Movement 123

steve collins on
alternative worship
and emerging church
reinventin{, the rules
small ritual
I mentioned last time that some emerging church communities, including my own,
are looking at monastic forms - which is to say, intentional communities with a 'rule'
of life and spiritual formation. Such a 'rule' might be a way of sustaining Christian
life and community in the face of all the obstacles and temptations that beset us. We
can do this better together. Of course, as good postmoderns we don't like the idea of
rules, especially someone else's. There is a suspicion of authority ingrained in us, and
rule-breaking or deconstruction is our natural response. So what is a postmodern rule?
How do you find the 'rule'that is authentic for you?
Part of our difficulty is that we imagine a rule as a preordained set of instructions from
another time and place. How will that help us live the lives we have
to lead here and now? Most of us have neither the desire nor the
possibility to do the traditional monk/nun thing. But in some Celtic
traditions, a rule emerges out of the ethos of an existing community,
from an analysis of what you are already doing (and not doing), to
strengthen and challenge it. lt's descriptive as well as prescriptive,
chosen not imposed.
So what is the particular gift of your community (in any sense), what
are its particular values? What rhythm of life, what things can you
do together that would sustain it? lf you wrote all these things down,
what flag would it hoist? Would other people say 'Me too'?
The danger of developing your own rule is missing out things that
are hard, or that challenge the limitations of your own value system.
At this point tradition and the Bible come in handy - how does your
shiny new rule compare to previous attempts, to the life of Christ
itself? How does it disciple you - form you as Christ-followers? After
all, the ultimate purpose of any Christian path is to make us more
Christ-like, to rehearse in us the way of Christ. At this point tradition
becomes a guide, not an answer, because that way, for us, will not be
the same as in the sixth century.
Somebody described the rule of Saint Benedict as a grid, and I like that. One could say
that'rule' implies a line you have to follow, an obligatory sequence of actions; while
'grid' implies a frame of reference, like a map grid, within which one can move in many
directions but which gives measure and orientation.
Perhaps the duties of regular prayer in the old monastic rules, which look like such an
impossible chore to us, are best understood/updated in this way - as a grid, a headsup
at periodic intervals to check compass and direction, squirting the bird if you like
(definition: to transmit a signal up to a satellite. 'Crew and talent are ready, what time
do we squirt the bird?')
For me this aligns with ideas of the Sabbath, and the discipline of idleness in Chinese
thought, as creating space for awareness of the Cod who is here anyhow. One of our
problems with 'rules', or with any kind of spiritual discipline, is that our over-busy lives
need times to not be'disciplined'. The danger of a rule is it becomes another form of
workload. Peiversely, we need to be disciplined about taking time out.
For those who are curious l'd recommend taking a look at the Rule of Saint Benedict
- which of course is still in contemporary use. lt's countercultural enough in matters of
possessions, behaviour and punishment to be provocative, and its apparent severity is
subtly leavened. Anyone who writes'keeping in view the needs of the weak, we believe
that a half-bottle of wine a day is sufficient for each' can't be all bad. My own community's
rule prescribes Belgian beer, which is of course brewed by monks. I
Steve Collins is an architect and member of Crace alternative worship group in Ealing, west ,
London. He has written extensively about alternative worship and was one of the design team
for the Labyrinth, www.labyrinth.org.uk. He runs the websites wvwv.alternativeworship.org, www.
sm al lfi re.org, and www. s m al I ritu al.org.
in some traditionsn a
rule emerges from an
analysis of what you are
already doing (and not
doing), to strentfihen
and challenge it. lt's
descriptive as well as
prescriptive, chosen not
imposed
Want to ask Steve
a question, or
comment on the
column?
Go to www.
movement. org.uk/
forum.
movement
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