tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3581047259314187297.post4410568052088076218..comments2023-11-17T09:22:32.786+03:00Comments on Circumpolar: Steve Smith | 4 Stages of a MovementWarrick Farahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389839484261120626noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3581047259314187297.post-30744085227150318732015-12-02T20:35:57.146+03:002015-12-02T20:35:57.146+03:00If an institutionalized church began to apply the ...If an institutionalized church began to apply the principles of "the priesthood of believers" and then began to rapidly reproduce and multiply, would we then call it a movement?<br />There are several instances of this kind of thing happening in history. So if your answer is yes, then perhaps there is not only a natural process of movements eventually becoming institutionalized, but also a natural Spirit-led process of instituionalized Christian groups becoming movements again?<br />What do you think of this possibility?CameroonGuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00729141376799885845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3581047259314187297.post-56667505536856552762015-11-24T09:14:56.616+03:002015-11-24T09:14:56.616+03:00That is certainly open to debate. But I think the ...That is certainly open to debate. But I think the nature of the institutional church is that it (can) grow bigger, but it has a really hard time multiplying. Movements are much more likely to multiply, esp when the church is viewed as a family. Families multiply and have generations. But the institutional church usually just tries to expand but not necessarily reproduce. If it does, it usually very slow and needs a lot of resources, which is hard to start a movement in.Warrick Farahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00389839484261120626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3581047259314187297.post-74389104650899066482015-11-24T04:07:26.565+03:002015-11-24T04:07:26.565+03:00Are the terms "movement" and "insti...Are the terms "movement" and "institutionalized church" mutually exclusive? If a movement created networks within itself for sharing resources, spiritual gifts, and Biblical insights, and if it created training centers and appointed leaders over the movement because of their spiritual gifts of leadership and Biblical qualifications - would it then be less of a movement? Could it not continue to maintain the priesthood of believers, roles based of spiritual gifting, and rapid multiplication? Can there be an "institutionalized movement?<br />CameroonGuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00729141376799885845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3581047259314187297.post-87229107694452335262015-11-19T11:43:01.915+03:002015-11-19T11:43:01.915+03:00That is a good question that I believe needs to be...That is a good question that I believe needs to be researched. I would say, though, that I think there are different models of church in the NT, and that the institutionalizing process happened much sooner than you suggest. I would even think that there are hints of it institutionalizing in the NT itself. But that begs the question, what is "institutionalized."Warrick Farahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00389839484261120626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3581047259314187297.post-22919718910961313472015-11-18T23:19:38.764+03:002015-11-18T23:19:38.764+03:00I find the following statement a little provocativ...I find the following statement a little provocative, “we have to ask whether it is fair to expect a movement to survive only as a movement. Either the movement disintegrates or it becomes an institution, this is simply a sociological law. Every religious group that started out as a movement and managed to survive, did so because it was gradually institutionalized” (Bosch 1991, 52)."<br />I wonder what is meant here by the term "institutionalized". In my understanding, the church of Christ WAS a movement until the Edict of Milan 313, or possibly until the Coucil of Nicea (325). If a movement can remain a movement for nearly three hundred years, why could it not remain longer? In those nearly 300 years, it was steadily growing and thriving. I don't think there is any substantial historical proof to show that it would have died without its being legalized and becoming more institutionalized. <br />I really liked your comment on the need for the church to continually renew itself. There are some denominations that I have run across such as the "Deeper Life Church" in Africa, which still functions like a movement in many ways while also having some loose structure. At what point do we say something has become "institutionalized"?<br />CameroonGuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00729141376799885845noreply@blogger.com