The Minister
is Lay:
Social Organization in New Paradigm Christianity[1]
Jayeel Serrano Cornelio, M.Soc.Sci.
Department
of Sociology,
Published under ��Spiritual
Dynamics�� at www.globalmissiology.org,
October 2007
Love seems to be in the air for many of the
red-shirted members of Hope Filipino.
On this particular Sunday afternoon, the church-owned Nexus Auditorium,
located in a shopping center in
A new form of Protestant Christianity is
gaining influence in many parts of urbanizing
By looking more closely at a new paradigm
congregation in
Enriching
the current literature is the unique positionality of this research��s empirical
subject �V a congregation of overseas professionals in a commercially advanced
society. The analysis draws from
the experience of Hope Filipino Singapore, a congregation subsumed under
2,500-strong Hope Church Singapore, which belongs to a missionary-sending new
paradigm movement that originated in
CHARACTERIZING New paradigm Christianity
As it adheres to the fundamental principle of
the individual priesthood of believers, new paradigm Christianity remains
rooted in the Protestant faith. It,
however, deviates from the established means and operations of mainline
denominational Christianity. Services,
for example, are typically held in commercial auditoriums replete with elements
of middle-to-upper class urbanity �V high tech equipment, social lounges,
bookshops, and cafeteria (Connell 2005; Cruz 2006). The symbolic significance of altars,
rituals, and even liturgy is giving way to a decidedly more down-to-earth and
bodily experience[3]
of the sacred. Denominationalism,
to its believers, has routinized Christianity, stripping divine potential off
the faith. For this, Miller (1998) believes
that the movement is calling for postdenominationalism. Rejecting liturgical traditionalism and
clerical hierarchy, elements that have become Christianity��s historical
attributes, new paradigm believers are reappropriating in the contemporary
setting the principles and models of doing church as exemplified in the New
Testament. However important they
may be, the most visible distinction is not in the doctrinal positions but in
the operations of the church.
Nevertheless, in spite of the glaring differences, new paradigm
Christians may speak of their unity with other Protestant Christians.
��The
revolution that is transforming the Protestant landscape does not have to do
with the content of Christianity so much as it does with the envelope in which
it is placed. The gospel being
preached is biblical and rooted in the first century, but the medium of
presentation is contemporary and postmodern. In the place of organs and choirs are
bands and singers�KThe hierarchical structures of decision making�Khave been
radically simplified to encourage members to act in response to the leading of
the Holy Spirit�K(Miller 1998: 197)��
Simply put, it is a contemporary religious
movement within Protestantism that reappropriates without compromising Biblical
teachings by subjecting itself and its practices to continuous reinvention for
social relevance. Its churches are
often characterized by an upbeat worship style, a flat social organization, and
a Christ-centered doctrinal leaning (Miller 1998). Increasingly integrated into the
organizational schema are many aspects of community-building such as education,
counseling, and family and welfare.
The concept includes in its scope seeker-sensitive megachurches and
congregations belonging to networks of apostolic churches that usually
deemphasize their denominational roots.
With the ensuing characteristics of new
paradigm Christianity in mind, one can recognize that terminologies such as
Pentecostalism, fundamentalism, evangelicalism, or Charismatic Christianity (often
used by many observers) may not sufficiently encompass the complexity of the
phenomenon (Miller 1998). These,
hopefully, will bring to the forefront the concept��s uniqueness and
utility.
To begin, in new paradigm Christianity, worship is understood as singing,
dancing, and uttering one��s praises and love for the Divine as natural response
to the sacred that is at work in the profane. Accompanying worship is music that tends
to be highly contemporary. With
lyrics projected on big screens, the songs are upbeat and usually arranged with
a complete set of instruments and voices.
Many of these songs are by in-house composers, making the emotional
experience favorably relevant.
These songs also travel the world and are often adopted by other new
paradigm congregations. Noticeable
here is the departure from hymnals and solemnity that characterize many of the
declining traditional denominations today.
While the contemporary nature of worship may be seen as spectacle and
capitalist-driven as Cruz (2006) argues, Miller (1998: 201) contends that
��[t]he goal is worship [and] not performance.��
Another new paradigm distinctive is the
emphasis on practical theology. Christ-centeredness in theology means
the applicability of Christ��s directives in one��s life. Preaching is usually expository,
expounding on the relevance of Scriptures in one��s life: ��[T]hey pray for the
sick and expect miracles, they cast out demons and anticipate mental healing,
and they seek encounters with God through visions, dreams and prophetic
utterance by members of the community�� (p. 203). Again, these practices mirror new
paradigm Christianity��s principle that the sacred is at work in the
profane. In addition, these
Christians are considered doctrinal minimalists as they give primary attention
to the most important evangelical aspect of establishing and maintaining a personal
relationship with Christ. ��Their
focus is on retelling the narratives of the Bible and seeking analogues to the
experience of their members. So
long as one subscribes to the basic teachings of Jesus and the practice of the
early Christians, there is room for debate on the details of interpretation��
(p. 203). Pastors then may be
expected to cap their preaching with an invitation to church visitors to accept
Jesus as Lord and Savior. Maturity
is dependent on the individual��s spiritual discipline in matters such as
reading the Scriptures and fellowshipping with the brethren. This, however, does not mean that
doctrine is totally open to variegated interpretation. Looking at the available statements of
faith among new paradigm churches, the Bible is generally read from a
conservative (even literal) Protestant viewpoint.
Following the lead of their first century
forerunners, new paradigm Christians implement a social organization that allows for participation by the
members. Frequent interaction is
necessary for spiritual growth, hence the prevalence of small group meetings
often called care group, home fellowship, or mini-church. Usually organized based on interests and
needs, these weekly Bible study sessions are considered the core of the
church. Miller observes that in the
care group, members ��share each other��s burdens, comfort one another, rejoice
in each other��s victories, and acknowledge their dependency by reaching out to
grasp one another, dissolving the separation on which autonomous,
self-sufficient modern urbanites so pride themselves�� (p. 205). New paradigm Christianity is restoring
the intimacy that ritualism and hierarchy have taken away from the faith. Correspondingly, the top-down
bureaucracy that typifies denominational Christianity is being challenged by
the responsive involvement visible in the new paradigm setting. Lay members are delegated ministerial
functions. Ministries may be
founded by ordinary members who believe God has called them to lead a new
group. In fact, pastoral education
from seminaries is not a prerequisite to enter the leadership structure. Clergy responds by honoring lay
initiative and offering ��clerical support as needed, without overregulating and
thereby denting enthusiasm for a project�� (p. 205). In addition, ��[p]rofessional degrees are
not so important as someone who has demonstrated his or her sensitivity to the
leading of the Holy Spirit�� (p. 206).
The Filipino congregation that is the
empirical focus of this paper emerged as an initiative by a female Chinese
Singaporean who was both member and employed accountant of Hope Church
Singapore nearly a decade ago. With
a team of fellow non-Filipinos, Christie began evangelizing Filipino
professionals, most of whom were female nurses. This approach would ensure
sustainability of the organization because of the professionals�� availability,
as opposed to domestic helpers often restricted by their employment
arrangements. When the congregation
eventually increased in size, Christie decided to quit the job as accountant
and be fulltime as pastor. The
members of her pioneering team and their initial Filipino converts now form the
upper bracket of the social organization, here understood as the leadership
structure. The original guitarist,
for example, is now leading the entire music team. Nevertheless, they are still working as
fulltime professionals outside the church.
Hope Filipino reflects the lay accessibility
of the organizational structure in many new paradigm churches. Ministerial leadership is developed from
the ranks as employment of ministers from the outside is eschewed. Here, the minister is ultimately lay. It is the aim of this research to
elucidate on the dynamics surrounding this phenomenon. Though it has gained certain level of
prominence in many societies today, the limited discussion on new paradigm
Christianity �V let alone the unique internal structure it fosters - has kept
the usefulness of its conceptualization at a minimum.
HOPE FILIPINO and SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
With this theoretical gap in mind, a
perceptive understanding of the highly accessible social organization at Hope
Filipino can begin by unraveling the congregation��s new paradigm character
manifest in the Sunday service.
Evident is the preference for an engaging atmosphere, emotional worship,
and minimalist theology �V elements indicative of a social organization that
facilitates lay participation.
The Sunday Service
Accentuating the populist atmosphere of Hope
Filipino��s Valentine service are the informally dressed musicians and two
female programme hosts who start the event with �V distinctively �V a parlor
game. Divided into groups according
to seats, the audience is instructed to pass on balloons to the most number of
people, the winner of which is awarded a prize. By this time, the 700 or so seats of the
auditorium are more than half-filled.
The two MCs, speaking in English but with characteristically Filipino
accent, then ask the audience to ��impart God��s overflowing love by welcoming
one another.�� Though the audience
is arranged based on the organizational district to which one��s care group
belongs, others ecstatically get out of their seats to embrace friends from
other areas of the crowd. Warmth describes
the audience��s dynamics. Moreover,
if one were to judge from appearance and the company one is with, the distinction
between occupations does not surface.
The Filipinos in attendance are mostly rank-and-file professionals in
health, engineering, and information technology; a minimal fraction is composed
of domestic helpers. Considering
the educational and professional background, membership is generally located
within the wide lower and middle class strata of Philippine society.
The service features an upbeat praise and
worship session led by a band and a group of vocalists. Projected on the screen are the lyrics,
with a pink heart forming the backdrop.
With hands raised, worship leaders and the audience utter spontaneous
praises creating a seemingly cacophonic atmosphere radically divergent from the
liturgical practice of silence, which many in the congregation had been used to
as former Catholics. All six songs
in the repertoire are taken from the recent albums of Hillsong, a new paradigm
congregation in
As if one hour of music is not enough, some of
the promising vocalists render songs in line with the Valentine festivity. With the audience now seated, neither of
the two songs delivered, however, is directed to the holy. The first, performed by a married
couple, emulates two of the
The very choice of topic suggests that as a
new paradigm congregation, Hope Filipino emphasizes applicability in individual
circumstances. Among all pastors
who preach to the Filipino congregation, this male Chinese Singaporean is recognized
for his ability to engage with the audience and balance profuse humor and
seriousness during his sermon.
Wearing long-sleeved shirt and black trousers, the pastor punctuates his
sermon with such appeals as ��Tell the person next to you�K�� or ��Wave your hands
if you want to�K�� At his count, Biblical
verses projected on the screen are read aloud by the audience. Rhetorical questions, whether seeking a
positive or negative response, are answered with a resounding ��amen!�� by the
congregation. Apparently, ��amen�� is
used either as a means of soliciting response by the pastor or an answer by the
congregation that is flexibly affirmative or negating.
During the preaching, clerical hierarchy is
not emphasized. The engaging mood
is complemented by the use of ��friends�� more frequently than ��brothers and
sisters�� to address the crowd. And
serious matters are interwoven with jokes, if only to make the sharp point
rather tolerable. ��Are there people
that you find hard to accept? Don��t
look at your seatmate lest you be obvious.
Look at me straight.
Pretend�K�� Light humor,
hoping to underscore his point about mere ��liking�� as opposed to ��loving,�� is
thrown at his fellow pastor: ��If you��re into soccer, come to me, I like
you. If you��re into ballet and
shopping, do not come to me. I
don��t like you. Go to�KChristie,��
who happens to be the overseeing pastor of the Filipino congregation. The non-use of ��Pastor�� to address the
latter suggests that formal recognition of hierarchical authority is
downplayed.
Though
it appears irrelevant to the preacher��s over-all topic, there is the repetitive
utterance of what the Filipino congregation must envision itself to be. Whenever exhortations are delivered, the
tone becomes palpably serious.
��In
our church, we want to build deep friendship�KWe want to grow our church bigger
and smaller at the same time�Kbigger in the sense that we want more people to
come to know Christ and smaller in the sense that we want our care groups to
love and know one another.��
To illustrate his point, the pastor picks up the
testimony of a Chinese family with Hope Church��s adult congregation. With pictures flashed on screen, the preacher
recounts the experience of the only child who suffered brain hemorrhage from an
accident. He then underscores the
quick response of the care group to accompany the family. The story of the family��s conversion to
Christ and the joy they experienced in the company of the believers strikes a
chord among Filipinos, many of whom do not have their families with them in
By this time, the emotional environment is
ready for the pastor��s urge that ��You need to get connected to a care
group.�� There is, however, a
disclaimer. ��But we do fail one
another because we are sinful and finite in resources. If you see something wrong with your
care group, be patient just as Christ was patient with you.�� The pastor ends the story by revealing
that the boy recuperated without trauma.
��Let��s thank the Lord.�� And
the congregation applauds in response.
Praying at the end of his sermon, the pastor
requests the crowd to ��bow down your heads and close your eyes.�� With soft worship music in the
background, appeals are rendered to the congregation. In this atmosphere where guilt of sins
is built up, it is emphasized that the visitor��s decision is between him and
the Lord. If he wants to accept the
Lord, which is effectively the conversion process, ��please raise your hand.�� Upon the pastor��s signal, willing
newcomers are accompanied by members to the front where several lay leaders,
mostly women, are waiting to pray with them individually in order to ��receive
the Lord.��
Social Organization and the
Individual Priesthood of Believers
The employment of populist language and
low-key imagery to engage the audience signals an intriguing state of religion
in contemporary society. Not one
physical object in the venue harks back to traditional religion. Even the preacher��s pulpit is no more
elaborate than a music stand. The
auditorium, which is in itself already unorthodox for worship, is decorated
still to suit the Valentine theme. In
the context of Hope Filipino, warmth and cultural resonance emanate from the
belief in the individual priesthood of believers whereby God is both accessible
and immersed in the affairs of His people �V the sacred active in the
profane. The proceedings counter
the sophistication of denominational Sunday religion wherein the pageantry of
symbols speaks of a distant divine that demands formal procedures. The upbeat programme is a shot at making
church and God relevant to the overseas Filipino, perceived to be relational
and high-spirited (see Gonzalez & Maison, 2004).
Consequently, the light, engaging, and
relational atmosphere in the company of believers tempers the feeling of guilt
and ushers in a sense of hope within the newcomer. This accounts for the importance of the community
in new paradigm Christianity. Although
the Sunday service may act as the congregation��s ��front door�� to visitors, many
of the first-timers in the crowd are first invited to the different care groups
or small group gatherings, what my interviews reveal to be the ��side
door.�� One avenue, as mentioned at
the onset, is the Matthew Care Group.
Hence, many of the first-timers are already accompanied by members. In new paradigm Christianity, the care
group, which is relational in nature, is most essential to community. Correspondingly, the Sunday service
reinforces the relationships created in the care group. Miller (1998:203) points out that
��[f]eelings of hope, the possibility of forgiveness, and the option of being
part of a nurturing community led them [his interviewees] to consider the
teaching that framed what they were experiencing.��
In this light, the act of receiving the Lord,
inasmuch as the pastor preaches that it is between the individual and the Lord,
is not in its strictest sense private.
The repetitive exhortation to integrate oneself in the care group is
closely linked with the supportive function of the fellowship to accompany the
individual through his behavioral conversion process. On one hand, the newcomer has already
verbalized his conversion through the sinner��s prayer in which he ��received the
Lord.�� On the other hand, he has to
exhibit that in his actions. The
care group is the support system, wherein participation in the social
organization begins. Interestingly,
the condition of these Filipino converts as foreigners in
In addition, the identity of lay leaders
praying for people during the altar call speaks of the congregation that is the
flat or highly accessible social organization. Like the newcomers, they are full-time
employees in
The Sunday service thus becomes a capstone
programme that integrates the individual with the rest of the congregation and
at the same time reinforces the identity of the congregation in the
consciousness of the individual, newcomer or otherwise. The spontaneous manner of worship, the
interactive atmosphere in the congregation, and the involvement of the lay as
ministers all point to the new paradigm reappropriation of the belief in the
individual priesthood of believers as the sacred is believed to be decidedly accessible
to the community of ordinary individuals.
��The
truth to which new paradigm Christians commit their lives is based on the
original gospel, rather than emphasizing twenty centuries of interpretation and
rationalization. For them, the
appeal of the simple worship of the first-century church is that it was not
conditioned by professional clergy, by specialists in managing access to the
sacred. Those early Christian
radicals worshiped in house churches, where very little doctrine had evolved
and a complex liturgy, artfully constructed by professional priests, had not
yet been born. New paradigm pastors
identify with these first-century Jesus followers, who were seeking a more
direct relationship with God�� (Miller 1997: 145-146).
The attempt to relive the ways of the early
church is seen in how the principle of the individual priesthood of believers is
being reread in populist terms. The
vision of new paradigm Christians lies in restoring the spontaneity and
straightforwardness of accessing the sacred which the Protestant Reformation
introduced but lost to an extended season of routinization. Evident are the engaging programme and
practical theology. And in
addition, new paradigm Christians welcome a radical form of leadership development,
characterized by the participation of the lay in doing church. The principle then is being reappropriated
from an empowering standpoint. The
lay, without undergoing stringent measures of religious training, plays central
role �V in fact, even preaching and congregational oversight. Here, Hope Filipino becomes an agent of
change remodeling Christianity in a culturally responsive form that creatively
integrates the essence of the Protestant faith.
For this,
Hope Filipino, not very much unlike other new paradigm congregations,
employs a systematic leadership configuration that oversees different levels of
membership development. Except for
the pastor, everyone in the leadership is lay and working as professionals in
What was just described pertains to the
pastoral leadership configuration.
Individuals can also take part in specialized groupings as a way of
participating in the church��s social organization. Examples include the music ministry and
the multimedia and technical teams.
Since these are functional involvements deemed secondary to the more
important aspect of spiritual growth one can adopt from shepherding and the
care group, I focus on the dynamics of leadership existing in the pastoral
structure. Individuals, in any
case, are enjoined to commit first to their respective pastoral groupings where
evangelism also effectively takes place (see Cornelio 2006).
While the structure reflects bureaucratization,
the principle that governs the appointment, promotion, and conduct of leaders is
not completely dependent on instrumental rationality present in routinized
forms of Protestant Christianity. Participation as a leader involves
personal readiness and willingness as it is expected to demand time and
resources in running the Sunday service, coordinating care groups, shepherding
individuals, and planning with fellow leaders, among many other
responsibilities that span one��s work week. Pastor Christie reveals:
��In
Hope Movement, we don��t go by title or education. We are going by our function. In
The local pastor��s explanation offers insights
on the way leadership is viewed and defined at Hope Filipino. Since leadership is considered a
calling, the abilities an individual possesses do not secure ministerial effectiveness,
let alone a title. Clearly, the
title is obtained once a function is fully established, not after a methodical training
program is accomplished. And across
the interviews with leaders, a leadership function is bestowed on one based on character, understood to be the
attitudes and willingness concerning ��serving in the church��. Cited in the interviews are many examples
of testing individuals on how they respond to ��serving in the church�� by
assigning them leadership responsibilities over projects at the care group,
district, or even church level.
After having exhibited acceptable behavioral responses one is ��challenged��
to take on a leadership position by other leaders. Important to take note, however, is that
the inadequacy of skills to function properly is compensated for by training
and on-the-job learning within the church.
A female district leader, a Malaysian of Chinese descent, justifies this
philosophy:
��Character,
for example, teachability [and] submission�KIt seems easy. But we search for character because
character cannot be trained. If the
person has a lot of skills and abilities, but is not teachable, it is hard for
us to entrust to the person another life�K[We guide our people] through the
lives of our people. For example,
through your shepherd. If the
people can see a role model, they realize it is possible to happen in their
lives. It��s about life
testimony. Hey, God is working in
this person��s life, so it is possible for God to work in me as well.��
The justification for the preference for the
character of teachability over skills is that it is essential to the
responsibility of guiding the spiritual growth process of other
individuals. Furthermore, to
recognize character as more important than skills in the church is to reject
secular achievement, for example professional ones, in considering the
appointment of leaders. Effectively,
the congregation eliminates one��s social status outside the church as a
criterion by which to delineate membership and leadership. Here, the social organization at Hope
Filipino is not only highly accessible to the lay but is also a democratizing
institution that allows the fulfillment of spiritual potential based on a
religious standard, which is effectively a mechanism that ascertains the
individual��s personal alignment with the values and identity of the
congregation. This speaks of
conformity in beliefs and practices that democratizes involvement in the
congregation. Consequently, one may
be an executive at the workplace but still be barred from taking up leadership
responsibilities because of character issues. Conversely, an ordinary health care
assistant can become a care leader himself because of his own attitudinal
readiness. Helen, a female domestic
helper, is leader of a care group mainly composed of working professionals:
��It
was not initially my will to become a leader. They said, leaders appoint, God
anoints. Perhaps they saw that I
was consistent, willing to be used by God.
I was not satisfied with being saved. I was willing to do something for God
although I was not as skilled as others�KIf you look at my care group, they are
professionals. Sometimes I get
discouraged because I am not like them in terms of educational background. But my leaders looked beyond my weakness
because they know there is God working through me.��
Despite having asserted his willingness to assume
leadership responsibilities, a male member, who was already a leader in his
former church in the
��During
that time, I was pushing myself to lead in a ministry. Until finally, I resigned from that
desire. ��Lord, I am perpetually delighting myself to you. Why are you not giving the desire of my
heart?�� I felt the Lord telling me,
��Might your desire be wrong?�� So I
resigned from my desire to lead.
You can��t blame me. I was a
leader in my church before coming here.
I was preaching and all of a sudden, I couldn��t even volunteer myself to
usher people during the service.
They told me that only core team can volunteer. I also volunteered for the worship team,
but I received the same answer. Is
that something scriptural? You have
no right to ask that, one of the leaders told me. You don��t have any right to question the
leaders because they were chosen.��
Recalling the pastor��s evocative language in the
Sunday service, the idea of building a relationship with God is in effect the
act of committing oneself to the community of believers. Within this relationship with fellow
believers is the objective of allowing each individual to progress spiritually,
that is having character flaws corrected, potentialities discovered, and
beliefs internalized. Through the
process of discipleship whereby a lay leader mentors another individual
(through shepherding and care group, for example), conformity is attained with
regards to a more conservative theological position that conditions social
action (colloquially, spiritual maturity).
Here, the same motivation that compels
individuals to participate in leadership is the same conviction that prevents
one from detaching from the social organization. The idea of the community becomes in
itself a form of social control effectively internalized. In the words of a male care leader,
��the
best thing about being a leader is that you have the guarantee that you are not
going to fall. Because the moment
that you are down and you see the people you are taking care of very
enthusiastic, you will always be inspired.
And so ask yourself, what am I doing here? Then it brings you back again.��
As Hope Filipino commits to the church��s vision
of ��discipling all nations,�� each member��s potential in leading another
individual is predominantly recognized.
Thus, leadership is better understood in light of interpersonal
relationships in which is fostered the believers�� spiritual maturity. Participation in the leadership
structure, say as a shepherd first or a care leader��s assistant, becomes
idealized within the congregation.
SOCIAL
ORGANIZATION AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
As
foreign workers, the members of Hope Filipino are precariously situated in what
Tan (1999: 46, italics in the original) recounts as
As a result, the highly rationalized society fails
to offer a relevant support system especially to a foreign worker such as the
Filipino, a point taken up in human geographic studies in
The aspiration for upward mobility coupled
with employment in shift-based 24/7 industries such as manufacturing, shipping,
and healthcare compels the Filipino to consider Sunday ordinarily. This suggests a transgression in the
lives of many Filipinos whose family and religious affairs in the
In response, new paradigm churches, as in the
case of Hope Filipino, are uniquely contextualized to subject the self to a
reflexive project that attempts to recapture fundamental issues of identity for
the individual. Other observers may
see the snobbery of capitalism such as Connell (2005: 33) who describes
Hillsong
���K[N]ew paradigm churches represent the
antithesis of the prevailing pop psychology culture, in which
self-actualization and self-fulfillment are the highest values. According to this therapeutic ethic, the
individual, not the community, is the center of value: accountability is to
oneself; one is the master of one��s life; and giving oneself up to meet the
demands of society represents inauthentic living. It is precisely this ethic that new
paradigm Christians have found impoverished. In new paradigm groups, worship of self
is replaced with worship of God, and meaning and purpose are rediscovered in
communal bonds tempered by spirit-directed living�� (Miller 1997: 151).
The use of high modernity (Giddens 1991) or postmodernity
(Bauman 1992), two ideas that may be explained to coexist (Lyon 2000), to
describe contemporary society allows us to make sense of new paradigm
Christianity��s highly accessible social organization and its massive growth in
Singapore and arguably in other commercially advanced societies. These concepts lend themselves to the
Filipino��s engagement with the Singaporean society. The condition of high modernity, in that
it is ��more difficult for individuals to cultivate a continuous thread of self-identity
in the face of the endless mutability of time/space connections, the constant
recombinations of social relationships out of context and the perpetual
exposure of the self to fresh information about itself�� (Beckford 1996: 34), is
seen in the interface of divergent subjectivities between Singapore as an
economic institution and the Filipino as a migrant worker. This results, according to Bauman (1992:
xxii), in the ��ethical paradox of the postmodern condition [that] restores to
agents the fullness of moral choice and responsibility while simultaneously
depriving them of the comfort of the universal guidance that modern
self-confidence once promised.��
For this, Hope Filipino��s social organization
can be seen as a ��negative response�� to the ��disintegration of authority and to
the relatively autonomous ways in which fresh religious identities are put
together�� (
As a case of how the social organization has
become a response to identity fragmentation, one female new member shares that
in the month before the interview, she was offered a job with an equally
competitive salary in the
The principle of the individual priesthood of
believers is being reintroduced as a response to the fragmentation of identity
brought about by conditions of late modernity or postmodernity. The flat configuration of social actors
within the congregation opens wider the doors of Christianity for more
individuals to experience the divine.
Non-believers are given access to the culturally adaptive
community. Believers see themselves
having bigger roles to play. For
the massive decentralization process it introduces to contemporary religion
which leads to greater involvement in society, Miller (1997) believes that new
paradigm churches may be appropriately labeled as ��postmodern sects��:
��While
new paradigm churches have some sectarian qualities, such as intensity of
religious experience, they are not cultural separatists in the way scholars
normally think about religious sects.
Rather than calling their members away from cultural engagement, they
actually appropriate many aspects of contemporary culture, transforming these
aspects for their own purposes. In
addition, these churches do not ask members to disassociate themselves from
culture, but to see these associations as the vehicle for inviting a secular
friend to radically change his or her life�� (p. 154).
CONCLUSION:
THE POSSIBILITY OF DURABILITY
In his book, Miller (1997) offers a historical
sketch of the new paradigm congregations he studied in which he recounts how
their pioneering leaders have, in one way or another, been influenced by the
countercultural values of the Jesus Movement in 1960��s
However, following
To answer, what sustains the emerging church
is not a stipulated doctrinal position as members engage from divergent sources
of spirituality but the ��commitment to embracing those marginalized by the
mainstream evangelical church, to supportive community, to cultural engagement
and to ritual experimentation�� (p. 60).
In an emerging church in
��identity
is based on a narrative, which defines it as a community with reference to
experiences of religious and contextual de-centredness�KAuthority has shifted,
now located neither in scripture nor in tradition, but in the identity of the
group as a community�� (p. 59).
Reinforcing this communitarian identity is the church��s Baptist
roots, believing in the presence of Christ not in an individual entity but in
the gathered congregation. This,
interestingly, is an appropriation of the doctrine of the individual priesthood
of believers.
But what this emerging church reads as
possible justification for pastiche worship, new paradigm Christianity sees as a
principle of empowerment without transgressing the authority of Scriptures. Whereas post-evangelicalism has a
consciously de-centered doctrinal position as its own way of reconfiguring the
practice of faith, new paradigm Christianity has reasserted the authority and
relevance of the written Word. The
principle of Christ-centeredness of teachings in new paradigm Christianity
becomes the standard against which doctrines and personal interpretations of
the Bible are tested. Indeed, new
paradigm Christians are exhorted in church to engage in the discipline of individual
Scriptural meditation especially for personal edification relative to one��s
circumstances, but the availability of such texts as the congregational
statement of vision and faith and teaching resources for use in shepherding,
care group, and other discipleship arrangements sets a doctrinal perimeter
albeit less vivid and comprehensive compared to that of mainline
Protestantism. And these doctrinal
positions are theologically conservative (Miller 1998). This, I hope, enriches Miller��s (p. 203)
rather limited statement that
��[s]o
long as one subscribes to the basic teachings of Jesus and the practice of
early Christians, there is room for debate on the details of
interpretation. The goal is for
members to have a personal relationship with Jesus, not to pledge allegiance to
a particular catechism or doctrinal statement.��
In addition, the social organization that is
flat and highly accessible to the laity remains intelligibly structured and
accounts for the durability and growth of the new paradigm congregation. Individual members identify with a
shepherd and locate themselves in a care group, which is further organized
according to a district and targeted interests. The accessibility of lay leaders in the
flat social organization influencing the believers is critical to the life
decisions they have made.
Reinforced by the authority of the Bible, such accessibility is a
powerful instrument of meaning, a tangible phenomenon through which an
estranged individual may make sense of his social reality.
The genius of new paradigm Christianity is in
its ability to hark back to an authority of the past and to reconfigure well in
a condition of identity fragmentation.
Indeed, Woodhead and Heelas (2000: 495) propose that the future landscape
of religions belong to ��those which put people in touch with a God beyond self,
make a difference, sustain supportive and affective communities, emphasize
experience, have a political or economic job to do, and empower.�� Miller��s (1997) argument that new
paradigm Christianity has the potential to shape the future of the Christian
faith seems to sit well with this proposition.
This
paper finds its niche in the closer analysis of social organization within new
paradigm Christianity particularly in
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[1] This paper was presented at "The Sacred in a
[2] In the week before, the
small care groups conducted their respective pre-Valentine celebrations to
which non-Christian friends were invited.
The objective was not to expose the invitees to any Gospel presentation
but merely to build new friendships with them. Such informal gathering was aptly called
Matthew Care Group in allusion to the invitation Jesus made to Matthew to follow
him, after which they had dinner at the latter��s house. Recognizing the festive nature of
Filipinos, the gathering revolved around food and parlor games.
[3] For a discussion of
bodily experience in contemporary Christianity, see Luhrmann 2004.
[4] At the time of my
fieldwork, there are about 36 existing care groups.
[5] For more on the