“Keep
Portland Weird;”[1]
These bumper stickers on vehicles throughout the Portland Metro area resound
the native declaration about the culture within this regional area. The
moniker, Keep Portland Weird, was intended to help support local businesses,
but has become a major cultural theme. Weird, as unique, is a fitting
description of the Portland Metro area. The culture of Portland is pluralistic,
diverse and unique: “Weird.” Portland demonstrates that it is culturally a
postmodern and post-Christendom metro region through its resistance to
Christianity that is pervasive in the general culture. Portland, Oregon is the
third least churched city in the United States of America with 42 percent of
the population “of whom had not been to a religious worship service in the last
six months,” as well as, the second in the lowest share of self-identified
Christians at 71 percent.[2]
Deviance from mainstream cultural norms is not necessarily viewed as negative
in the diverse segments of Portland, Oregon.
Portland
is known for being a haven for a large number of sub-cultural groups such as
the punk movement, hardcore, crust punk, anarchist and subgenres movements.[3]
It is also known for the prolific sex trade industry with more strip clubs per
capita than Las Vegas, “the largest legal sex industry per capita in the
nation.”[4]
Portland culture has a significant Gay, Lesbian, Transvestite and Transgender
population with a strong activist mentality.[5]
Portland offers significant opportunities for the gospel, but the atmosphere of
the general population is not open to the traditional or institutional church
with the prevailing postmodernist and post-Christendom shift.
Dealing
with this sociological construct of a culture that is closed to Christianity
has created significant issues for the contemporary institutional church that
is seeking to engage the milieu. The use of mass evangelism within Portland
only seems to exasperate the forward movement of the gospel. The plurality,
diversity and high level sub-cultural marginalization does not create an atmosphere
that is receptive to the Attractional, Propositional and Colonial Church. In
the milieu of the marginalized in the Portland Metro area there are some
expressions of ecclesia that have been successfully created and sustained.
Forms of alternative missional ecclesia amid the punk culture, homeless,
anarchists, the unwanted tribe, and the sex workers, as well as, amid the burnt
over areas that were considered high target areas for church planting.
This
paper is about these exceptional forms of alternative missional ecclesia that
have found expression amid the marginalized people, thereby establishing that
the institutional church is not relevant amid marginalized people. The question
is simply, “how”? How were these ecclesial expressions created? What sustains
them? Are there certain practices and strategies? Is it just innovation and
experimentation that has allowed them to continue? Is there biblical and
historical precedence for the praxis of these ecclesial groups? What
theological praxis is at work amid these churches? Is there a common thread,
praxis, behavior, or story that unites each ecclesia? What is evident is they
offer unusual solutions to paradoxical problems for the institutional church.
Each
one of the forms of ecclesia that are part of this study has one initial common
characteristic; they unknowingly have engaged the Positive Deviance Approach in
relationships amid their marginalized communities. The leaders or practitioners
in the ecclesia practice and behave in manners and ways that go beyond
innovation and experimentation. They demonstrate an intuitive sense for
cultural context that brought about an effective contextualization of the
Gospel amid the marginalized through their theological praxis.
Contextualization involves a focused concern in order to create an environment
of trust amid the marginalized.
[1]
The website for Keep Portland Weird reads, “Keep Portland Weird is about
supporting local business in the Portland Oregon area. We want to support local
business because they make Portland stand out from other cites and make it a
more unique place to live. They do this by providing consumers a wide range of
products that represent the different cultures that make up Portland. Local
businesses also have pride in our city and are driven to make Portland a better
place to live and enjoy. What does the
word weird mean? Webster states ‘of strange or extraordinary character.’ Weird in this case means unique. “Keep
Portland Weird!”, n.d., http://www.keepportlandweird.com/, (accessed October 8,
2011).
[2] “The
Barna Group - New Barna Report Examines Diversity of Faith in Various U.S.
Cities”, n.d.,
http://www.barna.org/faith-spirituality/435-diversity-of-faith-in-various-us-cities,
(accessed October 9, 2011).
[3] “Portland
Culture | Portland Living”, n.d., http://portlandliving.org/about-portland/portland-culture/,
(accessed October 8, 2011).
[4] “Portland
Emerges as a Hub for Child Sex Trafficking - ABC News”, n.d.,
http://abcnews.go.com/US/portland-emerges-hub-child-sex-trafficking/story?id=11690544,
(accessed October 9, 2011).
[5] “Portland
Culture | Portland Living.”
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