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ladytetra777I have read this book and am now rereading it to fulfill the writing assignment.
The Many Paths of the Independent Sacramental Movement is John P. Plummer's dissertation on Christian-adjacent sects who practice outside the scope of standard orthodoxy and under the umbrella term of "independent sacramental movement." Plummer outlines the criteria for members of this movement as "small communities and/or solitary clergy; experimentation in theology and liturgy; mostly unpaid clergy; ordination available to a large percentage of the membership; a sacramental and eucharistic spirituality, with a mediatory priesthood, in most cases preserving the historic episcopate" (1). His project joins theology to anthropology, as Plummer's research includes visiting, interviewing, and worshipping alongside many of the individual groups featured in his study on independent practitioners. This post will discuss the first chapter of the text.
Plummer uses the first chapter as an introduction to his research, offering a statement of intent to portray these movements as positive in a way reflective of his own personal experience (3). He sets an expectation of diversity as the various congregations have a range of history, congregation size, practices, and percentage of ordination (or eligibility for ordination). In other words, his research includes congregations of over 1,000 to solo practitioners, traditionalists to esotericists, paid or unpaid clergy, and more. This was a breath of fresh air during my first read, finally seeing details beyond vague utterances of the underbelly of Christianity.
My own Christian upbringing featured a revolving door of Catholic and Lutheran churches. Going through most sacraments like the eucharist and confirmation, I understood the Bible was a book often subject to interpretation, and therefore subject to different practices that followed. The pastor who presided over my confirmation in middle school described the Pentateuch as etymological, ie, stories that could answer questions such as, if there is a God, why are we separate from God? The nuns I knew earlier in Catholic school were stricter, enforcing that a child baptized in a Lutheran church could not fully participate in a Catholic one.
Hearing Plummer open with details on the sheer breadth of Christianity's population to then signpost ventures into scholarly literature, theology, and leadership all outside the Christian mainstream is a reminder that my experience of the church is not necessarily a comprehensive overview of the people who worship in one.
My knowledge of Gnosticism proper feels inadequate at this point. Reading from the Nag Hammadi or the Books of Jeu fails to situate me in the context of when those texts were written. Aleister Crowley's Gnostic Mass is closer to the present-day, but a cursory skim of it shows substantial liberties taken from the ancient texts. Having read Plummer's book once, I know Tau Rosamonde and John Gilbert will show up in later chapters. My next post on this will be on chapter two, the academic literature forming the historic cornerstone of this work.
The Many Paths of the Independent Sacramental Movement is John P. Plummer's dissertation on Christian-adjacent sects who practice outside the scope of standard orthodoxy and under the umbrella term of "independent sacramental movement." Plummer outlines the criteria for members of this movement as "small communities and/or solitary clergy; experimentation in theology and liturgy; mostly unpaid clergy; ordination available to a large percentage of the membership; a sacramental and eucharistic spirituality, with a mediatory priesthood, in most cases preserving the historic episcopate" (1). His project joins theology to anthropology, as Plummer's research includes visiting, interviewing, and worshipping alongside many of the individual groups featured in his study on independent practitioners. This post will discuss the first chapter of the text.
Plummer uses the first chapter as an introduction to his research, offering a statement of intent to portray these movements as positive in a way reflective of his own personal experience (3). He sets an expectation of diversity as the various congregations have a range of history, congregation size, practices, and percentage of ordination (or eligibility for ordination). In other words, his research includes congregations of over 1,000 to solo practitioners, traditionalists to esotericists, paid or unpaid clergy, and more. This was a breath of fresh air during my first read, finally seeing details beyond vague utterances of the underbelly of Christianity.
My own Christian upbringing featured a revolving door of Catholic and Lutheran churches. Going through most sacraments like the eucharist and confirmation, I understood the Bible was a book often subject to interpretation, and therefore subject to different practices that followed. The pastor who presided over my confirmation in middle school described the Pentateuch as etymological, ie, stories that could answer questions such as, if there is a God, why are we separate from God? The nuns I knew earlier in Catholic school were stricter, enforcing that a child baptized in a Lutheran church could not fully participate in a Catholic one.
Hearing Plummer open with details on the sheer breadth of Christianity's population to then signpost ventures into scholarly literature, theology, and leadership all outside the Christian mainstream is a reminder that my experience of the church is not necessarily a comprehensive overview of the people who worship in one.
My knowledge of Gnosticism proper feels inadequate at this point. Reading from the Nag Hammadi or the Books of Jeu fails to situate me in the context of when those texts were written. Aleister Crowley's Gnostic Mass is closer to the present-day, but a cursory skim of it shows substantial liberties taken from the ancient texts. Having read Plummer's book once, I know Tau Rosamonde and John Gilbert will show up in later chapters. My next post on this will be on chapter two, the academic literature forming the historic cornerstone of this work.
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