What are the main tenets and/or beliefs of the 'Emergent' Church? 'Emergent' is a word I see gets thrown around a lot. Is there any definition to what is and what isn't emergent?


Is it a catch-all for certain points of view? 
Are there people out there that actively identify themselves as 'Emergent'? 
What are, or what is considered to be the main tenets and/or beliefs of the Emergent Church?
DeWaay, in The Emergent Church: Undefining Christianity, (on Amazon but in stock on CICstore) asserts that Emergents believe in a hopeful view that "the kingdom of God is emerging through the processes of history because God is the future, drawing everything into Himself" (DeWaay 11).  See DeWaay's book for that case, but I think this is a fair assessment. 

How this looks in a few details:


Emergents usually reject final judgment, preferring to think God will "save" everyone in a tangible paradise here on earth.
Their mission is not first to spread the saving Gospel message of Jesus Christ to individuals, but instead to do good in society and make life better to all.
They want to create coherent meaning specific to a church or other community, rather than seeking objective meaning and absolute truth.
Truth and meaning are experienced, rather than known.
Conversely, experiences are more important than doctrine.
They seek spiritual growth in many various ways, usually rejecting that the biblical means of grace (Bible teachings, prayer, fellowship, the Lord's Supper) are paramount.
Many even go so far as to reject basic logic as useless: they won't acknowledge the self-evident basic logic laws that all people follow every day, that A is A, A is not non-A, and A and non-A cannot be both true.


Some identify themselves as Emergent or emerging; many followers or proponents of emergent thought do not identify themselves as such. One such self-identifying source is the Emergent Village.

I do not think it should be regarded as a catch-all term.

Emergents will try to avoid any straight, direct answers, and they may object to my broad strokes here.  Their beliefs also vary among each other, of course.