musings.from.the.porch

Why do we do things the way we do at The Porch? Why do we think of it as something different than just another church service? If we wanted to make another “instance” of The Porch, what would you have to know?

I believe there are several core principles that have guided us and help us think about what the future might hold. Below are the ones I see. Can I invite you to comment and add to these? I will elaborate as I have time or there is interest

The three key emphases for me are:

• Building relationship with God
• Building community with each other
• Serving where we live

These principles that guide us are:

• Experimentation and continual learning
• Respect for people and respect for the Word
• Plural, lay leadership
• Deep church
• A meeting arc that allows for reflection and participation with God
• Sabbath
• Natural opportunities for building community
• Invitation to service and to bless

Here is what I mean.

Experimentation and continual learning

We are constantly learning. We expect not to be perfect, so we talk with each other about what is going well and what is going less well and how we might adjust.

It is fine to plan. But our focus is to plan just enough, for what we know needs to be done now or soon: “doing what is at our hand now.” We try not to speculate too much about what we think we might have to do in the future, “letting tomorrow take care of itself.”

We want to try new things, to think out of the institutional and traditional boxes which, by and large, have ceased to be relevant (even if the church does not know it yet). We are open to critique of each other and of process, doing it in true humility and love, leading to kingdom building.

We want to try new ways of engaging with people.

We are not committed to one format for worship or instruction.

Respect for people and respect for the Word

Respect for people affirms the belief that others have important contributions to make and legitimate questions to ask. Jesus did not play to the audience, but addressed individuals and that is a key distinctive for ministry.

Respect for the Word affirms a high regard for the Bible, through which God speaks to us and guides us. We want to think hard - in our hearts and in our minds - about what is being said to us. We recognize that all of us bring baggage with us when we read the Bible and that we have a tendency to read into the text our own bias and agendas. We have been shaped dramatically by prevailing worldviews, which are not necessarily compatible with Jesus. We are open to being critiqued so that we can understand better.

In our gatherings, a key way we express this respect for people and for the Word is through the approach called Progressional Dialog. This is an approach to teaching described by Doug Pagit in his book, Preaching Reimagined. Basically, it focuses on involving the group in shaping the message with a mix of group talking ahead of time, short talks that help set a direction, group discussion, and possibly larger group reflection. Rather than making speeches that try to make applications for people, it focuses on dialog that leads individuals to consider the implications of what is being said and then make application for themselves with guidance from the Holy Spirit. It is a way of respecting people. It produces richer insights than any one person could make, while allowing for contributions from people who have spent time studying.

This approach is a way of respecting people. It produces richer insights than any one person could make, while allowing for contributions from people who have spent time studying.We take this further by having a rotating group of teachers. This allows for different teaching styles to come through week-to-week and connection with teachers over time. It also gives teachers a break from having to prepare something every week, so they can stay fresh and can recharge during the “off” weeks.

Discussion at tables of 7 is important. This is small enough so that everyone can talk while large enough to get a variety of perspectives. Being together at tables in the same room gives both a feeling of intimacy and community (sort of like at a restaurant). It allows for flexibility in discussion formats and is preferred to breaking people into different rooms. We use conversation facilitators to ensure everyone is heard and ideas are considered. We discourage Christian grand-standing in the table discussions.

Our presentation style is guided by the following:

• Try not to use Christian jargon
• Aim to understand what Jesus meant and what his listeners heard and then consider applications in our (postmodern) culture today
• Don’t back away from what Jesus actually said
• Don’t add to what Jesus said with your opinion, with additional jargon or political agenda
• Be free to draw out implications for personal life, political life, church life, work life

We adopt a posture that is participatory, recognizing with humility that everyone is in this together, and we need each other to participate if we are going to discover truth.

Plural, lay leadership

Plurality means that we want multiple perspectives in leadership. No one human is the Chief. No one human can be completely trusted. No one human has a perfect viewpoint on everything. There is a lot of wisdom in checks-and-balances and in many heads and many hands, which is maybe why they used it in the New Testament. It is a great way to avoid abuse. And, by the way, we believe that leadership is open to both men and women, acting in partnership. No one gender has it all figured out, either (ask my spouse ).

Lay leadership means that we believe that everyone has the ability to contribute. Christian leadership is not reserved for a professional elite. There is value in having full time staff because there is often a lot to do. However, we do not want to grow weak through an over-reliance on staff. Both full time staff and people with other vocations need to have proper humility about their place in the life of the community.

We believe in growing leadership from within the group. Asking people to help, to grow, to lead. There is certainly a place for people who have spent a long time in study. But practical knowledge grown from actually doing the work is equally desirable. It is a mistake to equate college degrees with human value.

Deep church

Church can happen at many levels and occasions. It is not restricted to a particular time or location. Church is not the same as a “service.” Instead, “where two or three” (or ten or a hundred or a thousand) “are gathered together, there is Jesus in the midst.” And that is where church is happening.

We encourage collaboration between various congregations, sharing resources, sharing ideas. We encourage followers of Jesus to see that whenever they get together to see it as church, whether in a church building, a home, a pub, or a service project.

We believe that all levels of these gatherings are important and useful: each offers a necessary building block and a unique expression of the creative life of God.

A meeting arc that allows for reflection and participation with God

When we gather, we want to be led to true relationship with God. We want to think very hard about what the “arc” of our gathering activities says about what we think is important. In The Porch, the “arc” of our gatherings intentionally takes us on a journey to God:

• Starts with engaging with other people (through a meal)
• Gathers us as a group (Announcer Guy and videos)
• Orient our minds through considering the Bible (right now, we are especially focusing on the words of Jesus), using the progressional dialog approach. 
• Worship and prayer that gives us time to consider and reflect on what has been said

Contrast this with more traditional Protestant services. The emphasis is on The Bible and especially The Sermon. This arc says we value speech-making as most important, and invest great sums of money and time in people to make them good orators and critique a church based on that speaker’s abilities. A person, then, becomes the main focus and intellectual assent and right belief is elevated.

There may well be variation and adjustment as we learn. But we pay attention to what the symbols and progression of our meetings says about what we really believe is important.

Sabbath

It is important for people to experience “sabbath” - true rest, a gift from God. Sabbath is given to people for their benefit, not to be a burden.

Sabbath involves playing and praying. We want to have fun together. Humor and a certain irreverance is healthy.

It is crucial for people to have time away from church - if someone is too busy at church to rest and to be out among the regular world, they are too busy - and the institution is probably to blame. If Porch activities get in the way of a person’s sabbath rest, then we encourage them to back away to get rest.

Spiritual formation is also part of Sabbath: the need for us, together and indiviually, to spend time with God in the disciplines of the faith that help us to grow. This is not natural to us in the West. Mutual encouragement is required and a willingness to experiment as we learn what helps and what does not.

Natural opportunities for building community

tbd

Eating together

talking together

serving together

permission to leave, to have conversations in other places

Invitation to service

tbd

in this society, it is important to ask people to serve

it is important to serve, so that we avoid the selfishness of serving just ourselves. God seeks to bless all - both inside and outside the “club”, both those who are seeking to follow him, those who have not yet decided to, and even those who actively oppose him right now.

Some blogs and leaders call this orientation toward service and contextualizing “Missional” - wanting to participate in God’s mission to bless all peoples of the earth. That sums it up for me. It means I am looking to see the needs and the perspectives of the community we seek to serve and how God would meet those needs. It also says I am not interested in a short-term quick fix but seeking to build a long-term engagement with others.

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