“Spiritual Development,” “Spiritual Growth”

These are key words in the spiritual journey.   As Americans, we’re trained to focus on outcomes and results.  Consequently, we often become discouraged at the ebb and flow nature of our spiritual lives.  The spiritual journey is a lifelong endeavor, and doesn’t lend itself to the metrics we’re accustomed to.

At NRCC, we’re learning to be patient with the process by which God’s Spirit moves us forward.  We’re learning to be steadfast in our spiritual practices and leave the results and the timetable to the Divine.

Our Dreams

“Orthodox/Unorthodox”

To some, the term “unorthodox” is a very negative term.  It evokes images of deviating from God’s Truth, and the fear of dire consequences for that deviation.

At NRCC, we are finding deviations from old norms to be more helpful than harmful, and have stopped worrying that we might incur God’s displeasure.  Thinking that in our generation, change is in order, we are trusting the Divine Spirit to guard us from error, and are looking for more authentic ways of finding God together.

What we believe

“Emergent Church”

If you are have become restless with church as it is, if you feel there must be more and are on a quest to rediscover authentic Christian spirituality, then without ever naming it, you are most likely part of the Emergent church conversation.

Though the definition isn’t standardized, it’s comprised of people dissatisfied with their current experience of spirituality, and on a quest for something more. Some are rethinking the church’s alliance with the modern era and modern thinking; seeing how spirituality in the postmodern era looks. Others are reexamining a theology that has become stiff and stifling. While still others are seeking to rediscover the ancient contemplative practices in our Christian heritage.

At NRCC, when we think of ourselves as an Emergent Church we define that as an organic, decentralized community, seeking to follow Jesus, advance on the spiritual journey, and find God beyond the thoughts and practices of the traditional ways of doing church.

“Diversity”

People are different.  They think differently, act differently, and believe differently.  A brief survey of Christian churches reveals splintered, fragmented groups, each carved off from one another along lines of these differences.  At NRCC, we believe God sees us as a unified body, and we are learning to do the same — seeking out common ground in areas we can share and becoming less focused on those areas things in which we differ.

Our Dreams

“Community”

At NRCC, we’ve come to believe that community is not a pleasant add-on to spiritual growth, but an essential ingredient.  One’s soul does not prosper without spiritual friendships.   Authentic, spiritual, trusted, and trusting friendships are to the soul what protein and carbohydrates are to the body.   Without them, we find ourselves wandering in the dark, looping around over old material again and again, stagnating, and not growing.   Consequently, learning the skills required for spiritual friendships is a priority for us at NRCC.

Breathing Groups

“Church”

Most people who speak of “church” speak of a specific location, a specific group of people, or a specific set of doctrines.  At NRCC, we fall into those same speech patterns from time to time, but we’re working hard to rethink church altogether.

For us, the idea of “church” has come to embrace anyone who is in pursuit of The Way, The Truth, and The Life that Jesus laid out for us.  Thus, people in other countries, people from other traditions, people in other denominations all are part of “our church.”  God sees us all as one, and we want to see one another that way as well.

Searching for Meaning
In our experience at North Raleigh Community Church, words lose their meaning over time, especially religious words.  To help you know what we’re talking about in this web page, we’ve done some term-defining for you below.

“Accepting;”  ”Acceptance”
Sure, sure, sure…
Everyone accepts everyone.  That’s the politically correct thing to say.  However, it’s not very realistic. People really bother one another!  Acceptance is a deeply spiritual attribute, and not to be taken lightly.  There are stiff requirements to saying we “accept one another.”

To be truly accepting, one must possess the conflict resolution skills to push beyond differences, the emotional intelligence to overcome powerful knee-jerk responses, and the relational skills to seek out and find common ground among very diverse people.  These skills don’t come easily.

Even so, at NRCC we’re working hard to accept one another, share life closely with one another, and be tolerant of one another’s weaknesses and frailties.  We have to.  These traits are central elements of following Jesus.

What people say  >>

Apart from the succinct, surgical command, “You shall not covet,” I could have dressed covetousness up to look like a virtue and ruined my life with it.

Years ago, that phrase became a pivotal way of thinking for us. In how many areas of our lives, our religion, our spiritual practice, had we taken some vice or another, and dressed it up as a virtue?

For many of us, religious performance had really been simply hubris, pride, or fear. Still, we dressed it up as devotion, commitment, and zeal. But even though we gave it a nifty name, these are still vices. Much of our pain in the church was self-inflicted as we exercised vice, mis-naming it some virtue or another.

This concept gave us a framework for thinking through many of our unspoken assumptions, and gave us a framework for self-examination.

Breathing groups are groups of 2-4 friends who gather as often as they can to intentionally…

1.  breathe in together

As a group member, each person is committed to taking truth into themselves some way.   Perhaps they read scripture, maybe listen to a podcast or listen to spiritual music.  When they come upon a truth that moves their hearts, they jot it down and share it with one another, allowing the other members to “breathe in” their Truth.

This causes our conversations to focus on the big truths, the spiritual truths, the big thoughts about living well; an essential element of the spiritual journey.

2.  breath out together

You’ve heard the phrase “confession is good for the soul.”  It’s a deeper truth than most of us understand.  When we bring the dark parts of our souls to the light, it puts us on a path of healing and freedom.  However, this is difficult to do absent a network of trusted and trustworthy spiritual friends.

Members of breathing groups don’t only share the truths they gain, they also talk openly and safely about their weaknesses, failures, and habitual shortcomings.  As we grow in our trust of one another, open our souls to one another, and embrace this ancient pathway, we learn to offer forgiveness, healing and growth to one another in the throes of imperfect lives.

3. breathe up together

Throughout history and scripture, prayer has been likened to breath.  We “breathe” our prayers to God.

Spiritual friends hold one another in their hearts before God.  As our trust and affection for one another grow, we remember one another in the night hours, or during our drive time. In the remembering, we hold each other before God.

***

These three practices and the term “breathing groups” are simply updated ways of talking about an ancient tradition called “spiritual friendship.”  Those who walk in this special kind of relationship become deeply connected to one another, and are strengthened, transformed, and matured in their spirituality.  Spiritual growth is best fostered in the environment of shared experience.

Are you interested?

Once a year (January) we invite people to an orientation time on forming breathing groups, but if you’re interested and that time isn’t close, contact our minister, Doug.   He’ll help you form a group.