“to say that we are a missional community is to say that we are not the end-users of the gospel, our belief in God and our living in the way of Jesus are not for our benefit alone. Rather we receive these so that we may be equipped and sent into the world to love our neighbours and serve “the least of these.” In this sense, Solomon’s Porch doesn’t have a mission it is missional.”

I’ve recently completed reading the story book “Reimagining Spiritual Formation – A week in the life of an experimental church” by Doug Pagitt and the Solomon’s Porch Community. I’m calling it a story book because if I were to call it a normal book, or a resource book I’d not be giving it enough credit… in fact, I’d feel as if I were doing it some injustice.

I hate reading, a part of that comes from my inability to write book reviews (so if this sucks don’t blame me) and my general distaste for my old english and classics education. This particular story book however was very easy to read, infact I kept on going back for more and more. Drawn illustrations are non-existent and photos are few and far between but the story is shaped in images that are developed by it’s authors.

“Service isn’t how we act out our spirituality; it’s how our spirituality gets shaped. And as such, it’s not reserved for the elite of faith.”

Doug’s story telling of the community, its day to day happenings, the reasons behind the happenings and more importantly the story behind each day’s happenings are surrounded by illustrations by members of the community in the form of their diary entries.

Erin, Dustin, Jim, Carla, Sarah and Javier share a piece of themselves in the form of journal entries which are woven around, in and on the side of Doug’s writing.

The aim of the book is not to tell you how to run an “Experimental Church” but instead to paint a picture of their community, the people within it and the daily rhythm of the community’s life together in worship, service and community. As you read through the book you can start imagining the activities, the community’s life, the people, the community in which they live and as you begin to imagine, the people and the stories begin to take form and speak to you.

“our confidence does not come from being successful at creativity; it comes from being certain that when we fail, things will be okay and we will continue to make things new.”

They share themselves, the real, truthful, sometimes funny, honest, damaged, thoughtful, loving, caring, inspired selves in their story, letting you travel along with them during the week.

As someone who’s traveled with an experimental church I felt that I could relate to the issues and stories of some of the travellers, and Doug’s words sometimes just rang through my head for ages as my mind, heart and imagination began to put the story together, the worship space, the community, the studies, the meals, the people and the life of the community which is really trying to live out their spirituality in a way that is useful in the world.

“belief is formed when information finds a partner with people’s hopes, experiences, ideas and thoughts.”

The journals, emails and letters let us meet some of the people who are participating in the life of the community, for many places they are people that we’d already know, people who are struggling in their walk, who are not afraid to try, to share, to do this stuff together, to be themselves and to use the gifts and faith in the community in which they live.

These are real people sharing their real lives, real fears, real cares and concerns, real struggles and real blessings.

“nearly every Christian I know grew into the faith long before they knew a whole lot about it.”

Doug takes us through the days of the week as they fit in with the rhythm of the community life, as he does you realise that this is a community with a clear idea of it’s daily rhythm and why they do each thing that they do:

Sunday – spiritual formation through worship
Monday – spiritual formation through physicality
Tuesday – spiritual formation through dialogue
Wednesday – spiritual formation through hospitality
Thursday – spiritual formation through belief
Friday – spiritual formation through creativity
Saturday – spiritual formation through service

“I don’t even like getting milk because it’s a two-week commitment”

I enjoyed the story telling nature of this book, how it sometimes read like a blog or a website, I could read a few paragraphs, hit a journal entry and be swept away some where else for a little while and then come back to the journey that Doug was taking me on. If you’re after an instruction manual then this might not be the best book for you, if you’re looking for people to share some of their stories and let you inside the week of a church community of people struggling to be people of God in their local community then this is EXACTLY the book for you. And if you’re after inspiration to help you vision possibilities for a church plant, your own community or looking for hope in the future church then check this out also.

“i swear, when people are willing to be vulnerable, it cuts through the crap so quickly”

Writing a novel is easy, asking someone to travel with you is difficult and writing a story is for those rare people that god has blessed with the skill, talent and honesty to do so.

Thank you to the community and to Doug for sharing.

Link : Solomons Porch Community
Link : Doug Pagitt”s Blog

Book Information
Title: Reimagining Spiritual Formation: A Week in the Life of an Experimental Church
Author: Doug Pagitt
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (February 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310256879
ISBN-13: 978-0310256878

Also Released as:
Title: Church Re-Imagined: The Spiritual Formation of People in Communities of Faith
Author: Doug Pagitt
Publisher: Zondervan (August 5, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031026975X
ISBN-13: 978-0310269755

My Rating: