We want to learn.

6)We do not know what is participating as producers? Anyone care to enlighten us?

7)Creating as created bodies? What on earth does it mean?

Summary

Are we emergent? Quite, but not quite yet.