Church in the Inventive Age

For my Issues in Ministry class I have been reading a book entitled Church in the Inventive Age by Doug Pagitt.  Pagitt is the founder of Solomon's Porch which is a missional Christian community in Minneapolis, MN.  Most people would classify his community as an "emerging church" community, though I am not entirely sure they would classify themselves as such.  Regardless of classification, Pagitt's form of ministry has been widely successful at bringing young adults into relationship with God.  The practices of the community would not look like mainstream Christianity.  The appearance would be radically different.  One would struggle to find connections to any mainstream denomination, but the connections are there and the radically welcoming spirit that they exude is intoxicating.  They, and so many other emerging communities that are popping up across the country, are offering young adults the stimulating environment that helps to foster community.  Though his approach to ministry, mission, and evangelism, is not like "our approach" the desired results are the same, empowering people to explore their relationship with God while living out their faith in their daily lives.

That being said, Pagitt has written several books about his experiences with alternative expressions of our shared Christian faith, which is why we are reading him in class.  In his book he raises an interesting point about being church in the inventive age.  He argues that the church has borne witness to several ages from the agrarian age to the industrial age to the information age and now we live in the inventive age.  He contends that we, the church, must adapt to the age in which we live or we risk falling by the wayside.  I would bet that there a lot of people who think the same way.  "The church must change or we will become irrelevant," or "we are dying because we are too stuck in the past."  I however see it a little bit differently.  I agree that we must adapt our message so that we can connect with people across multiple platforms.  And when I say adapt our message I really mean the ways in which we communicate that message.  If preaching the word of God on Sunday mornings from a pulpit in a nearly empty church isn't working then perhaps the word of God needs to travel to meet the people where they are, since they are not in the pews.  If missional work is done by the clergy alone, then perhaps it is time to give up our personal authority so that we can empower the laity to lead.  I do agree that we need to adapt our delivery system but what will happen if we take on too much of our culture?  Will we not just blend in and fade into the background?  It seems to me that the church has been and must continue to be counter-cultural.  We must be willing to engage in the conversation that are need for our day, but I fear that take on the mantle of our current culture and carry it too far our Christian identity might be lost in the milieu.  I am supportive and even excited to continue to explore new expressions of our identity and faith, but we must not be too willing to differentiate ourselves from our history and tradition.  Pagitt is on to something, it is up to us individually to figure out how it might apply to our own faith communities.

Humility

One of my classes this semester is Eastern Christian Spirituality and we are examining primary sources, translated into English thankfully, and delving into the depths of what constitutes Eastern Christian spirituality.  The Eastern Church, or Orthodox Church as it is more commonly known, is full of division much in the same way that the Anglican Church is divided among national lines but for the Eastern Church it is divided more along ethnic lines.  So the Greek Church, its liturgical customs, spiritual practices and theological understandings are not isolated to Greece alone but to those who self-identify as Greek.  Another example, not all Slavs are members of the Russian Church, but there are many smaller churches that correspond to ethnic identity, so there is a Serbian Church, a Bosnian Church, an Armenian Church, a Georgian Church.  Each church is independent and no other church/patriarch can tell another church what to do.  But just like the Anglican national churches they all share a common history and overarching traditions and practices.  I digress, so we started with the desert Mothers and Fathers that looked for unity with God in the desert wilderness.

The women and men who set out for the wilderness were looking for something that they could not find in the urban centers of the time.  They perceived the corruption that occurred in the cities and fled to the harsh wilderness of the desert to find the quiet thin places where someone can focus on their relationship with God and avoid the myriad of distractions that comes with urban living.  Through their actions they attracted others and soon small communities dedicated to ascetic living popped up and the heads of these communities of men and women were looked to for knowledge and spiritual growth.  What we have today, and what is very prominent in the Eastern traditions, is the sayings of these fathers and mothers.  Instead of passing down long narratives, it was simple sayings that were handed down from generation to generation.  At the heart of most of these sayings is the idea of humility.  They call for humility when dealing with the outside world.  They call for humility when dealing with each other within the community.  And they call for humanity in their relationship with God.

Humbleness, lowering ones own importance, is a trait that is often found lacking in our culture.  I was raised in a culture where individuality was emphasized and asserting ones dominant skills over others.  We are not humility, but instead encouraged to be better than others and to let them know.  Fortunately I was also raised in a faith community where those lessons were learned, or at least the seeds were planted to take root later.  As I pour over the sayings of the desert mothers and fathers they have a wisdom that is still relevant today and I wonder what it would be like if we were all a little more humble?  What would it be like if we lowered our own self-importance so that we could see the world from a different perspective?  If this is practiced in a church community would we be more welcoming if we deflate our own self-importance, as individuals and as a community of faith?  I don't have any answers but its got me thinking.

Such a lonely day...

For the past three days Berkeley has been under a river of moisture coming off of the Pacific.  This means that it has been raining, cold, windy, and just overall damp.  The area desperately needs it, not only because we are in the midst of a serious drought but because it means fewer wildfires in the summer months.  While this is good I think that the darkness has been wearing on me.  I have been functional in the sense that I am sleeping well, going to classes, getting all my reading done, and being generally productive.  However, I cannot seem to shake this gloomy feeling.  Really it has just been today.  I have had this longing desire to leave this place, to be back among family and friends that I have been away from now for almost three years.  I feel that my time here is definitely coming to a close and right now, in this moment, it cannot come quickly enough.

As I reflect on these feelings and what is causing me to feel this way I am becoming aware of the huge changes that are looming on the horizon.  First and foremost is the wedding.  On May 24th I will no longer have to say goodbye to Lauren.  On May 24th we will no longer have most of our conversation via the phone or FaceTime.  On May 24th I will be united with my best friend in the midst of family and dear friends and with God's blessing over our union.  Clearly I miss Lauren, my family, and my friends.  But there is another dimension to this.

I am also becoming more aware of my desire to be out of this academic setting and to finally engage in ordained ministry.  this has been a calling that I have felt since I was a teenager, a calling that seemed all but lost just a few years ago, and now I am on the cusp of the realization of this call being made manifest.  I am tired of being forced to read hundreds upon hundreds of pages in books, that while have relevance to ordained ministry, will ultimately not matter significantly in my ministry.  I am tired of sitting in a classroom speaking about ministry in abstract ways, always looking to the future of how these ideas will become applicable.  I feel this burning desire to go out and do something, to take what I have learned or at least what I can remember, and put it to good use.  I feel like a substitute sitting patiently on the bench waiting for the coach to say, "Schoeck get in there and show me what you got."  Each time I return home I am reminded of the work that is happening in the diocese and in the local churches and frankly I want to be involved.  I have to push that excitement and energy down because it is not my time yet.

So I leave you with this song.  The lyrics are pretty intense and I would say that I am not feeling this way but it is the song in my head right now as the light from the sun, filtered through the mists and clouds, fades and darkness once again remains.