Thread by @elderjds

i read things like this and think of my church tradition which, though imperfect, made space for testimony, for weeping, for terrible pain and terrible joy all mixed together, for "shouting" (which isn't always about joy). #primalchristianspirituality #blackchurch

A personal experience is when my Auntie was leading prayer and called my wife and I up to the pulpit, wrapped an arm around each of us, and loudly and publicly named and prayed for our grief from the loss of our infant daughter #primalchristianspirituality #blackchurch

It was not simply emotionalism, as the #blackchurch is sometimes accused of

It was an expression of the primal African roots of our faith sees dis-integration and re-integration as constituent parts of the journey of wholeness #primalchristianspirituality #blackchurch

within the tradition, the emphasis is NOT on keeping it together, but on exposing the rifts and offering a ritual context for healing and re-integration of both the person and the person with the community. #primalchristianspirituality

Church is therefore not only a place for instruction, but provides a ritual context for holistic re-integration of persons in the presence of God #primalchristianspirituality

Worship is NOT only about saying things about God or having an emotionally cathartic experience (one of the mistakes / slanders made about traditional #blackchurch

Worship is also the creation of a ritual space where Holy Spirit is evoked AND invoked under the direction of spiritual leaders so that through encounter with the HS, holistic salvation (Shalom) can take place