Most blogs examined in this study are authored by members of churches in mainstream Protestant denominations. Some are clergy and others are lay members who are working professionally for synods, dioceses and congregations. Bloggers generally identify with their denominations, to the extent that, if the emerging church were in any way seen as a separate entity, they would not want to belong to it. For them, the emerging church conversation is a context for considering change in their own church’s life, rather than an alternative to their church.

Yet they see their churches “stuck in Christendom”. They claim the divisions that the institutional church creates between ordained and lay, and sacred and secular culture, are viewed as false by the world outside the church. The face of the church has been taken over by the “religious right”, whose fascination with “family values” not only serves to exclude many from participation, but denies God’s true call for the church.

As people with leadership roles in their local context, many have much to say about the nature of leadership within the church. They regret that clergy often are called to represent the entire ministry of their congregations, and as such have to live up to difficult expectations. They are suspicious of the books and conferences that are advertised in clergy circles, promoting answers to “successful” ministry. They refuse the notion that one’s ministry strategy will work for every pastor, and they are critical of the criteria on which such success is measured.

Most evident in posts and conversations in the study is a critique of the so-called mega-church model of Christian community. While bloggers take Evangelical theology with a grain of salt, they see the mega-church model of ministry as contrary to the Gospel. Under particular attack fall Hillsong in Sydney and Riverview Church in Perth (though a couple of bloggers defend some of Hillsong’s projects). These are not churches. They are businesses who promote spiritual goods and services for money, and treat their congregants as consumers rather than participants.

Bloggers consider the emerging church conversation a search for a “third option”, where traditional churches and mega-churches fail to connect Gospel with community and culture. In doing so, bloggers open their space as a refuge from these places, encouraging readers to share their stories of exclusion and promoting conversations of possible alternatives. From these conversations emerges a picture of the “ideal” organisation of Christians, where all members are active in decision-making and action in mission, according to their abilities, and where leaders are called to be “on the margins” of the community: equipping lay members in their own work, and exploring opportunities for new ministry projects and practices.