Reflections on 12/3 Class

As we come to the end of the quarter and our study in this class, I cannot help but reflect on the power of relationships in the continual growth and creative progress of the church. Although the concept seems self-evident, I don't think that we can ever give the issue too much attention. Our class and our interactions with one another, in dialogue and in discernment together, have fleshed out for me the vital necessity of genuine community in all aspects of church planting and renewal. I am thankful for what I have learned from my fellow classmates and from Ryan and for how our work together has taught me both to listen and reflect and to engage create.

Reflections on 11/19 Class

Near the end of last week's class period, as we went group-by-group and listed the core values that we felt were essential to incorporate into our church plants, I was struck by the level of creative freedom that God bestows on all of us. None of our lists aligned completely; in fact, there was often very little overlap from group to group. Yet it was clear that each one of us had taken our innermost desires for our plants and come together in community to discuss and creatively integrate these desires together. Although the outcomes may have differed significantly, the entire class was united by a common purpose--to discern the will of God and to explore creatively within that will.

Reflections on 10/22 Class

As an idealist by nature, my tendency is often to dream big and strive for near perfection. While such an approach has its place in church planning, it was good to be reminded in our last class session that a new church can only go as far as the gifts and talents held by the people who comprise the church planting community will allow. As a result, we must remain aware of our strengths as well as our limitations, being realistic about what can be accomplished by the planting team while also trusting in the power of God to do even more. If we fail to understand our limitations, we actually will hinder the planting process even further. Creativity instead must be born out of an acknowledgement both of what we have and what we lack.

Doug Pagitt's Church Reimagined

Chapter one of Pagitt’s work stresses the idea that church planting is a process, not a one-time event, and that often a church will not show evidence of effective discipling until a significant amount of time has passed. Therefore, we must start small, focusing on the importance of building community, sharing our stories with one another, and inviting others to dialogue and partake of the experimental process that is church planting. Of particular importance is the element of accountability and ensuring that this dynamic is present at all levels and in all stages of establishing a church plant.

Pagitt’s personal story in chapter two reminds me of the value of not merely examining the needs of a particular demographic and looking internally when planting a church but of instead asking the bigger questions and focusing on the community around me. For example, what does the world in which I live need? What does the community around me have to offer and to say to the church that I am planting? Regardless of the specific demographics that comprise the church community itself, what does the community at large say that it needs? I do not want to approach the church planting process by necessarily working to target a particular population. Instead, I want the growth of my plant to be organic and to allow the community at large to dictate the kinds of needs that are addressed and hopefully met.

Chapter three describes the eclectic format of worship gatherings at Solomon’s Porch, including the space in-the-round that they have set up for their Sunday gatherings, their use of liturgy and stations throughout the service, as well as their development of new, creative forms of worship. At the heart of what Pagitt and others do at Solomon’s Porch are a desire to be authentic and a drive to understand fully their particular community, its needs, and who they are as people. It is important to remember that the goal of such a gathering is not to try to attract others but to create an atmosphere in which genuine relationship with God and with others is fostered.

Out of all of the chapters in Pagitt’s book, chapter four probably is the most unconventional for those of us from traditional evangelical backgrounds. Incorporating the body into worship practice tends to make many conservative evangelicals uncomfortable, as centuries of dualistic thinking have taught us to see the body as fallen, evil, and in direct opposition to the “spirit.” This chapter definitely expanded my thinking about the sorts of practices that can be incorporated into church gatherings, and it served as a much-needed reminder to look beyond the mind and spirit in order to see the important role that the body can play in living out our faith.

Chapter five discusses the notion that being people-focused rather than idea-centered lends itself to a particular kind of spiritual formation in which people come together to dialogue about things such as a the Bible in order to benefit the community as a whole. Based on such an idea, I need to be diligent in my own future church planting efforts to ask myself how to avoid setting up certain individuals as the only ones who are knowledgeable experts on matters of spiritual formation. Everyone has a voice, and we can and should learn from one another and grow along with one another. There needs to be no distinction between the speaker and the audience, but rather all involved must be participants.

The issues of hospitality and welcoming the stranger covered in chapter six raise a key question for my future church planting endeavors. How can we as a church plant extend hospitality in ways that are specifically relevant to the community in which we find ourselves? Everyone is a stranger to one degree or another throughout their lives, so it is important to find universal ways of living out the Kingdom and extending hospitality to a range of people. Eating with one another, doing very basic everyday tasks with one another, and opening our homes to each other are perfect examples of the kinds of universal activities that welcome a variety of people.

Chapter seven examines the notion of belief as being a holistic process that is grounded in more than simply information and knowledge. Instead, belief as Pagitt describes it brings knowledge together with the hopes, experiences, and ideas of individual people. Such an emphasis moves belief beyond the mere abstract to the realm of the personal. Therefore, relationships built on trust matter, for they allow us to influence and speak into the lives and experiences of others, and thus into their beliefs as well. Education is not the be all and end all of belief and faith, but listening to and understanding the personal stories and beliefs of others is.

Chapter eight expands upon the commonly-held view that creativity in church settings is limited to music and the visual and fine arts. Pagitt instead argues that creativity is much broader and that it ultimately is about openness to new ideas and experiences and incorporating this openness into the life of the church community. Key to this idea is the Kingdom notion that we get to create (and recreate) the world alongside God through acts of redemption. Therefore, what is important for me to remember in my future church planting endeavors is that people of all types—not merely artists—have something creative to offer and that it is thus important to purposefully incorporate everyone into the creative processes of the church.

The notion that service should not be a programmatic outreach of the church but rather a way of life is the concern of chapter nine. This chapter is useful for my final paper in that it serves as a reminder of the importance of being a hospitable, friendly face and inviting others into the church community, especially in the early stages of a church planting endeavor. Acts of service should not be programmatically organized but instead they will flow out of the attitude of hospitality and grace that is manifested in the establishment of trusting relationships with the outside community from the onset of the church plant.

Chapter ten is merely a short summary of the other nine chapters in Pagitt’s book.