Parts of the Holistic
Every activity at Solomon's Porch contributes to spiritual formation.
Doug Pagitt of Solomon's Porch
January 1, 2005
Sofas replaced pews and Monday night means yoga class, not board meetings. For worshipers at Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis, it's part of their passion for a new kind of spiritual formation. Founding pastor Doug Pagitt guides readers through a typical week with his experimental congregation in his new book Reimagining Spiritual Formation (Zondervan, 2004). Pagitt describes the soul-shaping experiences of conversation, exercise, hospitality, public service, creativity, and worship. We talked with Doug about the passion behind Solomon's Porch and how other leaders can begin to re-imagine ministry. How is "spiritual formation" defined at Solomon's Porch? We are trying to have a more holistic understanding of what it means. Many churches think of your spiritual life as being separate from your physical, social, or work life. They believe if you just give people the right information about God they will live good lives. We've been asking, "How are people shaped by what they already do?" and then "How can they live out the dreams of God in their world?" How do you carry out holistic formation in a busy culture that competes with the church for people's time? It is a challenge, but we've tried to make the regular doings of our lives count in spiritual formation. People have to eat, so we eat meals together. People exercise, so we make exercise part of formation. Rather than adding programs about God to someone's life, we try to incorporate God into what people already do. Solomon's Porch emphasizes hospitality at its gatherings. How is this different from being seeker sensitive? When a guest comes to our gathering, we are not worried about making them uncomfortable; we focus on making sure they really feel a part of us. We want to treat ...
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