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No, this is not about American politics: the Emergent movement, in many of its local shapes and variations, often (though not uniform) will have a sense that the Church is a body and that it only functions best when it is thoroughly democratic, and that term means \u201cgoverned by the people.\u201d In more theological terms, the movement tends to be congregational and it is low church.<\/p>\n
This is emphatic at Solomon\u2019s Porch and it won\u2019t surprise to learn that it embodies this in the \u201carchitecture\u201d where it gathers: there is no stage; the meeting is in the round; there are no clear designations between the \u201cpastor\u201d and the \u201claity.\u201d And the latter terms would not be entirely appropriate. They want to see one another\u2019s faces instead of the backs of people\u2019s heads, so they create a room in the round. Instead of using a \u201cconcert\/theater\u201d theme for the physics of their gathering with its stadium seating or pews, they choose couches. What Solomon\u2019s Porch wants is for \u201cchurch\u201d gatherings to be \u201cnormal.\u201d Dress, seating, everything is to evoke the way we really are.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the point of it all: \u201cit\u2019s important that the roles people play not be confused with power\u201d (52) \u2014 even if I might wink at Doug Pagitt for resorting here to a \u201ctheater\u201d metaphor in speaking of \u201croles.\u201d Power can be connected to public voice, especially when that voice is magnified. (I recall a friend who was aghast at Willow Creek when he saw the figure of the speaker blown into mega-size by the concert screens, and he found it nearly impossible to see it as idolatrous. Having become used to such a use of media, I found myself temporarily stunned by his being stunned.) Power is an issue in the Emergent movement, and it is against it.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t confirm or reject his observation that by making the gathering place \u201cnormal,\u201d there is established an easier connection between talking about the kingdom of God and living in our world. \u201cInstead of having a special place, unlike any other, where we try to make the things of God seem normal, we have tried to create a normal place that gives us permission to discuss the unique things of God\u201d (53). This is (almost) Chestertonian in rhetoric and (even more closely) Anabaptist in theology.<\/p>\n
In true postmodernist spirit, Doug Pagitt\u2019s comments are set within the journal of a \u201cDustin,\u201d who on these pages says this: \u201cChurch without Doug is a lot like when Valerie left on that old sitcom \u201cValerie\u2019s Family\u201d\u2026. Doug is our Valerie. Each week he is gone brings us one step closer to syndication\u201d (53). Try as hard as one\u2019s might enables, and you will always end up with those who are gifted being needed by those who need the exercise of those gifts. This doesn\u2019t necessarily make for hierarchicalism, but it does establish a biblical sense of the Church: where leaders lead. The dangers of hierarchicalism are ever present, and only constant vigilance, such as one finds at Solomon\u2019s Porch and in many other Emergent churches, can prevent leaders from taking over the whole show. I\u2019m Anabaptist, and so I think the effort must be made. I see Solomon\u2019s Porch as one more attempt by Christians to do what they can to avoid the hierarchy the Reformation so worried itself over.<\/p>\n
Because there is an anti-hierarchy strain to the Emergent movement, and \u201cstrain\u201d might seem to some to be too gentle a term, there is correlative: democratic church structures encourage, even if they struggle to achieve, genuine dialogue between all participants. Clearly, Solomon\u2019s Porch achieves more dialogue than most. The single-most observable feature of dialogue for Solomon\u2019s Porch is that Doug Pagitt meets with a group Bible study on one night in the week and sees that as the center of his sermon study time. I\u2019ve been trained, yea I\u2019ve trained others, in the opposite tradition: namely, with pastors tucked away in some study for prayer and Bible study and thoughtful reflection as the center of sermon preparation time. So, when I read this, I have to take a step back. My initial response was \u201cnot surprising\u201d and \u201cconsistent with a pure low church ecclesiology,\u201d but the third thought came after these two and chased them down with this: \u201cbut, Doug, what about giftedness?\u201d <\/p>\n
But, because I am committed to a low church and democratic and congregational and Spirit-led sense of ecclesiology, I must confess there is something to what Solomon\u2019s Porch is doing. It would be good for all preachers, I say to myself, to listen to how his or her congregation \u201chears\u201d Scripture and to listen when such persons are reading the Bible and discussing its implications for daily living. And to do so without saying a word so as not to interrupt the flow. I\u2019m wondering if others have tried this and if it genuinely is of value to the \u201cpreacher.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of this about democracy and dialogue to say this: deep in the heart of Solomon\u2019s Porch is a belief that the Church is the Body of Christ, that 1 Corinthians 11\u201314 is the heart of how the church works, and that is time to remind ourselves, once again, that \u201clay\u201d people are gifted and when that giftedness is thoroughly implemented, the wall between \u201cpastor\u201d and \u201claity\u201d is thinner than thin. And when this happens in tune with the Spirit of God, the Church is the best witness God has left on earth to his transforming grace.<\/p>\n
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