On a recent trip to Italy, my companions and I walked over
the Col du Gran San Bernardo and passed
through the Piemonte region in the north. This is the home of great wines—Barbera,
Barolo, and others, as well as great food. It’s also the birthplace of the
“slow food” movement, an idea that has been making more and more sense to me
over the past few years as I’ve tried to think about ways in which place matters when it comes to caring
for creation. Briefly put, I’ve come to the same conclusion that others have
before me; in the words of Stephen Jay Gould, “we will not fight to save what
we do not love.” I have a deep suspicion that this may also be true from a
theological perspective.
In digging through some old files, I discovered that this
isn’t the first time I’ve thought about this. Here’s a newsletter article from
April of 2010 where I first began thinking out loud along these lines.
I was feeling beleaguered the other day by a series of
deadlines and due dates. It occurred
to me that perhaps someone should start a “slow church” movement. It could be patterned along the lines
of the “slow food” movement that began in Italy in 1986. The McDonalds Corporation was planning
to build a new fast-food restaurant in the heart of one of Rome’s oldest
neighborhoods near the famous Spanish Steps. Carlo Petrini, a local restaurateur
and resident, led a successful protest against what he considered the corporate
blight of one of the city’s loveliest plazas.
From those beginnings, “slow food” has become an
international movement with thousands of members in over 132 countries. In addition to slow food – slow travel,
slow shopping, and slow design are part of an emerging slow planet movement. One description of the slow movement is
that it is, “opposed to the culture
of fast food, [slow food] seeks to encourage the enjoyment of regional produce,
traditional foods, which are often grown organically and to enjoy these foods
in the company of others. It aims to defend agricultural biodiversity.”[1]
Think of the Olympia Farmer’s Market or Fish Tale Brewing!
What might a
“slow church” look like? The
mascot of the slow movement is a snail which provides a clue. Slow is about literally slowing things
down. My quick list of characteristics
of “slow church” includes the
following:
·
Taking time for discernment and prayer as we go
about our individual and corporate lives of discipleship
·
Paying attention to our relationships including
our relationship with each other (which is very important!) but also our
community, watershed, and bio-region
·
Learning and celebrating our local history and traditions
as individuals, families, and as a congregation and community
·
Drawing on the rich spiritual heritage and
resources of the Christian tradition (think “heirloom seeds” here) along with
other spiritual traditions to enrich our spiritual lives and sharing these with
our children and grandchildren
·
Taking time to breathe, be silent and bask in God’s
graceful action in the world and in our lives
You are welcome to add your own ideas about “slow church.” Please share them!
One of the best practitioners of “slow worship” is Dan
Erlander. Before every worship
service, Dan always takes off his watch.
“We’re on God’s time now,” he once told me. Perhaps we a “snail” banner could grace our worship space to
remind us. If I seem a little slow, just start without me. jpr
