DesertPastor raises significant questions for the emerging church:

People are getting sick and tired of hearing about ?candles, coffee, and conversation.? If that?s the best the EC can muster, it?s doomed. Now, I know that there are many EC communities that claim to be about much, much more than candles and stuff ? yet for all the time and energy that goes into the ?ambiance?, the ?alt.worship?, and the ?multi-sensory? layering ? why aren?t we seeing scores of people being transformed into fully-devoted-followers-of-Christ? Why aren?t the majority of EC communities independently ?viable?, either financially or in the reproduction of believers and leaders? And why aren?t more EC communities known for the reliable way they?re caring for the poor and making disciples? I suggest that those of us involved with the EC begin giving primary attention to our orthodoxy first, our orthopraxy second, and then our ?externals? (e.g. ambiance). We need to put ?who we are? far ahead of ?what we do? and ?how we do it.?

How can we address this?