Taking a Page from Pagitt

So I've decided to start blogging about the book that has inspired much of what The House is about: Reimagining Spiritual Formation. It was written by Doug Pagitt, pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis, and the rest of the congregation. Many of the thoughts and ideas resonnate with things Matt and I were thinking beforehand and many others are welcome additions in forming a diferent view of spirituality. The book works through a week in the life of the church, using each day to illustrate a different part of our spiritual selves. It starts on Sunday with worship and so shall I.

At first glance, worship seems to be a large part of churches. Large worship bands writing new, meaningful songs with heart-tugging music are all the rage today. But that's just the problem. Even as you read this many of you are thinking what's wrong with that? Isn't it great that we're getting back to a strong music-based worship focus? Yes, it is. I love music and I find it very easy to encounter God through music, but music is only a small part, one way of worshipping our God. And the fact that worship is confined to a six song set (seven or eight for pentecostals), once a week adds to the feeling that I have one shot per week to worship and only one mode in which to do so.

Solomon's Porch refers to their Sunday as a worship gathering, with significance placed on both words. The entire time together is seen as worship and that worship is communal. The first idea provides the context for everything that happens on Sunday to be seen as worship: singing, praying, reading, conversing, eating, playing, everything...beautiful! The second part places emphasis on communal worship, both enforcing the need to praise God together and providing the realization that worship on one's own can happen throughout the week (i.e. Sunday is a time when individual worshippers gather to worship God together).

Another aspect of worship that is very crucial to The House, and which resonates with Solomon's Porch, is the modes through which we experience God and offer praise to Him. Creativity will be a big part of this: art, sculpture, poetry, maybe even dance. The physical realm will also be involved, which is a scary thought for many of us when it comes to worship and spirituality in general (more on physicality in another installment), but it has so much to offer us.

The large, over-arching principle for worhip at The House is that it becomes a natural out-flowing of the community. We never want to get stuck in a mode where a few people dictate how we worship. Worship becomes a normal part of how we construct our lives around God. Does this make it harder to ensure Biblically sound practices? Yes. Does it make it harder for Matt and I to control what goes on? Yes. And thank goodness we don't have to. This search for authentic, natural worship puts more of an onus on each individual to be real and, hopefully, produces more meaningful expressions. Not to say that more structured worship can't be meaningful, but I'm excited to see what people bring when they aren't told how or what to bring!

Tune in next time. Same Elf time. Same Elf channel.