Reimagining Spiritual Formation: A Week in the Life of an Experimental Church (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Welcome to Solomon's Porch..." (more)
Key Phrases: peace for despair, worship gathering, spiritual formation, Solomon's Porch, New Testament, New Age (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Reimagining Spiritual Formation is one of the rare books in the Emerging Church genre combining thoughtful insight of the need for new practices and theology with the real-life story of people living it out.

From the Author

Will we do the hard and costly work of hand-crafting faith in our day, or will we be content living off the antiques of previous generations and fill in with cheap imitations of our own to "freshen up" the old stuff? Are we willing to become artisans of new expressions of faith so that our grandchildren will see as their legacy the quality that came before them, so they will be stirred thereby to craft newer, more beautiful, more meaningful expressions in their own day? This book is primarily about one community and the practices of spiritual formation in it. But the creativity required to live an imaginative, experimental faith is not limited to what we do during our worship gatherings or Wednesday night dinners. Central to the types of spiritual formation discussed in this book is the need for us—not only our Solomon’s Porch community but the church as a whole—to become theological communities. The work of theology must happen in full community. Of course it must include the ideas of those who have come before us, but to simply accept the work of our forebears in the faith as the end of the conversation is to outsource the real work of thinking, and that turns theology into a stagnant philosophy rather than an active pursuit of how we are to live God’s story in our time. The communities that are best equipped for the task of spiritual formation in the post-industrial age are those who make the practice of theology an essential element of their lives together. This is in no way a call to be less theological, but a call to our communities to be more involved in the work of theology as a necessary part of the spiritual formation process. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the task of both the new convert to Christianity and the experienced Christian was understood as not only believing the things of Christianity, but also as contextualizing, creating, articulating, and living the expressions of faith in their world? Page 159

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310256879
• ISBN-13: 978-0310256878
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #698,396 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a book to buy your whole staff, September 16, 2004

By	Bob Hyatt (USA) - See all my reviews

okay pastors. You are coming to realize that the program-driven, "what can you do for me now" consumer approach to Christianity is quickly becoming unworkable. Sure... it may sputter on for a few years, but where are all your 18-30 year olds? They're all at churches like Solomon's Porch and other emerging communities which are doing their best to walk away from the "provider of religious goods and services" paradigm for church and get back to being covenant communities.
Pagitt, and you gotta love the guy- he'll anger you, inspire you and humble you... all in one sentence- provides a glimpse into how their community does it. It's not a program, not a blue-print, don't think you can xerox it... but it may inspire you to do something beyond the "seeker" paradigm (which doesn't seem to draw many seekers) you've leaned on... but are finding less and less workable all the time.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Asking the right questions of Spiritual Formation, July 4, 2004

By	Benjamin J. Snyder "the schneeed" (Toledo, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Doug Pagitt is a lead pastor at a church in Minnesota called Solomon's porch. His book is about his journey away from the program centered Mega-church into a more organic, decentralized community. He talks about some new ways of viewing spiritual formation that are quite different than the commonly used "talking head," educational approach. His ideas are, self-proclaimed, experimental. He admits to being at the early stages in his church journey, however his ideas are quite compelling.

If you are interested in connecting with the next generation in your church, or are involved in any high school or college ministry - I would order this today and read and discuss with your community.

There is much talk about post-modernism in churches that plain and simple is not healhty. And often times, when it is healthy dialouge, there is no real story of success - instead it is just a bunch of ideas that never become anything. Solomon's Porch and this book are the beginning of healhty dialouge and ideas turning into reality!

It is not Pagitt's desire to create a thousand churches just like his. Rather, he has asked some honest and searching questions about how God and His character are going to be formed in his people and is trying to be and do this in the way that meets the needs of his church.

As a pastor of a mega-church, Pagitt certainly has me asking some honest questions.

9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I am" because "we are", April 8, 2004

By	Dwight Friesen "living connectively" (Bellevue, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An insider's glimpse into the heart of a community seeking the source of its oneness. Finding that in hearing one another's stories - to the point of seeing real difference - they can find a unity in diversity that is Spirit formation. Multiple voice are heard throughout this text and the fact that these voices find one another offers hope to any of us seeking a fellowship with God and with others that transcends "Sunday morning church."