One of the key social drives in Western Post-industrialised countries, is the rise in new/old forms of mysticism. This rise in spirituality appears to be driven by the effects of consumerism, globalisation and advances in information technology. Therefore, the Emerging Church is operating in a new context of postmodern spirituality, as a new form of mysticism. This capitalizes on the social shift in starting assumptions from the situation that most are regarded as materialist/atheist (the modern position), to the fact that many people now believe in and are searching for something more spiritual (postmodern view). This has been characterised as a major shift from religion to spirituality.