Rick Crocker wanted to go home. Two weeks into his sabbatical at a monastery in Pecos, New Mexico, Crocker felt uncomfortable. This was a strange place for a Christian and Missionary Alliance pastor from Erie, Pennsylvania, to find himself. And the schedule of fixed-hour prayer five times a day felt strange. Crocker considered calling it quits, until a conversation with another retreatant convinced the pastor he was out of his element, but still in God's plan.

He's glad he stayed.

"One of the instructors, Bruce Demarest, is a professor at Denver Seminary who had studied spiritual direction there at Pecos," Crocker said. "To spend the time with someone who is thoroughly evangelical in the environment of Benedictine spirituality—ora et labora, prayer and work—with monks and nuns with a charismatic bent was thoroughly refreshing."

Six weeks among them changed the way Crocker views spiritual formation.

	We want to make the spiritual disciplines gritty and normal, not just mystical.

"We evangelicals tend to act like nothing existed in church history prior to the Refor-mation. While this isn't our tradition and we don't agree in all areas of theology and doctrine, there are many things of great value that we can draw from these wells."

And Crocker is not alone in his view.

In the nearly 30 years since Richard Foster wrote the classic Celebration of Discipline, the study of the spiritual practices of the pre-Reformation church has enjoyed a growing audience. To many Protestants at the time, it seemed the Quaker theologian practically invented the disciplines, until his exhortations to solitude, fasting, contemplation, and the like fueled the study of the Desert Fathers, ascetics, and monastics whose teachings were mostly the domain of Catholic spirituality.

"A lot of Protestants have discovered we kind of threw the baby out with the bathwater in the Reformation, in terms of practices," said Presbyterian minister Marjorie Thompson, director for the Pathways Center for Spiritual Leadership. "Now we're coming back and rediscovering them, and turning to our Catholic sisters and brothers because they're the ones with the expertise."

So Protestants in increasing numbers are bringing the classic disciplines into their spiritual practice. Bible-only Baptists are finding Lent, exuberant Pentecostals are employing silence, staid Episcopalians are walking labyrinths, free churches are following lectio divina, and iconoclastic evangelicals everywhere are bringing art back into the sanctuary. Why, after five centuries of stripped-down, theologically precise worship and three decades of rhythm-driven contemporary relevance, are silence and stained glass cool again?

What's driving it?
Postmodern church expert Len Sweet framed worship in the 21st century as EPIC: experiential, participatory, image-driven, and communal. His description applies equally to life in emerging churches as it does to the centuries-old monastic communities that birthed these ancient practices. The spiritual connection between the two is what's amazing.

The new interest in ancient spirituality is not limited to emerging congregations and a few avant garde leaders. Nor is it confined to the anti-Boomer, anti-church-growth crowd. This is more than a pendulum-swing reaction to the church their fathers built.

"There is a movement not only back to the disciplines, but a kind of instinctive, if not fully articulated desire to know the whole heritage of Christianity," said Phyllis Tickle, an expert in religious publishing and author of a best-selling series of books on fixed-hour prayer, The Divine Hours.

"We went through that period in the '80s and early '90s when spirituality was vague," Tickle said. "In our office we called it 'generic God' or 'ooey-gooey God.' Then in the mid-'90s, we began to see that, as the whole panoply of spirituality was explored over the years by many faiths, Christians started to ask, 'What is our spirituality as Christians? What is our birthright as Christians? What did the early church do? And what is our heritage out of Judaism?' And with interest in Islam in this country after 9/11, that has only intensified."

When Tickle speaks on the disciplines, she starts with Abraham's offering to Melchize-dek, showing the Abrahamic roots of what she calls the first discipline, tithing. Tickle finds strong new interest in the ancient practices among Pentecostals, citing the Vineyard denomination in particular, and of course among those under 40. "Over and over I hear from younger Christians, 'Don't give us cheap grace. Give us religion that costs us something.' The laity I hear from may not know Bonhoeffer, but they're using his words."

This desire to know "the tough stuff" of Christianity epitomizes what Tickle (and others) sees as a crevasse between the generations, not the typical generation gap, but a shift in worldview that requires a radically different approach to ministry.

"The whole ground shifted after 9/11, and I think we'll look back and see that the Reformation had, in effect, ended by that time." Tickle points to 9/11 as a "hinge in history" (as Thomas Cahill describes seismic shifts in culture) when something "blows a hole in our collective story" (Tickle's words), and we suddenly view the world differently.

"When that happens the first thing we pull out of religion, instinctively, is spirituality, and we reconfigure it," Tickle said. "The next thing we worry about is the corporeality of the (religious) institution itself, and then the morality. And once we get all those things back in place, we have a new story, a new consensual illusion, and we're off and running again."

If that's the case, some are still reconfiguring our spirituality, trying on new and old forms for a good fit, and others are moving ahead to the corporeal questions: What is the impact of a renewed spirituality on body life? And visa versa?

Personal, but not individual
Despite polls showing the United States as the most religious nation in the West, with the highest church attendance at 42 percent per week, and the most involvement of religion in the public policy, many insiders say the church, simply put, isn't working.

Barna, Gallup, and other researchers regularly decry the pale distinction between born-again Christians and the general population in terms of moral failures (divorce, abortion) and social justice (charitable giving, responsible consumer behavior).

One factor is a theological emphasis on intellectual assent that leaves actions unchecked. Another is the highly individualistic nature of Protestant faith in America. Except for corporate worship, most of the current practices we expect to produce transformation can be performed alone.

"In my background, the emphasis was on personal devotional life: have you had your quiet time with God? But there's more to the Christian life than Bible reading and church attendance," said Doug Pagitt, pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis and a leader in the emerging church movement. Pagitt's congregation is all about community, and he's teaching the spiritual disciplines in the context of corporate worship and the church as the body of Christ.

"In America the emphasis is on individuality," Pagitt points out. "But Christianity, while it's extremely personal, is not individual. Christianity is about community, and so are the disciplines. We forget that the people who created the disciplines did so in community and practiced them in community."

This desire for a wholistic, community-oriented practice of the disciplines is a common theme among today's adherents. While solitude is a solo act, silence is increasingly part of corporate worship in some communities. In a recent service, Pagitt combined lectio divina with a drum circle, alternating between quiet meditation on Scripture and rhythmic background tapping by the worshipers.

Pagitt seeks to reimagine formation within the context of the whole community. "We want to introduce ancient practices," he says, "but also to reimagine the practices and to develop new ones that will last the long haul. You know, we only have the records of the disciplines that survived. How many monastic communities tried things that didn't work?"

Pagitt tries many things, including some that don't work; but even in his highly experimental setting, change must be explained thoroughly and introduced patiently.

"When we taught about the Hutterites and their community, we had to do a lot of explaining, especially for non-Christians. And we should," Pagitt said. "We need to de-myth-ify our spirituality, to draw the connections between Abraham and the 13th century and now. We must answer, 'Where did this come from?' and 'How does this apply to everyday life?' We want to make the spiritual practices gritty and normal, not just mystical.

"If we don't reimagine spiritual formation for our time, we tell our grandchildren in the 23rd century that Christianity was better suited for a time long ago rather than the present," Pagitt said.

One size fits some
These practices aren't for everyone. Some churches report Goldilocks syndrome: it's too hot or it's too cold, too new or too old, too postmodern or too Catholic. A few find a mix that's just right, but it's not easy.

At a spiritual formation conference in California in June, leaders of four churches told their sometimes painful stories about introducing ancient practices in an attempt to redirect their discipling efforts from mass production toward personal spiritual formation. Church of the Open Door in suburban Minneapolis pointed its congregation toward spiritual formation just after relocating to a new campus.

"All of us (leaders) sensed there was something missing in our lives, something missing in our church," said executive pastor Keith Meyer. Inspired by Dallas Willard and others, the pastoral team began bringing some ancient practices into their very contemporary worship services, and shifted from a focus on healing and recovery to deeper spiritual life.

The result: attendance declined by half, but giving tripled. "It was an intentional move," Meyer said. "We asked ourselves, 'How'd you like to have a smaller church?' Now we do. Smaller, but much more intentional."

Meyer is hesitant to describe the specific programs his church implemented, because, like many formation-focused pastors, he believes each church should develop its own systems and hammer out its own theology. "When we talk about programs, it's only as illustration."

A cookie cutter program will kill spiritual formation, he contends. Congregations and individuals need to proceed at their own pace on the paths they choose. "It's about what God is doing," Meyer said.

Two horses, two tracks
"I suspect for those pastors who are shepherding a fairly sizeable, older congregation, this is going to be a huge problem," Tickle said, of managing the members' different worship needs and worldviews. "(These pastors) are going to end up riding two horses. They'll operate two programs on two tracks."

Steve Nickels's tactic is to make options available to those who want them. As spiritual formation pastor of Dearborn (Michigan) Free Methodist Church, Nickels has seeded congregational life with ancient practices over six years. By the time he was ready to teach a six-month class on the lives of the saints—Patrick, Francis, Julian, Ignatius, Teresa of Avila—his congregation was ready for it.

"Our faith had been very wordy and very heady, and some people never connect with that," Nickels explained. "By talking with them about Francis, his love for nature and his fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants (or robe) spirituality, they connect. Others understand Ignatius, with his orderly, well defined approach. For our congregation, it has been very helpful to see that the saints are people we can connect with spiritually and learn from, but by doing so, we're not being Catholic."

When bringing the ancient spiritual practices into congregational life, these leaders agree on several points:

1. Take it slowly. Introduce the ancient practices carefully and with much explanation.

2. Create options. Not everybody wants to try body posture prayer or psalm singing.

3. Make the historic connections. Tell how these practices were common to Christians for centuries and why they're still relevant and important.

4. Model it. When the people see spiritual depth in their leaders, they'll want it for themselves.

5. Give people room. Some will try it and like it; some won't. That's okay.

In Erie, Rick Crocker's congregation continues to grow, both in attendance and spiritual depth, he said. Several early morning prayer meetings have started since the pastor's own personal renewal. Twice yearly Crocker holds an all-day prayer session using the lectio divina. He encourages journaling and silence. And he offers formation classes as part of the midweek Christian education program. Crocker doesn't force his practices on the church, but many are curious.

"I don't think it's a good thing for us to force our pattern of spiritual formation on someone else. We can share what we are learning and encourage others to take a look at it as well. It's kind of unusual for us to be talking in these terms, after all, I'm Christian and Missionary Alliance," Crocker said. "Some of my colleagues think I'm into smells and bells—they may look at me suspiciously—but I'm enjoying the journey. I really am."

Eric Reed is managing editor of Leadership.

WEB ONLY SPECIAL: Reimagining Spiritual Formation, Q & A with Doug Pagitt
WEB ONLY SPECIAL: Blowing Holes in Spiritual Formation, Q & A with Phyllis Tickle

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