These are my further reflections , and changes, on  the theological underpinnings and foundations for what it means to integrate emotionally healthy spirituality into our lives and the people we serve. It is much more than simply doing the small group material, Daily Offices, or the church-wide initiative. That is simply a beginning.

A larger, more expansive training along the lines of the twelve points listed below. Over the next few weeks, I will blog on each and their implications for us.

1. Theology- We must root our lives and churches in the living Jesus who is God Almighty as revealed in Scripture by the Holy Spirit.  We are first and foremost about practices biblically rooted. We take seriously the model of the early church fathers (e.g. Ignatius of Antioch, Athanasius, Cyril of Alexandria, Basil, Gregory the Great, Augustine, Iraneus and others) who were leaders of local churches or bishops, theologians who studied Scripture seriously as they engaged culture, and monastics who prayed their theology. They didn’t simply, for example, articulate our present understanding of the Trinity intellectually. They sought to live in communion with the Trinity. We are not CEO’s, psychologists, social workers or orators. Rather we seek to be men and women who lead our churches from deep, experiential knowledge of God’s Word.
2. A Humble Spirit to Learn from the Whole Church – We affirm our evangelical roots and, at the same time, learn from the larger, global church. We are part of a church family that goes back to Pentecost and the early church, anchoring ourselves in the Nicene Creed of 325 AD that reminds us, that we are part of “one, holy, catholic (i.e. universal) and apostolic church.” God calls us to advance His kingdom and be generous towards those streams in the church that are different from ours –- Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, or Pentecostal.
3. A Sense of Global Church History– EHS requires a basic understanding of church history. This includes the early heresies out of which our faith was forged (e.g. gnosticism, the nature of Christ, Trinitarian theology), splits through church history (East and West in 1054 AD, the Reformation, Anglican, Protestantism), and the many hard lessons learned through the hard lessons of history.
4. Contemplative, Monastic Spirituality – The worldliness that dominates the church today parallels that of the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th century. Following the example of Moses, Elijah, John the Baptism and Jesus, the desert fathers fled to the desert to seek God, we too must find our deserts in the midst of our activity for Christ. We can learn a great deal from the contemplative, monastic tradition as we seek to remain rooted as we engage the world with the gospel. In our day, we need to develop rhythms and a deep spirituality from which we can hear God clearly and identify the idols both around and in us.
5. Integrity in Our Leadership – Church transformation and growth begins with the integrity of ourselves as pastors and leaders. As goes the leader, so goes the church. We must help one another, and our churches to be truth tellers – to ourselves and others.  It means a refusal to lie, exaggerate or use the ministry to bolster a false sense of self.  We must also call one another to summon the courage to actually lead our churches to maturity and fruitfulness regardless of the personal cost to us. �
6. Emotionally Healthy Practices  –  Leading a healthy community requires mastering new practices out of which people can now relate, in Christ, in a way different than their family of origin.  Clean fighting, clarifying expectations, learning to speak clearly, directly, honestly and respectfully, listening fully like Christ,  exploring our icebergs, for example, are new skills we bring to our boards, staff teams, small groups and communities.
7. The Marriage Covenant– Focusing on marriage as central to our spiritual formation is rarely talked about at seminaries or pastoral leadership conferences. This tragedy is unbiblical (1 Tim. 3:6-7) and an “elephant in the room” of our churches.  If we as leaders cannot work out the power of the gospel in our own homes first, we will not be able to bring that power to our churches. For leaders who are married, this is our first priority after Christ. We receive this limit as God’s gift to us who are married. For this reason, a strong marriage and family ministry is a natural outgrowth for emotionally healthy churches.
8. Sexuality – Discipleship in our sexuality is central to our following of Christ.  Sexuality is no longer a side issue. Learning to commune and connect with our spouses, distinguishing sensuality and sexuality, and understanding sexuality as a pointer to our marriage with Christ that will culminate in union and oneness, are all examples of the kind of gifts we now bring into our homes and churches.
9. Calling, Life and Work –A biblical theology eliminates the sacred/secular divide in our lives. Every Christian is called (not simply pastors and missionaries). That calling extends to every part of our lives, be it home, work, church, neighborhood, or our prayer life.  Part of emotionally healthy spirituality leads to equipping our people in a theology of work. We equip and commission our people to create and shape for Christ in their workplace, push back the chaotic forces of the evil one, and build community in those places.
10. Preaching and Teaching – The most important element for pastors/leaders to become better preachers is to continue working on our own spiritual formation. Our preaching now flows out of a contemplative life. We pray deeply over the Word we teach, now taking the time to allow truth to gestate and be birthed through us. This is a new way of leading the church, requiring study, time, reflection and, most importantly, a life of communion with God.
11. Bringing Christ to Culture (Contextualization) — We are deeply committed to lead people to a deep, personal relationship with Jesus. Our challenge today is to adapt our structures and ways of doing church to best communicate Him in our rapidly changing culture. In a world of twitter, blogs and YouTube, along with increased globalization, what will it mean for us to preach Jesus effectively in our generation? How can we be rooted in our rich, ancient past, while at the same time, break new ground in contextualizing the gospel in our cultures?
12. Bridging Racial, Cultural, Economic and Gender Barriers – A critical issue for the church in the 21st century is the development of leadership and churches that can bridge racial, cultural and economic barriers. The principles around emotional health, over the last 13 years, were developed around this commitment and vision. We seek to apply the power of the gospel, as seen in the book of Acts and Ephesians, to break down the dividing walls that continue to keep the 21st century church segregated by race, culture and class.
What do you think is missing? What might you delete? What are the challenges you see with this list?

This blog title comes from Soong-Chan Rah’s outstanding book entitled The Next Evangelicalism(IVP, 2009). I have given over thirty years of my life to the task of building racially, ethnically and culturally diverse communities, first as an Inter-Varsity staff worker and the last twenty-one here in Queens at New Life. Doing theology and leadership,within this context, has been a rich privilege. Along these years I have often felt the need to write a book about racism, reconciliation, and the church  There is no need. It has been written by Soong-Chan. I highly, highly recommend it!

The following are a few of my highlights from this well-seasoned, thoughtful work on the challenges before us around the world (and not simply the USA) as we seek to build churches that demonstrate the power of the gospel to bridge race and culture.

• The white, Western cultural captivity of the church is marked by individulism, consumerism and materialism, and racism.
• Less than 4% of the congregations in the USA are racially mixed.
• For the sake of church growth and our evangelistic efforts, racial segregation has been justified and overlooked.
• What is known as the emerging, or emergent, church is a movement of younger, mostly white evangelicals who are challenging the assumptions of a modernity-driven evangelicalism. Rah is offended by the term “emergent” as it is now used, arguing that it is the Latin, African and Asian church that is emerging!
• There is very little, if any, recognition of the “new evangelicalism” which is multiethnic, not white.
• Roh argues that the next evangelicalism will require white Christians be willing to submit to the authority and leadership of nonwhite Christians.
• “Evangelicalism have to a large extent been assimilated into American culture. Despite their strident criticism of American society and how it has strayed from its Christian moorings, they have thoroughly adapted to American popular culture. Instead of creating a Christian America, evangelicals have Americanized Christianity.” (p.200).

I agree with Soong-Chan’s analysis of the enormity of the problem within evangelicalism.  His word is prophetic for our day. I would not trade the suffering and pain it has taken for New Life to become a community with sixty-five countries represented. The glory and riches of our life together today continues to astound me. Getting here was not easy or quick. I am still growing and learning as is the whole of NLF. I cannot imagine embarking on such a journey, however, without a wholehearted commitment to the theological foundations of emotionally healthy spirituality.

What do you think about Soong-Chan Rah’s points? about the notion of the church being in captivity?

The Holy Spirit has created, I believe, a holy discontent with our contemporary spiritual formation models that are not changing lives deeply. Without genuine, authentic testimonies of people profoundly transformed by Jesus Christ, our mission, strategies and plans will ultimately fall short.

Let me begin by affirming: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst (1 Tim.1:15). This being said, I remain passionate as you might be, that the church be transformed into all Jesus Christ has called her to be.

In the past few years, a growing number of pastors, leaders and others have reached out to us in their efforts to live out a radical discipleship paradigm that remains solidly evangelical and missional, while at the same time, integrates the riches of contemplative spirituality and emotional health.

I seek to do this in my context at New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, NYC with people from over 65 nations. Your context, I’m sure, is different, whether it is Europe, South Africa, Latin America, Asia, Canada, or other parts of the USA.

We have provided materials (i.e. books, sermons, articles) to resource others and hope to continue doing so. We believe, however, that it is time to move beyond just resources.

We are not sure all of what that means. But one thing that has emerged is our desire to live life around a simple, but profound Rule of Life.  Would you want to join us in this life-changing commitment?

What is this? A Rule of Life is an intentional, conscious plan to keep God at the center of everything we do. The purpose of a Rule is to unite us in our intention to follow Christ. It serves as an anchor for us, a kind of banister to support us as we move forward in our journey with and for God.

For starters, may I suggest taking some time to study up for yourself what it means for you to live by a Rule of Life. We have provided several resources to get you started. Check out what we have written and adopted at New Life Fellowship Church. You may want to adopt it for yourself/church or adapt it into your own context. You have our permission. I also invite you to listen to the five sermons on this Rule of Life that I delivered in the fall of 2008 to NLF as I moved our local church in this direction.

By no means are we seeking to be a formal monastic community. Instead, we are inviting you to declare your commitment to live by a Rule of Life that pursues radical Christ-like transformation, and mission, through the integration of contemplative spirituality and emotional health — in our personal lives, our marriages (if applicable), our leadership, and in others whom we serve .

If this invitation interests you:

o Click here to declare your desire to live by a Rule of Life

o Click here to join the Rule of Life Facebook community

And let’s see what God does together.

Blessings.

Pete 

For additional resources and info Click Here to go to the Rule of Life webpage.

I am in the midst of two books that reflect the challenge of integration of “Emotionally Healthy Contemplative Leadership” — Finding Sanctuary: Monastic Steps for Everyday Life, by Abbot Christopher Jamison and Winning on Purpose: How to Organize Congregations to Succeed in Their Mission, by John Edmund Kaiser. They draw on very different parts of our spirituality as leaders and can seem opposed to one another. I believe, however, that we must find the kind of leadership found among many of the early church fathers (Origen , Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Augustine, Ambrose -to name a few). Many of them were bishops, leaders, monks and theologians with a profound love for God.

Finding Sanctuary is filled with practical insights. Perhaps the most significant for me is his section on silence.  Reflecting on his own life, he notes how “before I could offer sanctuary, I had to find it.” He notes that exterior silence “is there to let inner silence grow so that the inner life might flourish…. The power of silence lived in solitude is so real that it can in fact fill all of life for some people. And my belief is not only that it can fill all of life for some people but that it must fill some of life for all people.”  The Carthusians, he notes, have the most profound life of silence of any religious order. “Each monk lives as a hermit in complete silence, broken only by the words of prayer and a community walk once a week…At its heart is the daily life of the monk in his hermitage and silence is the air he breathes. From being an external discipline, it is gradually interiorized.” He closes with the Benedict’s teaching from the Rule that states, “The task of the disciple is to be silent and listen.”

I have a long way to go, but amidst the growth and activity of New Life, I find my soul leap as I re-read these words. And they have led me to re-read and pray through the Rule of St. Benedict as part of my Offices each day.

Winning on Purpose, in contrast, is a book about accountable leadership and definition of roles – between a Board, lead pastor, staff and members of a church. A few insights which struck me were that the Board governs by setting the guiding principles for the church and holding the senior pastor accountable for the mission. The lead/senior pastor then leads and is accountable to the board for the performance of the organization (hiring and managing staff, etc). He/she must be held accountable for whether the church is faithfull fulfilling her mission. Like Leith Anderson says, “Leadership is figuring out what needs to be done and then doing it.” The staff then manage and execute  the vision, translating it into action. They answer to the pastor. The congregation then is to do the work of the ministry. Most striking to me was his line, “the individual who is accountable for the overall effectiveness of the congregation is its leader, the pastor” (p.82). I think he is right there, but I don’t like it. The book drives me to be still before the Lord, to listen and to not avoid the difficult challenges of leadership. ( I must admit it is easy to idealize the monastic life!)

Silence, monastacism and effective leadership of a complex organization - be it church, business, ministry. Can they possibly mix? I believe they must if we are to lead well for Christ in the 21st century. What other options do we have? What do you think?

I just finished reading the Reveal study that was released by the WCA in August 2007.  I was personally challenged by their courage to ask the question in a brutally honest fashion about whether we are really transforming lives in the church. Few of us as pastors and leaders have that kind of guts to actually look at the hard data. We owe Willow Creek a debt of gratitude for modeling characterand good leadership for us.

Some of their insights very helpful. For example, the study revealed that increased involvement in church activities does not equal increased love or maturity in God. The connection between church activity and spiritual growth appears to be limited. 25% of people in our churches are stalled. People (80,000  surveyed) showed their top 3 needs were to understand the Bible in depth, get help for their emotional needs and help developing relationships that encourage accountability (from p. 38 Follow Me).

There is a lot of rich information to mine in their two books on their research (which they are continuing). They conclude by recognizing the need to become more radical in equipping believers to live Christ-centered lives.

The following are a couple of other thoughts to add to this dialogue:
1. The problem of North American Christianity is much deeper and vaster that we realize. Teaching the Bible and coaching/equipping our people more intentionally is a good first commitment, but will not be enough - long-term.

2. The solution is much more far-reaching than we realize, first in the leadership and then in the wider church. Genuine transformation has always been a  crucifixion (John 12:24). It is something we avoid at all costs. Our paradigms for discipleship and personal lives will experience  an upheaval if our churches are to experience deep change.   If you are like me, then you will probably only go there when there is no where else to go.  I suspect Reveal will help us  get there more quickly as they relentlessly pursue data to measure whether genuine transformation is really happening.

3. This answer will probably need to include additional components such as: discipleship around marriages and sexuality, emotionally healthy skills, drinking deeply from the contemplative/monastic stream, a deep repentance regarding idols in the church (e.g. the numbers emphasis, drivenness), reformatting how we train pastors and leaders by looking to the church fathers who were biblical thinkers and theologians, people of deep prayer living monastic rhythms, and pastors of local churches (e.g. Origin, Augustine, Clement, Jerome), and learning to love our enemies.

I could say much more but that is enough for now. What do you think we will need for genuine spiritual transformation to come into our churches? The contribution of Reveal?

Over my 22 years of pastoring NLF, we have contracted with an outside coach to lead our pastoral staff in a strategic planning process at least 5 different times. I was reluctant to do a strategic plan again. The church was doing well. Yes, we were at a transition in a number of areas. We were growing. But I carried bad mem0ries of striving, about internal my own motivation (e.g. Was this really for God, or was this really about me and the need to prove something?), and of  tensions between staff that I had been unwilling to address.

This is my first time since my journey into the contemplative almost six years ago. It has been a wonderfully relaxing, enjoyable process. Why? I think the answer is the addition of contemplative spirituality and deeper integration of emotional health into our leadership.

What has been different? The following is my short list.

1. God’s will is really what matters. Something has broken inside of me with regards to an unhealthy need for growth. I believe it is God’s will to add people to His kingdom – but in His time, in His way. Cf. Ps. 27:4

2. Courage to live in the truth has penetrated us on a senior staff/elder level. I used to think the marriage relationship was the only crucible for integrating emotionally healthy spirituality. I am convinced that leadership is equally challenging. My own breakthroughs in this area (see Skimming article in Leadership Magazine Jan.2009 online) has made a large difference.

3. I believe we have the right persons in the right place with regards to leadership. While we have challenges like any church, we are living and relating in truth and integrity. Thus, we are functioning as a staff, I believe, without any elephants in the room.

4. Emotionally healthy skills are now part of our common language as a leadership so that even the most challenging topics can be talked about with mutual respect and gentleness.

5. I finally am getting it. The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed - apparently insignficant, apparently powerless and apparently defeated. Nonetheless, it is enormously powerful and will, one day, fill the earth. There is no need to rush, to paint it beautiful, or to make NLF bigger, better, and larger according to some Western standard. 

6. As a church, we continue to sharpen and grow in our own differentiation level. Our move to a Rule of Life, and recent tightening of our Mission Statement reflects this. As a result, we are less apt to stray into “good” projects that are not central to God’s purposes for us. We are more comfortable in our own skin.

I could go on, but these are my initial reflections on our one-year process. (We are now six months into it). I think we prayed more formally at other strategic planning times. Yet this is the one that is, I believe, the least anxious and perhaps most prayerful in spirit.

What fears do you, or do you think others, carry with regards to entering into this kind of challenging process?

I wrote a brief article recently for Mark Deymaz that will appear in a book he is writing on diverse, ethnic Churches (Zondervan). It forced me to think through our history and what we have learned. The following is most of the what I wrote:

Twenty-one years ago, when my wife and I planted New Life Fellowship, we chose Elmhurst/Corona, Queens, as a strategic location for the church due to the fact that individuals from more than 120 nations live in the area. So while we recognized the benefits of such a location and desired to bridge the racial, cultural and economic barriers for the sake of Christ, we underestimated the suffering this commitment would require for all of us of in leadership.

For instance, I soon realized that our evangelical discipleship/spiritual formation model was too superficial to bring about the kind of in-depth transformation we would need to live in authentic community. There were tensions between Asians and African Americans, Columbians and Puerto Ricans, Arabs and Jews, Filipinos and Chinese, as well as Haitians and Dominicans, to name a few.

Barriers of economic class and educational status also loomed large in our midst. For instance, educated African Americans struggled with other African Americans who embraced a “hood” mentality; and Asians, with their rich legacy of love for education, had great difficulty in embracing the large number of high-school dropouts who now attended our youth group. In addition, middle-class Latinos struggled to empathize with Latinos who remained stuck in a cycle of poverty and dependence. And Whites too struggled to embrace now being minorities, many for the first time.

We also underestimated the worldwide scope of racism based solely on the color of skin. For example, I learned that the darker one’s skin in Latin America, the generally lower he or she remained in social standing. In fact, part of the reason our Spanish congregation split in the early years was due to tensions between lighter-skinned and darker-skinned Latinos. We also had to consistently remind immigrants that they were now part of the American church. Biblically, they could not ignore the history of slavery and racism. We challenged them to participate in reconciliation efforts. Most preferred, at least initially, to ignore this call and move up the ladder of the American dream.

Key early decisions, then, enabled our church to grow into a congregation where individuals from more than sixty-five nations are involved today. We mentored peoples from a variety of cultures, focused on our common mission and remained committed to the passionate worship of Jesus. And over time, we slowly built an elder board, pastoral staff and worship team that reflected our diversity.

Yet in our case, significant breakthrough came only when we began integrating emotional health and contemplative spirituality into our discipleship model fourteen years ago.

A spiritual formation paradigm that included emotional health began, for us, with a commitment to break the power of our pasts. Like Abraham, we responded to the invitation to leave our families, cultures, races, countries behind and become part of the new family of Jesus (Mark 3:31ff). We also learned to lament our losses; like David, Job and Jeremiah. We realized that Whites, for example, needed to grieve their own losses if they were going to empathize with the losses of immigrants and minorities. And we began to value the character of loving well and brokenness as true measures of maturity, instead of knowledge, gifts or anointing.

We then called our people to leave the contemporary, consumer church model so prevalent in the West for a more radical spirituality modeled after the Desert Fathers from North Africa. We moved our membership to a “Rule of Life,” invited people to contemplative practices such as Daily Offices and Sabbath-keeping, and began a strong emphasis on silence and solitude. In so doing, we intentionally left what I typically call “American Christianity” for a radical pursuit of the person of Jesus. In other words, we united around a passion for Him.

Our culture and city continue to change and we, at New Life, continue to learn. But God has opened up a unique door for the church in the 21st century to demonstrate the power of the gospel in the building of multi-ethnic churches. And I, for one, could not imagine doing anything else!

 —–

Thoughts? Additions? Comments? Does the issue of racism in the North American (really global) church need to be seriously addressed in the 21st century or is it simply an issue for the few who feel a call to it?

As thirty churches have finished up the EHS Church-Wide Initiative and I have continued to interact with Pastors around North America, I am now convinced that defining success is a critical question for us in leadership. Sadly, it has been defined narrowly as numbers and budgets. I don’t think I am going too far in saying that may be idolatry and the very antithesis of the mustard-seed nature of Jesus’ kingdom.  To do leadership in the church differently is no small challenge.

The following is my first draft for success as a Senior Pastor (for me):

1. Walk in Integrity - with God, self, and others. This is reflected in a sense of peace, rest and a life filled with communion with Him.

2. Experience a  joyful marriage with Geri where our we serve our children and others out of a cup that overflows. 

3.  Provide leadership in short, mid and long range issues that is thoughtful, prudent, intentional and patient.

4.  Ensure leadership is unified around a common vision with common values. Each leader then leads from within out of their own unique inner journey.

5.  Lead in such a way that the organism of the church works well together (in our case that would include first our elders, deacons, pastoral and administrative staff, as well as community development directors, and then to our membership)

6.  Mentoring the next generation of leaders, transitioning power away from myself towards others who will take NLF forward into God’s purposes beyond me.

What might you add to or delete from this list if we were to make this more broadly applicable?

We are now in the midst of our Pastors/Leaders Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Conference at New Life Fellowship in Queens, NY.  Geri, myself, and the rest of our staff had a wonderful time with Pastors/Leaders and their spouses yesterday at our pre-conference.  We are looking forward to the next couple of days in journeying together toward healthy God-centered lives and marriages.

I have asked Drew Hyun, one of our associate pastors who also serves on our Teaching Team, to connect you with the blogging/twittering that is going on at the conference.  If you’d like to follow real-time updates on our conference (as well as updates from the pre-conference yesterday), you can click below at the following link:

www.twubs.com/ehsconf

For those of you on twitter who would like to join the discussion, you can use the hashtag “#ehsconf” and include it in any tweet that you post.

Meanwhile, there is a list of blogs found at Drew’s site, drewhyun.wordpress.com.  You can read about how God is impacting some of the folks here at the conference - I believe some folks have already posted abou the pre-conference.

We hope this gives you a taste of what we’re experiencing here!

 Last week I took my 18 yr old and 14 year old to Disneyworld for four lovely days.  It is probably one of the least contemplative places I have ever visited, but one of the most fun! The creativity, quality, engineering and beauty that Disney has formed has a definite aspect of the glory of God. All I could think of was how the parades, floats, exhibits, even the rides, reflected the image of God in humans who created and shaped such a unique place.

Since there was ample time to wait on my girls during the day, I spent a good amount of time meditating on The Sayings of The Desert Fathers by Benedicta Ward. I was grateful that, after thirty years with Christ, I am finally coming to a more integrated spirituality that can enjoy the fun of Disney out of a place of communion with God. (I did meet people who have been there 46x and that, of course, is another story).

It was Merton who argued that the Sayings of the Desert Fathers needed to be meditated on, much like lectio divina, because of their depth, and that this was the only pathway to discover their meaning. I am discovering that to be true. They form for me welcome devotional after Scripture and a sharp contrast to the environment of Western Christianity in the 21st century where I live. I leave you with two that God used to richly edify me last week:

“Three thoughts touble me. The first is that I ought to go and live somewhere else in the desert; the second is that I should go out and find a foreign country where no one knows me; and the third is that i should shut myself in my cell, see no one and eat every other day. Ammon (the abba) said, ‘None of these three would be any  use to you. Stay in your cell, eat a little every day, always keep in your heart the words of the publican in the Gospel, and you can be saved (Lk. 18:13).”  - I found saying the Jesus prayer through Disney filled me with such a joy -especially on the rollar coasters!

The second saying regarded balance. The evangelicalism I grew up in was unconciously narrow  in its aversion to fun. It was clearly more spiritual to do share Christ intentionally at a place like Disney than actually enter into the joy of it. “Evagrius said, (regarding reading, prayer, solitude, fasting, etc)  - all these should be used at the proper times and in due measure. If they are not used at the wrong times and to excess, they are useful for a short time. But what is only useful for a short time, is harmful in the long run.”

What might be a few of the great challenges to us living an  integrated, rich spirituality in the Western Church?