In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

The Friendly Fire Collective has two major convictions that are closely intertwined: we are called to follow the Way and Spirit of Jesus and we are called to support revolutionary currents around us.

There have been a number of people, namely progressive/liberal Christians, who have expressed concerns with the political convictions of our community. Some see us a political group dressed up in the appearance of Christianity, naively idolizing revolution over God.

The thing is, though, we are unabashedly both far-left radicals and Spirit-led mystics. We are both prophets and revolutionaries. We are unable to separate our experience of the Divine from this zeal for revolution. As a community, we seek to prayerfully accompany the wider liberatory movement into building a new world in the ashes of the old.

Many of us would consider ourselves Christians, but some of us wouldn’t. In fact, this past weekend we ordained a Jewish witch as a minister and prophet. We are committed to a firmly universalist, Christ-shaped mysticism. Our collective is comprised of those who are often on the margins of the Christian tradition. We believe that the Spirit of God has been poured out on all flesh and that the living Christ is among and within all people.

To be inclusive of our theologically diverse body, our worship style is experimental, exploring a range of spiritual practices.

On Saturday mornings, the Book of Common Prayer maps out our meeting. On Tuesday evenings, we worship in the manner of Quakers, grounded in silence. In both meetings, though, we communally seek God’s presence and direction through intercession and silence. During our Quaker-style meeting, we speak, prophesy, testify, praise, and pray out of a place of inner-stillness. Even during our more liturgical Saturday morning gathering, we leave time and space for open intercession and praise.

We believe in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. This presence can be felt, prompting weeping, laughter, thrilling silence, and glossolalia – or speaking in tongues. For some this can even be a physical experience, as they may tremble or shake or feel overcome by what one comrade calls “waves of love.” This presence also brings Light that exposes our crooked ways, leading us into repentance and newness of life.

As a community, we are committed to prayer, worship, and inviting God’s presence among us. We believe every individual can access and experience God’s presence, but also that we can profoundly and uniquely experience this as a worshiping community. We believe that the Spirit desires to orchestrate our worship so that the gathered body may grow into maturity “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” All kinds of spiritual gifts may manifest in such an atmosphere, including interpretation of tongues, healing, the working of miracles, but most especially prophecy, or Spirit-inspired messages for those gathered.

Jesus called his followers to be in prophetic community. These communities ought to nurture all members to become prophets – to hear the Spirit for the sake of building up the community but also for the bold proclamation of the gospel. These communities, in obedience to the Spirit, speak and act in ways that rebuke and combat demonic and oppressive systems, as well as reveal and extend God’s kin-dom.

As worship forms us into prophets, it also forms us into disciplined revolutionaries. We see it as a space where heaven meets earth. Where God, our ancestors, the communion of saints, come close in order to lead us further on the path of struggle. Where our imaginations are broadened, our faith strengthened. Where union with Christ and his martyrdom can be felt and known. Where, induced by the love of Christ, we grow into a politic of empathy.

We are a worshiping community, of both mystics and revolutionaries. We cannot separate our politics from our mysticism. Instead, we can point to the ground our politics and mysticism stands on: love. We pray this love continues to beckon this world into apocalypse.