A Re-imagining Of Benedict's Rule Chapter One

It is well known that there are four kinds of worshipers. The first kind is that of the Faithful Attender, that is, those who live in accountability and under the teaching of a pastor.

The second kind is that of the Missionary and Discipler, those who, no longer in the first fervor of their conversion, but taught by long practice and the help of the body, have already learned to stand strong against the temptations of the world; and going forth from the rank of their fellow worshipers well trained for service in the world, they are able, with the help of God, to cope single-handed without the help of others, against the vices of the flesh and evil thoughts.

But a third and most vile class of worshipers is that of the Casual Attender, who with no experience to guide them, and no discipleship to try them as gold is tried in the fire; but, soft as lead, and still keeping faith with the world by their actions, they clearly lie to God by their dangling crosses and witness bracelets. Hanging out in two's and three's, or even singly, without accountability, enclosed, not in the body, but in their own gathering. Their law is what they like to do, whatever makes them happy. Anything they believe and choose, they call holy; anything they dislike, they consider forbidden.

But the fourth class of worshiper is that called the Church-Hopper, who spend their entire lives going from one church to another, staying three or four months or a year at a time in different congregations. Always on the move they never settle down, they are slaves to their own wills and gross appetites, and are in every way worse than the Casual Attender. It is better to keep silent than to speak of all these and their disgraceful away of life.

Therefore, let us pass them by and, with the help of Christ, proceed to draw up a plan for the strong kind, the Faithful Attender.