Check out my guest post on Jan Edmiston‘s blog A Church for Starving Artists about church as spiritual potluck instead of banquet.
2011 Year in Review
January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
My 2011 Year in Review is now available for download as a PDF. Check it out at mattpritchard.com/newsletter
House of St Michael the Archangel Devotional Conference this January
December 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
As many of you know, I’m a part of the House of St Michael the Archangel, a community of people dedicated to total conversion to the life of Jesus Christ. The work of the community in prayer, reading of scripture, and reading of early church writings has been one of the most transforming experiences of my life. It’s because of this that I’m inviting you to our annual devotional conference. It’s likely to be very different from anything you’ve experienced and will definitely be challenging, but I’m confident you will find the experience deeply worthwhile.
I hope you will consider coming!
If you are coming from outside of Pittsburgh, you will definitely have a place to stay. 
Just let me know.
Here’s some more information about the conference:
Too many Christians aren’t impressed with Jesus, at least not enough. The annual House of St Michael the Archangel Devotional Conference is committed to entering into greater awe and reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ. The focus of this year’s conference will be on devotion to the name of Jesus. And through worship and the witness of the ancient Church, the Devotional Conference will call people to desire Jesus Christ with ever greater conviction.
Dates: Friday-Saturday, January 13-14, 2012
Times: Friday, 6pm-10pm; Saturday, 8:30am-4:30pm
Cost: $30 (covers food)
Order tickets via Eventbrite:
http://devotionalconference-efbevent.eventbrite.com/
Where: Oakmont Presbyterian Church, 415 Pennsylvania Ave, Oakmont, PA
There will also be optional vigil from 10pm on Friday through 8am on Saturday. The vigil will involve the reading of the Acts of the Apostles and the singing of the Jesus Prayer. People are welcome to participate in the vigil as much as they’re able – which could be for one hour, two hours, four hours, the whole thing, or not at all. People who participate in the vigil will also be welcome to sleep in the church when they’re not holding vigil.
“Community Living for the Long Haul” in this quarter’s Conspire
April 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The spring 2011 issue of Conspire magazine is themed “Grit and Grace: Love for the Long Haul” and, in additional to a lot of great art and essays, features an article by yours truly titled “Community Living for the Long Haul.” The article explores common mistakes communities make.
Check out the promo video:
Be Ruthless in the Living of Call (House of St Michael the Archangel)
May 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I’ll be blogging regularly at the House of St Michael the Archangel. My first post is now available. Here’s a preview:
I have many friends who work in areas where life and death are truly in the balance. There’s always a sense that if I work a little more, one more street child will be safe, one less person will die of aids or starvation, or one more slave will be set free. Even in my pastoral work, there’s a sense that if I just spend a little more time with people it will make a difference. These thoughts are evil! They are a proclamation that you are the one holding the world together, that you love them more than God does. Only when we are confident in our call and the character of our God, can we say no with the peace that God doesn’t need us to save the world, he needs us to do and be exactly that which he has built and called us to do and be, nothing more and nothing less. The Kingdom of God comes when we each, with reckless abandon, fall into submission to God, not when we each pursue that which we think will maximize the work of our hands.
A Not-So-Simple Life.
January 25, 2009 By 1 Comment
The Washington Post Magazine today features a wonderful article about A Simple House, A Not-So-Simple Life. It’s a really great article that helps explain a lot of the things we’ve been working through living in community. It also features a couple of quotes from my housemate Dawnielle Miller and mentions our community, Casa Chirilagua. Let me know what you think!
Activist D.C. Church Embraces Transition in Name of Its Mission
January 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein recently wrote an article about Church of the Savior, Activist D.C. Church Embraces Transition in Name of Its Mission. To quote one of my friends in the city, “No other group of people has done more to bring social justice to the city.” They were emerging decades before anyone had any concept of what that meant. I have many friends in their community and I admire their work more than I can articulate.
Another Problem with Preaching
January 7, 2009 By 6 Comments
Ok, so in my last post I talked about the problem with preaching being that it often elevates the gifts of one over the gifts of others and it’s important that we have everyone’s gifts for the Word to be more fully expressed. (If you’ve not read it already, you should read it first as the following comes from within it’s context.)
Another problem with the way churches typically go about preaching is that it often comes at the cost of the preacher’s other gifts.
For example, my head of staff J. is an incredibly gifted preacher. (I’m not just saying that, person after person, friend after friend, repeatedly tells me how much they connect with her preaching.) In addition to gifts in preaching, she is an incredibly gifted theologian, pastor, teacher, church visionary, mother, wife, writer, disciple-maker, and the list goes on…
Sermons take a huge amount of time to prepare and are best prodded by the Holy Spirit instead of a weekly rhythm (IMHO). When our expectation is that J. preaches every week, we must realize that that comes at the cost of her using and developing some of her other gifts.
The problem is that, generally, communities assume that someone must preach each week.
My point is that churches need to examine whether that is truly the best use of the preacher’s time. Are there other gifts we want them to explore themselves and impart to our community?
The Problem of Preaching
December 31, 2008 By 10 Comments
In my communities, I tend to be the guy who “doesn’t like preaching.”
However, my problem isn’t with preaching at all, it’s only that churches often recognize preaching to the detriment of other spiritual gifts. Assuming that preaching is the best way to share things week-in and week-out is a mistake (pedagogically and theologically). (It’s similar to my problem with relegating worship to only music.) It’s one of many ways to proclaim the Word. As such, it’s as problematic to never have preaching as it is to always have preaching.
The issue is that in many churches today we have legitimate avenues for bringing the Word (most notably preaching and musical worship) and illegitimate ones. Though we may use a medium poorly, there are NO inappropriate mediums for bringing the Word. We can bring the Word of God when we preach, when we care for the least of these, when we are alone praying, when we impart joy to others. We can proclaim the Word through fine art and music, through caring for our neighbors, through loving our enemies, through blogging, and through living the eucharist. The Word can appear in our discussions, in our cooking, and especially in our silence. We need space for all mediums.
If your gift is preaching, preach. If your gift is painting, paint. If your gift is cooking, cook. To bring the Word in greater fullness, we need everyones’ gifts.
Spiritual Potluck
November 11, 2008 By 1 Comment
Jan’s been writing a lot about the Holy Grounds community the last few days. Her most recent post reminds me of a problem that I’ve heard many an institutional pastor talk about–that they are unable to worship with the congregation they serve. Many even go to other worship gatherings in order to do so. What a shame!!!!
I’m blessed to be a part of a community where people have not only learned and accepted the responsibility to feed themselves (Note: not talking individualism here, it’s God who does the feeding), but have also learned and accepted the responsibility to feed others. It’s not up to me to feed everyone, rather it is a communal responsibility to find and share spiritual (and actual) food. We teach, bless, and encourage one another (as our gifts allow) in our pursuit of God.
It’s sort of a spiritual potluck.
We each bring a dish.
Some people bring old favorites, others bring new recipes that they’ve discovered along the way. Sometimes people can’t bring a dish because they are too tired or overwhelmed. Sometimes people bring a few dishes or one giant dish.
Some people eat a little bit from what every person has brought, others just get a massive helping of a handful of dishes.
There is plenty for everyone to eat and certainly something that will fill the hunger each brings.
We don’t just leave with our hunger satiated, but, as with any good potluck, we share the recipes so that we can make them later for others.
The cool thing is that it’s not incumbent on me (or anyone else) to make sure that everyone is fed. It’s a responsibility we share. I don’t arrive too tired to eat from preparing a massive meal for everyone; I get to partake in the spiritual feast as well.
And we each depart with more than we brought.
