On September 14th, Lighthouse Trails reported that Doug Pagitt would be the featured speaker at the Baptist State Convention North Carolina Wired2Grow 2007. We have now learned that Pagitt is no longer scheduled to speak. We spoke with personnel at the BSCNC office after learning that Pagitt’s name had been removed from the conference website. The BCNC office confirmed that Pagitt was indeed pulled from the speaking schedule. Here are some highlights from the September 14th report:
* Doug Pagitt, one of two speakers at the Wired2Grow conference, was recently featured on CNN (Headline News) in a short news brief with John MacArthur. The topic was Yoga. Pagitt backed up his ongoing view that yoga is safe and healthful. MacArthur on the other hand said that Christians should not “borrow an expression from a false religion,” but his comments “If it’s just purely exercise, and you’re a strong Christian, it probably wouldn’t have any impact on your faith” may leave some viewers confused.
* Pagitt is the pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minnesota where yoga classes are often held. In the December 3rd 2005 issue of the Twin Cities Pioneer Press, it stated: “Christian yoga has been gaining a devout following, and Twin Cities pastor Doug Pagitt has endorsed the practice in his new book, Body Prayer: The Posture of Intimacy with God.”
* Pagitt, like most emerging church leaders, resonates with mysticism (such as yoga and contemplative prayer) and is sympathetic towards Catholicism.
* While many Christians think that yoga is ok if it is just practiced as a physical exercise omitting the spiritual aspects, even Hindu yoga masters say that you cannot separate the two.
* Unfortunately, Pagitt’s role in the North Carolina Baptist event is not the only indication that the North Carolina organization is heading into the contemplative/emergent camp. In their Spiritual Formation department, they include Marjorie Thompson’s book Soul Feast. In a recent book review, Thompson is quoted from her book as saying: Some Christians find that “mindfulness meditation,” a traditional Buddhist practice, helps them live their Christian discipleship more faithfully…. The practice of contemplative prayer might give a Christian ground for constructive dialogue with a meditating Buddhist. (from Prologue of Soul Feast) Thompson, an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church USA, is a director for The Pathways Center (part of the Upper Room Ministries). Upper Room is a religious organization that promotes Eastern style meditation and is the creator of the popular, meditation tool Walk to Emmaus. * BSCNC is also advertising the North Carolina Five-Day Academy for Spiritual Formation. A look at the retreat’s brochure reveals influence by Catholic priest and mystic Thomas Merton, who said he wanted to be the best Buddhist he could be and who compared dropping LSD to practicing contemplative prayer (see ATOD)
* It is interesting to note that according to one article in the Deseret News in 2003, the BSCNC expelled a Baptist church for accepting two gay men. However, their embracing of emerging and contemplative spiritualities could prove far more detrimental for the organization and could spill over into many of the 4000+ North Carolina churches affiliated with them. These anti-biblical theologies ultimately lead to the belief that man is divine, is co-creator with God, and all creation is part of God. (Click here to read the entire 09/14/07 report.)
With Doug Pagitt now removed from the schedule at the Wired2Grow conference, this apparently leaves just one speaker – Rick McKinley, who is the founding pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon. While removing Pagitt will send a message from BSCNC that they oppose the spiritual beliefs of the emerging church (yoga, mysticism, etc.), retaining McKinley as a speaker could send the opposite message. McKinley’s church, Imago Dei Community is an emerging church with spiritual affinities similar to Doug Pagitt’s. See Imago Dei’s School of Theology for some evidence of this.
Thus, by removing Pagitt and keeping McKinley, a confusing, contradictory message is being sent. And what’s more, with so many favorable, positive references to contemplative and emerging within the BSCNC camps, the message sent will be more confusing than ever.
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