Via TSK comes this announcement of a major national emerging church conversation called Emergence 2007. It’s organized by Zondervan, which just released the book “Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches.”

The book, edited by Robert Webber, features Mark Driscoll, John Burke, Dan Kimball, and Doug Pagitt, and is included with the $49 registration fee for the event.

The Seattle event is at Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church, and is hosted by Krista Tippett of NPR’s show Speaking of Faith (previously mentioned here - Aaron says it’s a good podcast). Other speakers at the Seattle event include:

• Mark Driscoll
• Dan Kimball
• Doug Pagitt
• Karen Ward

Here’s a PDF of the brochure, uploaded by Andrew Jones (TSK). Blurb from the official non-website (which doesn’t even include a proper title for the event):

Over the past several years there has been for some a growing uneasiness and for others an unprecedented excitement about the church among emerging generations. There is a movement afoot in our world called the “emerging church” that has called into question the normal way of doing church and being the church. Many are wondering if In our post-Christian world the church has become little more than a resting place for all things religious. The emerging church movement is making waves that have caught the attention of PBS, ABC and other major media networks. The New York Times, Time magazine and Christianity Today have featured lead articles on the churches and leaders who make up this movement.

Joim us for a unique weekend conversation that will feature many of the key leaders in the emerging church movement. This event will provide you with a first-hand experience with people who are reimagining what the church can be for a post-Christian world. Come and interact with key leaders about the beliefs, practices and ways of engaging culture in the way of Jesus. They may not always agree with each other, but one thing they all agree that the church can be a place where people meet God. link

For the record, while I’m glad this is happening, I doubt I’ll go (though some strange people might convince me otherwise :)). My reticence centers around two questions:

• Is this just a way to sell books? Are we being co-opted by publishing houses?
• Is the emerging conversation - at least, the highly blogosphere-centric part - petering out?

On the first question, I think the most accurate answer is no, we’re not being co-opted. But I’m definitely less excited about this event because it’s being run by a publisher, even though the big names are going to be there.

On the second question, I think a lot of us have gotten used to the idea of doing things in new ways, and are tired of talking about it or arguing about it. I know Radical Congruency sees a lot less of this type of conversation than it once did.

It’s now mostly people from traditional churches who are talking about the emerging church, or people who are brand new to the conversation. If that’s you, welcome.