I’m blogging here a previous paper that I wrote for my churchhistory course at Bakke Graduate University. It was written for my first course, in May 2006.

Part 5

Incorporating Benedictine Spirituality in Mt. Si Vineyard

On the basis of these values, we currently have several practices that echo Benedictine practices which now have deeper historical roots for us, and we can see the opportunity for several more as a result of this project.

Benedictine-flavored Practices

Corporate prayer

In the fall of 2005, we sought a way to express that, though we are a young expression of faith, we are rooted in an orthodox, historical Christianity. One way we’ve chosen to do that in our liturgy is to pray the collect prayers found in the Book of Common Prayer. After several months of experimentation, we find that these brief prayers work well for us as a “call to worship”, spoken together as a centering prayer and as a reminder of our global and historical roots.

Although the scattered, dispersed nature of our church (being suburban and working-class as we are) doesn’t allow for fixed-hour prayer, this practice for us echoes the Work of God that Benedict describes, although admittedly more shallowly than he would expect of his communities.

Lectio Divina

Through 2005 and 2006, we have taught and practiced individual and corporate forms of lectio divina as means of listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit in the Biblical texts, and speaking through our community. In small groups we have taught personal forms of lectio, which from feedback I’ve received form our community this has been somewhat helpful, but easy to be distracted from.

Group practices of lectio divina have been extremely fruitful for us. Building upon a model described by St. Andrew’s Abbey[1], we have occasionally practiced group lectio in place of a traditional sermon in our corporate worship. Our basic model for group lectio is to read a text three times, using three different voices (and both genders speaking). In the first time through, we ask hearers to prayerfully listen and then share a word or phrase that God seems to be speaking to the individual. In the second reading, we ask hearers to share a word or phrase that God is calling the individual to do or to be as a result of the text. In the final reading, we ask hearers to share what they feel God is asking the church to do or to be. God has met us majestically during these times. During one memorable experience in March 2006 when as a community we were battling discouragement, we practiced a group model of lectio using Romans 10-11. Our people found great encouragement and strength during these times. Additionally, we have been amazed by the wisdom that is spoken by people who don’t count themselves as Christians but join in our listening prayer time.

Praying the Psalms

In the spring of 2006, we spent six weeks learning to pray the Psalms corporately and individually, with a particular emphasis on using the Psalms as our prayer book during personal prayer times. This has been one of our most fruitful corporate directions, as our people learned to express their entire range of emotion using the models they find in the Psalms, and as they find an anchor for prayer texts when they don’t otherwise know where to begin. We have discussed the Benedictine practice of praying the psalms sequentially and regularly.

We have also experimented with using psalms in our liturgy – as calls to worship, as invitations to reflective prayer and as elements of musical worship. We haven’t found the perfect pattern for our use of psalms in our worship but continue to seek.

Benedictine Practices to Consider

In addition to the above practices, our study of Benedict and his Rule open new areas for us to express our own values, especially as they are harmonious with Benedict’s. In the following areas, we explore some of those possibilities, each of which needs further work to embody.

Leadership Models

Benedict’s model of spiritual leadership is founded upon love, humility, gracious leadership and above all a command that the spiritual elder must seek to understand those in his care. This model incorporates structured, realistic expectations and practical advice for dealing with difficult situations between members of a community.

In reviewing Benedict’s Rule, it seems wise to revisit our own leadership training and mentoring atmosphere to express these values in our own community.

A Community Rule

The Egyptian monk Pachomius learned the necessity of a common rule through painful experience. His initial belief that community could function successfully by following the earnest model of its leader was shattered by his experience. He soon realized that a community needs clear expectations to follow.[2]

Our church currently has no structured membership covenant; we tell people that we realize that they ‘vote with their feet’, and if they feel they are part of us, they can belong, while if they don’t, they are free to find another home. However, this story and other promptings have us rethinking the idea of a membership covenant which guides the expectations of belonging in community. We hope to find a Rule that is structured yet not legalistic.

Establishing a personal rule

The Benedictine literature written recently finds a variety of ways to encourage individuals to establish their own personal Rules as frameworks for individual spiritual formation. It is an intriguing trend. Such a focus gives ancient spiritual practices engagement in the current culture for individuals’ lives, and gives individuals tools which have proven historically to be effective at growing Christ like character.

However, I wonder whether such a focus on facilitating more individualized faith is in fact drawing people away from Benedictine values, particularly because Benedict was so concerned to draw monks into community to be shaped together by each other’s strengths and weaknesses.