Note - "Participatory Spiritual Formation", presented by Anthony Bailey at Epiphany Exploration, 2015

Anthony Bailey  at Epiphany Exploration, Victoria, in 2015                                         

“Participatory Spiritual Formation”

‘PARTICIPATORY’: characterized by or involving participation; providing the opportunity for people to be involved in deciding how something is done.

Ø  Examples: participatory events for charity. Participatory awareness-raising for ALS (Ice Bucket Challenge)

Ø  Our society is moving into participatory mode of engagement

Ø  Traditional organized church is increasingly seen as non-participatory, out of touch, ‘nothing to offer’ on its way out

Discernment of the times; “A call to seek out, to intuit and to investigate the most deeply motivating.” “Spirit of the age” beneath all the externalities.

Participatory dialogue: “An increasing number of spiritually-minded people are currently busy with their own lived inquiry, and are seeking open and constructive dialogue about it. I call this social phenomenon, with which I closely identify, a newly emerging and participatory spiritual culture. It involves a growing and significant minority of people across the planet.”

“How the understanding of the divine is constructed. How the Divine is perceived.”

“The world as I experience it is co-created by persons in participative relation with what there is; what there is manifests as “presence in communion with other presence, in a great field of mutual participation.”

I define the divine, initially, as the experiential relation of mutual participation and co-creation between presences.” “Just by being together.”

“Some of these tend to be grouped upon the rubric of intentional Christian communities: emerging communities; new monastic communities, and the like

Recommended readings Transformation: How Global Churches Transform Lives and the World, Bob Roberts Jr. A Contrarian’s Guide to Knowing God: Spirituality for the Rest of Us, Larry Osborne Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches, Ray S. Anderson The Disciple Making Church: From Dry Bones To Spiritual Vitality, Glenn Mcdonald Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne The Simple Way, Shane Claiborne A Emergent Manifesto of Hope, Tony Jones

Example: “Fringes of the Empire” “Fruits of the Spirit as the commandments” ~ Shane Claiborne

The composition of the intentional communities/mostly Whites, lacking racial and ethnic diversity. Why are there disconnections?

Some of what I learned about from this kind of participatory spiritual formation Ø  It’s historic “What Jesus sought to do; he spoke to and about those who are on the fringe of society. They had to do with those byproducts and those casualties of the system of Rome and Temple Israel. Taxes were so crushing that people had to find opportunities to earn living, and if they could not, they were cast out of the society; the orphans and widows and those labourers; They were the ‘lost’ people. Jesus sensed the mission, addressing to them. The other thing is that the sermon on the mountain – the teaching that Jesus offered – is a ‘blue print’ of the lifestyle of discipleship: teaching and acting in living.” Ø  Propelled by a desire for authentic community and rejection of myth of self-sufficiency, individualism, and consumerism Ø  Strive to be egalitarian Ø  Communally invested in shared lives and ‘place’; Critiques mainline church’s aversion to intentional discipleship/life transformation (Romans 12:1-2) “For example, someone says “got really good training in United Church about social justice piece but not about Jesus. My church is doing a great job teaching me how to boycott but hasn’t taught me why I do that and to and with whom I am connected.” It gives me impetus to do that intentional discipleship/intentional character formation of faith not just to be instrumental but its impact on the identity conferred upon us by Christ. But living out of that is the transformation of the world.” Ø  Intentional about spiritual practices, and their connection to justice and building relationships How to participate in one’s life and faith which his generative of radical commitment to Jesus’ teaching: ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” A lot of people don’t know he said this. Ø  Challenged by sustainability and lack of racial/ethnic diversity

 

 Got me thinking about … barriers to participatory spiritual formation … one in particular

“Among the young people there was certain rejection of individualism. There was calling together for the rejection of myth of self-sufficiency – lexicon of ‘separating’ ourselves from others.

“One of my interests is addressing and challenging vernacular and the lexicon we use to separate ourselves from others. It’s the lexicon of privilege and illusion.

“Dutch Reformed Church was the architect to justify the apartheid. It was not the governments. Something birthed by the church.

We talk that God is doing something new but what is something new?

Peter Rollins said that “elephant that sits in the room of our heart, our churches, our nation, our world”. Anybody who have a guess what the elephant is? It’s racism.

The Apartheid in South Africa: That doesn’t have anything to do with us?

Racism                                          Understanding what it is and what it is not. Stereotype – our simplified ideas of others Prejudices – beliefs, thoughts, feelings which is neutral pre-thoughts Racism = actions and behaviours based on negative race prejudice which use the advantage of power to discriminate against and exclude others, while privileging some.

Ø   “The Maclean: Winnipeg is the most racist city in Canada. It has to do with systemic racism which policy and the architecture of life is manipulated and orchestrated for some.

Ø  “Racism is rampant, here. (Anthony Bailey’s personal experiences of racism)

J. Kameron Carter Race: A Theological Account Carter argues that Christian theology has contributed to the roots of modernity’s racial imagination when Western Christendom betrayed its Jewish roots and appropriated the Jews as a racialized body of people. Carter proposes a two-fold progress in which “racial imagination” came into being, resulting in “racist imagination” (or white supremacy).”

Ø  “Race is a social construct. It did not exist before enlightenment as a concept. It was manufactured and created for the purpose of justification of the colonizing of the world: those were going to be colonized and those were going to practice colonization. (Example: Immanuel Kant)

Ø  “Inclusive” is a popular notion these days. We prize that we are celebrating and the use of the language and the time (wonderful thing) depending on your social location. We use the word: inclusive. Isn’t that popular word in the mainline, progressive churches.

It may look generous and noble, but one always has to ask who is doing the including?

Ø  There is the point of ‘normativity’ to the others to be invited. Our understanding of inclusiveness is ‘come and join us’. So our imagination is still entangled with modern imagination of racial reasonings. This still understands privileges as a point of departure to the other people. We generously offer you a part of the pie. We will include you. But guess what, God is the one who includes us. No one group of people.

White privilege “White privilege” is unearned power, rights, immunity enjoyed by white persons and those upon whom they confer it, which arrogate economic, political, social and other advantages.

Ø  “This applies both systemically and culturally. It is the flip side of racism and racial discrimination.

Ø  “Redeeming race-privilege theology: Carter contends that Western Christianity has created a white-race religion that espouses a racialized theology. Christian theology by reconceptualizing a new theological discourse for the twenty-first century, one that is centered not on a racial imaginations but rather on the identity of the covenanted Jewish fleshly Messiah, Jesus Christ. He argues for a theology of the nations.

Biblical/Theological Warrant for God’s Persistent Commitment to All Nations ·         Genesis: God’s covenant with humanity and creation ·         Through Abraham and Sarah, all nations to be blessed. Provision for Hagar and Ishmael ·         Exodus included “mixed multitude” (Ex 12:38) Ø  We talk about Exodus, but Exodus tells us, not only the people of Israel but a mixed multitude. Because the empire had gathered people from all over and when this liberation took place wasn’t only Israelites but other racial people also. ·         Judgement of nations and “Exodi” (Amos 9:7) Ø  “Did I not bring the Philistines out of captor and Armeneas from Kir.” Amos affirms that God performed Exodus for the other people, too. Not only Israel, but also other nations. ·         Israel to be “light to the nations” – Prophets ·         God so loved the “world”; ·         Jesus including lepers, “sinners”, gentiles – In Christ, “no Jew or Gentle, slave or free” ·         Epistles – down with wall of hostility; reconcile ·         Revelation – vision of diverse humanity (7:9-12) heal the nations (22:2) ·         Jesus – “my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth” ·         After stoning of Stephen, great persecution of Church in Jerusalem. (Acts 7:58ff) ·         Some apostles stayed, Philip goes north to Samaria, then South to Gaza, and meets Ethiopian eunuch (ch.8) – conversion follows. ·         Chapter 10 – Peter’s religious and ethnic prejudices being challenged by God; has to argue with Church leaders in Jerusalem (chapter 11) And there’s more ·         Antioch Church takes up a generous collection for the poor and needy in Judea (11:28-30), and mobilizes diverse missioners to the world to preach God’s love and Christ’s saving work. Why are ethno-cultural identities so frequently being mentioned in Luke/Acts?  Could it be because the community reflected some of the diverse people of the world both in leadership and in membership? ·         Barnabas – Cyprus. Paul  - Tarsus. Simeon – Niger (West Africa). ? – Cyrene (Lybia) Mannaea – Judea/Galilee (Acts 13:1-3)

             “I wonder how much we Christians in the Global North and West have forgotten

v  Justin Martyr-Theologian (100-165 C.E.)

We who once took most pleasure in accumulating wealth and property now share with everyone in need; we who hated and killed one another would not associate with those of different tribes because of their different customs, now since the coming of Christ, live familiarly with them and pray for our enemies. (Acts 2:45, Luke 4, Matthew 5:44)

v  Tertulilian – Theologian (155-220 C.E.)

Our care for the dialectic and our active love have become our distinct sign before the enemy – see they say, how they love one another and how really they are to die for each other (Jn 13:35, Jn 15:13)

Ø  “The transformation of the animosity between tribes and between peoples was subverted by Christ. The people were used to fight and kill. How were they ready to die for them? Where did they get from? If we were puzzled and confused about how the church lived, …

How do we construct organization of the church our own infused generation

spiritual orchestration and imagination the inherited problem of racial imaginations

              orchestration of power, hegemony and control. We do all in the cauldron of the inherited problems of racial imaginations

                                            What should be our priorities?

2 Corinthians 5:16-19

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know Christ no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! If all this is from God, who reconciled us to God’s self through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to God’s self, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.