I spend a curious amount of time discussing, studying, and writing about polity – the structures and procedures of congregational/denominational governance (my previous post about communion reflects one kind of polity). Amid theological and sociological research about the decline, revival, or re-emergence of Christianity and the church, my research specifically focused on how emerging congregations organized and structured their decision-making processes. As a “body” – ecclesial, social, political – what are the new and creative ways that congregations structure and organize their collective living and relating?
That I spend time sitting and thinking about polity would be a surprise to my younger self. I can still vividly remember when I first learned the term. I was in my Theology II class in seminary. The professor organized the course along some common theological themes: Revelation and Authority, God, Creation and Providence, Human Nature and Sin, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Church. . . and oh how I remember the week on “Church.” It was one of the two times during my graduate coursework that I erupted in an unexpectedly dramatic outburst.
After my own years of disaffection with Christianity, and especially with church, I was a freshly recommitted Christian and had been looking forward to the week on church. I had imagined that we would discuss the creative and varied ways that communities of faith embody the Good News, both in the present and throughout history. I had imagined a lively conversation about the messy, difficult, yet beautiful and worthwhile reality of living in the way of Jesus, and doing so in solidarity with others and in fresh new ways for the multitude of varied times and contexts.
Instead, our week on Church developed (devolved?) into a tedious and contentious conversation about the theological soundness of various denominational polities. Students adamantly argued with one another about why their particular church or denominational polity made the most sense. They talked about presbyteries, synods, annual conferences, councils, elders, and on and on.
I remember sitting there annoyed, thinking, What does this have to do with the Good News? With living and participating in the kin-dom of God today?
Like the late mujerista theologian, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, who coined the phrase in reference to the commonwealth of God, I had been drawn to the “kin-dom” Jesus preached—a community characterized by kinship, solidarity and mutuality, not hierarchy and domination. For me, church were the people who gathered in response to having encountered the compelling and beautiful vision embodied in the life and ministry of Jesus and his friends. I thought of the church as the people who, because of the way Jesus lived in community with friends and followers, were inspired to seek to live likewise.
As the conversation continued to focus on the detailed policies that regulated the decision-making and hierarchical structures of the church as an institution, the further and further away it seemed to move from the gospel and from the way of life I found compelling in Jesus and his community of his friends, enemies, and strangers alike. And so, at a point of utter frustration, I cried out: “This is why no one wants to be a Christian! This is why no one wants to have anything to do with church – it all gets reduced to rules and hierarchies!” As the details of the aftermath have long left my memory, the only thing I can report about the moments that followed my outburst is that my professor responded graciously. However, the question of what makes church, church, has stayed with me ever since and continues to guide my theological work today.
Many times conversations about church are reduced to the ins and outs of a particular institution’s rules and hierarchies. Within that framework the institution of church is, at best, known as a place (yes, place, and not people) run by ordained employees, in which people gather, and where programming and services are successfully provided. At worst, it is known as a place of restrictive morality – preached and imparted from the top down – and of power and self-interest. This may sound harsh and foreign to those who love their church and know it to be quite different, but it is indeed the perspective of those who are outside of Christianity. The oft cited Pew Forum study, “Nones on the Rise,” found, for instance, that nearly 70% of the religiously unaffiliated – those who do not identify with an organize religion – think that churches “focus too much on rules,” “are too concerned with money and power,” and “are too involved in politics.”
But that is not the only option and I’ll continue with that in the next part…coming soon.
“This is why no one wants to be a Christian! This is why no one wants to have anything to do with church – it all gets reduced to rules and hierarchies!”
Bio
Xochitl Alvizo, loves all things feminist, womanist, and decolonialista. She often finds herself on the boundary of different social and cultural contexts, and works hard to develop her voice and to hear and encourage the voice of others. Her work is inspired by the conviction that all people are inextricably connected and what we do, down to the smallest thing, matters; it makes a difference for good or for ill. She teaches in the area of Women and Religion, and the Philosophy of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality, at California State University, Northridge. She lives in Los Angeles, CA where she was also born and raised.
feminismandreligion.com 
I always appreciate your thoughtful posts. In the aftermath of our long-time minister retiring, I encountered the full force of rules and hierarchy within the church polity in what I believed was an egalitarian, congregation-centered church. I was so disappointed and disillusioned by the way medieval, patriarchal structures were in place in what purportedly is a progressive denomination. As a political theory PhD, I spent many years studying ‘polity.’ I was in search of the good polity. The closest I’ve come is in certain feminist and indigenous circles. I look forward to what your thoughts are in your next post.
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Hi Beth. Your story of that experience makes complete sense to me in that the truly embodied polity is the one that emerges in times of disruption, when power and possibility are in flux. If a truly collaborative and participatory design is not built into the very bones of an organization, even if a particular minister facilitates and practices an egalitarian model, it’ll only be temporary. What is truly in the bones will emerge in times of change. And it is sad and disappointing, indeed. I’ll keep writing about this in coming posts. Thank you for your comments and interest 😀
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I recently tried to fit in to a UU church for over a year because of my good experiences with UU churches in California. I was volunteering everywhere I could trying to prove my interest and worth to them. I participated in their projects and groups. I donated what I could afford.
I thought they were actually who they advertised themselves to be. I thought if they got familiar with me I’d be accepted – maybe even seen as an asset to them. Then I was actually told by a board member when my husband broached the subject of membership they wanted people with Christian values who could donate generously to the church. I was told they didn’t want to be associated with the likes of people that would be involved with an “enlightened living fair” where there were tarot readers, alternative spirituality folks, accupuncturists, those new-agey folks – these people were a “spiritual circus.” Yes, no wonder no one wants anything to do with church! I gathered up my self respect and personal spiritual circus and walked away. They were no church in my opinion. They were a white conservative club.
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Wow, Karen. That sounds so different from the three UU churches with which I’m familiar, which seem very welcoming of alternative spiritualities. I’m so sorry that happened to you.
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PS — I love the word “kindom” and have used it myself for many years. I never knew its origins in mujerista theology. I first found it in a version of the Lord’s Prayer called “Jeshua’s Prayer.” I also have used it when applying Robin Wall Kimmerer’s grammar of animacy, where she substitutes “ki” for “him,” “her,” and “it,” and “kin” for “they” to religion. Thank you for mentioning its source here.
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Hi Beth. Your story of that experience makes complete sense to me in that the truly embodied polity is the one that emerges in times of disruption, when power and possibility are in flux. If a truly collaborative and participatory design is not built into the very bones of an organization, even if a particular minister facilitates and practices an egalitarian model, it’ll only be temporary. What is truly in the bones will emerge in times of change. And it is sad and disappointing, indeed. I’ll keep writing about this in coming posts. Thank you for your comments and interest 😀
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Oh, yes, there very well may be multiple sources of kin-dom, Ada’s is just where I first encountered it. But, yes, such a good word. It also makes room for our other-than-human kin ❤️
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Yes, it is such a good word!
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I’m looking forward to your coming posts.
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Oh goddess, what a horrible experience, Karen. Just awful. I do love, though, how clearly you saw them…a white, conservative, and money-thirsting club. I’d be at the “spiritual circus” with you any day! ❤️
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Awesome!
I’m very happy to have come across this. You’re doing important work Xochitl!
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Derek, such a nice surprise! Thank you for your comment and I hope you are doing well :)
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I have found myself wandering away from “The Church” more recently specifically for the reasons stated here. Not my faith, mind you, but “The Church”… including its unstated expectations and requirements for being a true member. I have been shocked to see how in the past few years, being a “true Christ-follower” has devolved into a set of expectations as to how one should vote, what political affiliations one should have, and how one should view current events. I don’t believe this is what Christ intended for his church. Anyway, all this to say, I love your insight and am thrilled to have stumbled across your blog, Xochitl.
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It does seem like a conundrum doesn’t it? Churches focusing too much on procedures and policy and less on the compassion, heart-centered issues I think people come to church to dip into, to uplift themselves. I know myself I’ve hesitated in the past to get political or name the party I belong to but what do you do when you find out people aren’t connecting the dots between what’s best for women, the earth, those with less among us, immigrants, worker rights, voting rights, white supremacy and all the rest when there is ONE PARTY working against all those things that are at the center of the values of Goddess? Should the conversation not be had in church if one party is everything Jesus, Isis, etc would have suggested we turn away from? Apparently some people can’t connect the dots themselves. I know I was appalled some women within Goddess Spirituality were still Republicans and supported Trump. Is all critical thinking dying?
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