Maybe “stimulating” is the best way to describe our conversation with Karen Ward, pastor/abbess/rector of Church of the Apostle (COTA) in Seattle.  Why?  Quite simply because it was obvious that Karen has reflected theologically about the church she leads.  Her deep theological reflection came across not only in our conversation at lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, but also at the worship service at COTA that Sandy and I attended on Saturday evening.  So what did I learn from the interview and worship experience?  Well, let me start with the interview.

I greatly appreciated Karen’s candid response to my question as to what makes a disciple missional when she indicated her discomfort with the word “missional.” Karen stated she felt “missional” was an “aggressive”  word indicating something one does to another.  Instead she, along with her community, prefer the word “incarnational.”  She sees discipleship as carrying out Christ’s life, death, and resurrection in the world.  It is living the way of Jesus with a willingness to die for the things for which he was willing to die.  As Karen forcefully put it, whereas the word “missional” seems like a one way thrust between subject and object, “incarnational” discipleship views God as doing “mission to us, through us, in us.”

I was fascinated by how disciples are made at Church of the Apostles.  The church views itself as a neo-monastic community where members live in the way of Jesus through the “rules” of the community.  Members of the community are baptized to the rule of Jesus, which means the practices and virtues of Christ—to love God and love neighbor.  Additionally, the more pragmatic practices—church attendance, tithing, and community involvement—are also encouraged.  In many respects, similar to The Open Door in Pittsburgh, the community bears the greatest responsibility for spiritual formation as opposed to teaching or a discipleship program.  Spiritual formation dramatically takes place at Church of the Apostles through a symbolically rich worship experience.

Here I want to note that Sunday morning, following our attending Church of the Apostles on Saturday evening, we attended a worship service at Mars Hill.  (Mark Driscoll was not in the pulpit.)  The contrast between the two churches could not have been more stark—size, of course, being one aspect.  As one might expect, the music was awesome at Mars Hill; yet the teaching, 45 minutes of the 75 minute service was the focal point.  Not so at Church of the Apostles.  The gospel was proclaimed through music, also of high quality, through prayer stations, iconography, and visual imagery.  In Church of the Apostles the worship experience as a whole, which included a 15 minute teaching, expressed the gospel.

Which is the better of these approaches?  Truly, only God knows.  If buildings, money, and attendance is your barometer, Mars Hill is at the top.  Yet, if attracting some of the most creative, theologically perceptive, and committed Christians is your measure of success, Church of the Apostles deserves consideration.  As Karen stated, Church of the Apostles is a “minority platform,” an “Apple church,” with a 5% market share made up of artists, idiosyncratic personalities, and intellectuals.  Church of the Apostles is a church that truly reflects its pastor—a leading edge church that may not be a model for most, but it certainly has something to teach all.