Occasio

Ancient Spiritual Practices for a 21st Century Church

Imagine this scene. Teens silently form a line in a hallway, patiently waiting late into the night to enter a room in which they will experience an ancient spiritual discipline: contemplative prayer. When they emerge from the prayer room an hour later, many have tears in their eyes, smiles on their faces and peace in their hearts. They have just walked a prayer labyrinth, an interactive eleven-station experience in which the participants learn to practice the presence of Christ.  Scenes like this are happening again and again in churches, camps and conferences all over North America.

So begins an article I recently wrote for the Christian Leader, the monthly publication of the U.S. Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church. If you are interested in reading more about how ancient spiritual practices are being used in contemporary churches, you can find the article here. If you would like some resources for this topic, click here.

I also published a condensed version of this paper though Fresno Pacific University's Scholars Speak feature.

“Yahweh” and The Jesus Prayer

We had a great worship service yesterday. Our style is typically “contemporary” (I really don’t like that word but it seems to be one that most people understand, though often with misconceptions); I lead with acoustic guitar but try to be creative and incorporate all art forms, not just music.

So yesterday we continued our Lenten series with a twist – we went “unplugged.” We tried to get rid of the distractions that even a worship service can bring. No drums, no stage lights, no color washes, no images of any kind – just white text on a black screen. This is very hard for me because I’m so visually oriented. Our little worship combo included guitar, piano and violin and focused on quiet, reflective music and practices.

A highlight of the service was the incorporation of The Jesus Prayer. This prayer emerged around the sixth century from the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Prior to 313 A.D. the church was persecuted and Christians suffered for their faith. When Constantine legalized Christianity it became the faith of the Roman Empire. Almost overnight Christianity was ushered in as the official state religion. In response to the shallow faith experience that this shift brought, people began to relocate to the desert to discover again the power of suffering and self-denial in spiritual formation. Out of this movement came The Jesus Prayer.

While this prayer has had an evolution of form and practice, many people recognize it as a variation of the Kyrie. On Sunday we used the text, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” We not only used this at several different points in the service, but also practiced the prayer repetitively during communion. One way to recite the prayer is to pray it rhythmically while breathing: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God” on the inhale, “have mercy on me, a sinner” on the exhale. I am trying to spend ten minutes a day this week with this practice. While that will result in 100 or so repetitions, the Desert Fathers were known to repeat the prayer thousands of times a day. The goal is to let the prayer work its way into the very heart and soul of spiritual formation.

For the sermon, Pastor James has been working through a sequence of Lenten messages from the book, At The Cross: Meditations on People Who Were There, a series of devotions given on Good Fridays in St. Andrews, Scotland. This week we focused on Peter’s failure before the crucifixion of Christ. Our need for mercy, repentance and forgiveness is no less or no greater than Peter’s. We all know the desperation that comes from failing Christ.

We closed the service with an acoustic version of “Yahweh,” U2’s psalm/prayer/confession for dependence on our Creator. It’s a cry for renewal and transformation. We have used the song in worship before, but this time I introduced it as "Peter’s song." What would Peter have thought standing on the beach before Christ, after the denials and after the resurrection? Certainly he remembered that his feet had carried him far away from Christ, that his mouth had recanted and rejected his Lord, and that his hands had wanted to respond with sword and violence. As the sun rose the morning after a hard night of fishing, would Peter have understood the newness of the dawn after the pain of failure and denial? I think so.

Watch the live clip of this song from Chicago here.

Don’t forget to see U23D and make sure you stay for the credits – a beautiful live rendition of “Yahweh” with stunning and purposeful graphics.

Take these shoes, Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes, And make them fit
Take this shirt, Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt, And make it clean (clean)
Take this soul, Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul, And make it sing

Yahweh, Yahweh, Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh, Still I'm waiting for the dawn

Take these hands, Teach them what to carry
Take these hands, Don't make a fist (no)
Take this mouth, So quick to criticise
Take this mouth, Give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh, Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh, Still I'm waiting for the dawn

Take this city, A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city, If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart, And make it break

Fuller: Day 7, 8 & 9

I really got behind in my posts. Since there are at least a few of you who have been following along, I'll give a quick summary of the work we did during the last three days of my time at Fuller. (More importantly, it's a great way for me to personally debrief; thanks for listening in.)

Day 7. On Tuesday we worked quite extensively at understanding and implementing Missional Action Teams in our congregations. This is the culmination of an 18 month process. In my church, North Fresno Church, I have facilitated leadership retreats, conducted research and organized listening groups. Through this process our church leadership has identified several adaptive challenges. Along the way our goal has been to listen for the voice of God through his people. We will now select one of the addaptive challenges, choose a Missional Action Team, and release the team to creatively re-imagine how the challenge might be addressed in our specific context.

In the afternoon we watched a very provocative movie: The End of Suburbia. The film presented a rather grim picture of the rise of suburbia and gave a dire prediction of its demise. There is a growing movement of people that believe oil production has peaked on planet Earth, and that suburbia will not be able to sustain itself as the global demand for oil increases and production decreases. How is this related to missional church studies? Churches and congregants must understand the context in which they live and witness. Geography matters. Is it possible the American dream is nothing more than a dream?

Day 8. On Wednesday we heard stories from Dr. Mark Lau Branson and Dr. Alan Roxburgh about the importance of geography and context for missional ministry. Branson related the story of his home congregation in Oakland, California. He and his family relocated to an older urban neighborhood of neglect and poverty. While there, they worked with a local church in several exciting initiatives:

• They disbanded all of the committees at the church and created “covenant groups.” These groups formed not only to address issues in the church but to bring those issues into the real-life everyday situations of the congregation and the church neighborhood. Example: the worship group continued to plan the worship for Sunday gatherings, but they also began to plan block parties in the neighborhoods of the church and of the congregants. They asked, “How can we celebrate Christ not just in the church, but also in our neighborhoods.
• They partnered with a local elementary school, implemented a literacy program, and watched literacy among second graders jump from 10% to 90% in the school.
• They had a Christmas celebration that started at the home of an artist near the church. While at the home they listened to the artist explain one of her sculptures and talk about recent pain in her life. As they then walked several blocks to the church for a Christmas evening service they sang carols, invited strangers to join them and watched their parade grow. After the service at the church they walked to another home for a spaghetti dinner and continued celebrating late into the night. What started with 20 people ended with 80!
• They created a co-housing project in which four families lived together, shared resources, grew much of their own food, and even generated their on electricity through solar power (quite amazing since this was 1999).

Roxburgh told of life lived together in community as well. Eighty percent of the 400 attenders at the church he pastored were from the neighborhood. They had regular meals together, spent time walking through the streets of the church’s surrounding neighborhood and hung out in local businesses and restaurants. They also started a community house for ministry students who were attending seminary; all the participants practiced community within the context of the local church.

In the afternoon we visited Christian Assembly, a Four-Square megachurch in Pasadena that operates with a set of missional values. I don’t think I have ever heard of a church of 2500 understanding and implementing a missional approach to ministry (I didn’t even know it was possible!)  Two things stood out while talking to this church’s leaders:

• Absolutely essential for the life of this congregation is the telling of stories. It was not surprising to hear that this church was born out of the Alcoholics Anonymous model (“Hi, my name is Tim, and I’m an alcoholic”). In church services, small groups and even pastoral staff meetings, the primary agenda is to tell stories of how God is active in the lives of believers; and that includes stories of failure as well. This is an extremely vulnerable and confessional community.
• The pastors are very intentional about releasing ministry to congregants. The leaders understand their role to be that of encourager, equipper and sustainer. They provide a fertile seed-bed for creativity and then empower congregants to use their giftedness in real-life ministry. Example: one woman in the church had a burden for the sex-slave trade in the ports of Los Angeles. She checked this with the pastors and other members in the church and soon found another woman to partner with her. They, in turn, found someone who was not even a member of the church, a non-Christian, but had the same passion. The church equipped them and resourced them to begin a ministry that brought awareness to the issue, advocated for appropriate legislation and reached out to the victims. Amazing initiatives for a megachurch!

Day 9. On Thursday we just tidied up some of the mechanics of the course, reviewed various frameworks for reflecting on church and ministry and clarified questions around the ethnographic research we will be doing. I’m hoping to do my research in the Whispering Woods apartment complex. This complex is virtually across the street from our church and is home to 1500 people of all ethnicities, faiths and economic brackets. Can’t wait to get started….

Fuller: Day 6, Jim Wallis on Bono

It’s late so just a quick post tonight.

I was able to hear Jim Wallis, editor and CEO of Sojourners, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena tonight. Jim has been a proponent for the integration of faith, politics and culture for years, and has been an especially important voice in the evangelical community. He is currently on a book tour promoting his most recent work, The Great Awakening: reviving faith and politics in a post-religious right America.

He had some great words of commendation for Bono in his presentation. He recalled how Bono made such an important impact at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit a couple of years ago. Speaking about that event one pastor told him, “When I came I wasn’t sure if Bono was a Christian; when I left I wasn’t sure if I was.” Bono has a way of doing that to people! Jim speaks of meeting with Bono on numerous occasions and of Bono’s love of politics and theology. He always has questions for Jim. During one particular conversation Jim and Bono were discussing Luke 4:18-19. Jim unequivocally stated “if the good news does not bring hope for the poor than it is not good news. To that Bono replied, “I want to tattoo Luke 4 on my forehead!”

Some other thoughts from Jim (not related to Bono):

• There are two hungers in the world today: one for spirituality and one for social justice.
• Two things have changed recently in America: there is now a praying left and evangelicals have become socially conscious.
• MLK never endorsed a candidate; he made the candidates take his agenda.
• The religious right is being replaced by Jesus. The answer to a religious right is not a religious left.
• Every generation asks two questions: What is acceptable? and What is possible?
• Politicians are blown by the wind. We are called to be wind changers.

As the California primary is now just hours away, I don’t want to underestimate its significance, but it really is not as important as what happens after the election. Rather than elect “one of our own” (this is most often just another form of coercion), we as Christians must work for systemic change by being a voice for Micah 6:8 – justice, mercy and humility. I’m much more concerned about the role I play in lobbying whoever is in congress or the White House than in getting “my” candidate elected. I’m still idealistic enough to think that this “new activism” can make a difference.

I guess that wasn’t a short post after all….

Fuller: Day 5, Theology is local

This morning Alan Roxburgh sketched a historical perspective of the shift away from the local in modernity. Place and time no longer have the significance they once had. The result is that we no longer have individual or collective memories of our past. This impacts the way we do ministry. Here are some summary thoughts.

• After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 local territories began to consolidate into nation-states, the precursor to modern nations.
• From Decartes: “I think therefore I am” creates a dualism between the mind and body; the mind takes precedence over the material. From Kant: we all know normal ethical imperatives; place, geography and culture no longer matter. From Schleiermacher: Jesus came to give us a universal answer; time and place are discounted.
• London created the first suburbs as people moved to the edges of town. This was viewed as stately and cultured. In response to the industrial revolution people moved away from their places of work. On a related note, this is the first time women assumed a weaker role, staying at home while their protector husbands went to work in the city.
• The priest/pastor and cathedral/church were no longer centered in a parish. Geographic location was less important as people become more mobile.
• In the twentieth century clergy become professionals. Schools of theology gained in popularity and pastors began to study in the same way that lawyers and doctors did. In the 1970s and 1980s pastors primarily found their identity as therapists; their role became therapeutic. In the 1990s the dominant professional role shifted to “pastor as business manager.” The emphasis was on management, administration and “church health.” This represents the notion that universal professional skills are transferable and can be taught and learned without consideration for the local congregation.

All of this supports the idea that the local and particular are unimportant. We unknowingly yield to the false assumption that we can manage reality, predict outcomes and control our destiny. If we believe this we will not sense the need to interpret scripture at the local level and we will experience high anxiety when we can’t meet goals, can’t manage and successfully predict ministry outcomes in a time of massive discontinuous change, and can’t deliver when ministry no longer works like it “used to.” The corrective is to spend time in the local, corporately interpret scripture in a church’s context, and resist the impulse to find the one right, universal plan or solution.

Fuller: Day 4, Mama's Hot Tamales

Today we got on the Metro and rode from Pasadena to MacArthur Park in central Los Angeles. I’ve been to this park many times in the last 15 years, but on this trip I learned quite a bit more about it’s history.

Joe Colletti told us about the birth of a business and the rehab of a park. Joe rented a storefront office when MacArthur Park was infested with drugs, prostitution and gangs. He remembers scooting his old wooden desk up against the window looking out at the park and wondering what God was up to. The spirit was heavy on Joe’s heart to do something about the historic park, but what could he do?

He started by simply cleaning the sidewalk in front of his business. He swept and washed it down every morning. Still, he watched drug deals go down right outside his front door multiple times a day with no response from the police. After having the parking meters on the street removed there was significant progress made; this reduced the drug trade and made it impossible for people stop and make deals. His next step was to secure a temporary permit to hold a family festival in the park. In a 100 square foot section he and his wife handed out balloons and met the residents of the neighborhood – that was his festival. On successive occasions the festivals got larger and larger and attracted more people. Joe began “weed and seed” meetings hosting various faith groups and civic leaders. The community task force pressured the police chief to install cameras in MacArthur Park and soon crime had dropped dramatically. The 2005 census track revealed a reduction in crime greater than any other area in the country. Today the park is clean, safe and family friendly once again.

All through this process Joe was building a business. Together with Sandi Romero he identified the need to help illegal tamale vendors find a way to legally practice their trade. They opened a kitchen where vendors could come and make their tamales in a clean and state-approved kitchen. They also started an education center where vendors could learn business management, culinary skills and legal requirements for street sales of their products. The result is Mama’s Hot Tamales, a wonderful restaurant serving and catering tamales from all over the world.

Joe and Sandi (“Mama”) had a vision for an area of town that even the police had given up on, yet through the power of the spirit they realized a dream of revitalizing an entire neighborhood. Together, and with the help of many others, they heard the voice of God among his people and answered a call to meet the needs of neighbors, not through any strategic plan, but through persistent listening, unswerving patience and sheer determination on a day-by-day basis.

Fuller: Day 3, The Kings Villages

One of the highlights from today was visiting the Kings Villages apartment complex. This complex has 1400 residence and occupies six blocks (32 acres) in Pasadena, CA. Ten years ago the apartments were full of drug dealers, gangs, and prostitution – even the police stayed out of the gated community. Crime ran amok and poverty was evident everywhere. The people lived in a virtual prison.

A little church, Community Baptist Church, of 25 people looked across the street at this tragedy and was challenged by the spirit of God to do something. But what could a little tiny African-American fellowship do? Pastor Jean Burch, a former lawyer, worked to form a nonprofit corporation that could tackle the tough issue. Through great determination, creativity and imagination the church worked to purchase the complex.

Pastor Jean tells a wonderful story of how the church came into the complex after purchasing it, called a meeting and proceeded to tell the residents how they were going to fix up the residence and, in essence, save the people. The pastor and her congregation were stunned and embarrassed when one person rebuked the new owners as self-interested, self-serving landlords. The residents were fearful, skeptical and suspicious of the new owner’s intentions. In a beautiful act of grace and humility the pastor and congregation later returned and apologized. They said they were sorry for assuming what the complex’s needs were, for not genuinely listening to the people who lived there, and for living across the street and allowing the complex to fall into such disrepair. The pastor also brought other civic leaders into the complex to apologize. The tragedy of the Kings Villages was the fault of everyone in the community.

Today the complex is a beautiful, vibrant and rich living environment. All of the apartments have been refurbished at a cost of $17,000 per unit, the complex has been painted, plumbing fixed, grass planted, pools cleaned and filled and so much more. The apartments now have a computer learning center, social services, kids programs and ESL classes. The dream of renewal has been realized because a small church listened for the voice of God in their sanctuary and in their neighborhood. God’s spirit is among God’s people.

Fuller: Day 2, Geography matters

Today Alan Roxburgh addressed why “geography matters” using Albert Borgmann’s book, Crossing the Postmodern Divide. Borgmann argues that there are three features of modernity that have led to an understanding that geography no longer matters.

• Aggressive realism. This is the notion that all of nature can be conquered. Example: airplanes can carry us against the jet stream, over mountain ranges, across borders and over oceans. Business can now be conducted across international boundaries and, with the advent of the internet, in real time. The modernist believes that nature, space and time have been mastered.
• Methodological Universalism. Simply put, what we do in one place we can do in others. Technology has created universality and homogeneity. We believe that if a method worked in one context we can reproduce it in another.
• Ambiguous Individualism. People are lonely. In an attempt to alleviate their loneliness they seek out and join other gatherings of lonely people. They interpret these gatherings as “community” but there is nothing authentic about these pseudo fraternities. These are groups of instant and superficial affiliations, not genuine relationships (think “I’ll meet you at Starbucks”).

In sum, in modernity there was a belief that geography didn’t matter. In a postmodern context we find that this is a bankrupt belief primarily because people are not satisfied with the superficiality this brings. Pomos are suspicious of aggressive realism, methodological universalism and ambiguous individualism and are returning to the “local.” Have you heard about the “slow food” movement? Have you bought food from a local co-op? Have you grown food in your own backyard? Are you inclined to buy American? Have you seen the gentrification of your city’s downtown so that people can live in the area they work? Do you know someone who has moved closer to their church? Geography matters again.

A final comment. A vital problem of the church growth movement is that it buys into the notion that geography doesn’t matter. The three features Borgmann defines come eerily close to describing the contemporary church. Are we simply building superficial communities? Geography matters, and all theology is local. More on that later.

At Fuller Theological Seminary: Day 1, Lectio Divina

Today is the first day of two weeks at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. I'm continuing in my third year of doctoral studies. My area of interest is missional church leadership. Here is a brief description of the program. Read my first blog entry to find out why I started this blog and how it relates to my program. Click on the "Fuller Studies" category over there on the right if you would like to read a variety of entries on the missional church.

We began our day "dwelling in the word." This is a modified form of lectio divina that we practice corporately on a daily basis. Lectio divina is a way of reading, praying and meditating on scripture with the expectation that God is present and that He can be heard through the text. This devotional reading of scripture can be traced back to the Desert Fathers and other early church leaders, and was given special prominence by St. Benedict. To this day the Benedictine monks set aside time each day for labor, liturgy and lectio.

There are four basic steps involved in lectio divina. First is the lectio, or “reading/listening.” This stage cultivates the ability to listen deeply without distraction. The selected scripture should be read more than once with the option of using different translations and a variety of readers (especially in a group). The listener is encouraged to identify any word or phrase that stands out or “shines.” Even in familiar passages something new might catch the reader’s attention. This is done in deliberate silence and with great patience. Next is meditatio, or “meditation.” In this step the listener dwells on or “chews on” (reminiscent of a cow regurgitating its food) a specific word or phrase asking for God’s help in letting His Word become flesh. The third step is oratio, or “prayer.” While the whole exercise can be considered a prayer of scripture, this segment emphasizes a prayer of contriteness. The listener prays that God will shape him or her through the text. The final stage is contemplatio, or “contemplation.” This is the silent response the reader has to God’s magnificent presence. It is a time of resting in the midst of the Living Word.

Every day for the next two weeks we will be dwelling in Luke 10:1-12.This is a powerful passage of scripture in which Jesus sends out the 70 to teach and heal in advance of his coming. So many questions surface as I read and pray through this. "What might it mean to collect the harvest in an agrarian community?" "Can we understand the full meaning of Christ's use of the word 'peace'?" "Why is hospitality, staying in homes and eating food such a prominent part of this story?" "Why were the disciples instructed not to greet anyone on the road?" "What does the nearness of the kingdom mean?" I have a feeling that asking these and other questions will do me more good than reading for answers.

Other than that we spent the day hearing stories of the missional journey in each of our contexts. There are now thirteen of us pastors left in the cohort (we started with eighteen). For some the conversation has been warm and inviting in their congregations. For others it has been a hard if not impossible struggle. I am grateful for the conversation we are having in our community at North Fresno Church. Here is a blog we have started to chronicle a bit of that journey.

U2 3D 2X

I saw U2 3D two times tonight. I’m nearly speechless, but I think I have enough energy to articulate a few thoughts. Here they are in no particular order – don’t worry, you can read on without me destroying the plot for you.

This movie was everything the reviewers said it would be with regard to the 3D effects (I was very careful NOT to read reviews but I did pick up on that). Nothing gimmicky in this film, just good, creative use of the medium. And there were no double images that usually accompany the 3D genre of films (think Disney: Honey I Shrunk the Audience or Muppets 3D). The 3D is so advanced that it was easy to forget about the 3D glasses I was wearing. U2 and company have really laid the foundation for a new art form at the beginning of the 21st century.

The audio was mixed very well, though I would have liked much more sub frequency and a bit louder. That would have given it a more realistic concert feel. On the other hand, I’m not sure I would want to expose my kids to anything more than what we experienced. But the mix was the treasure. Several times I looked sideways to see who was singing. Bono and The Edge were often in stereo. Voices and instruments seemed to come from the appropriate places on the stage. And the crowd… what was lost in the volume was made up for in the crowd. There were occasions when I felt like asking the person in front of me to stop waving their arms around only to realize there was nobody sitting in front of me. (When I saw it at 5:00 PM there were only about 20 of us in the IMAX.)

The filming and the staging were nearly identical to our experience at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu in December of 2007. This is perhaps one of the strongest features of the film. The only chance Americans had to see the Vertigo tour in an outdoor stadium was in Hawaii at the final show (unless they were out of the country). This is reason enough to go see the IMAX film: to experience an evening concert in a stadium. And the viewer is not in the nose-bleed section. You’re right there on the ramp and, even better, on the stage. I’m so glad the producers gave priority to deep and long pans of the audience (the pulley system they used with the IMAX cameras must have been a first).

Finally, the set. It was a stellar package of songs. I won’t dive into details so I don’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen the movie yet. However, there certainly were standout moments: a passionate plea to “wipe your tears away;” a beautiful reading of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights (when the statement about torture came up there were many audible affirmations coming from the crowd I was with at the second viewing); a performance of “One” that brought out cell phones both on and off the screen. But the best moment came with yet another rendition of “The Fly.” There is a lengthy post brewing in my soul on this song (it’s been building for a couple of years now) so I’ll simply say that what ZooTV did for the original version of “The Fly,” U2 3D does for this version. “The Fly” was made for three dimensions.

One last thought/comment/suggestion. If you see the movie, do not walk out on the credits. Simple. Profound. Beautiful. Art and word and song and scripture.

One final last thought: we’ve never seen so much of Larry! It was such fun!

Let me know what you think about the film. Love and Peace (or Else).