1. Biblical Background
The term “Solomon’s Portico” appears in John 10:23; Acts 3:11 and 5:12. According to the Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities 15.410 – 416), the portico was a colonnade inside the walls of the temple in Jerusalem, running along its east side. It was a covered walkway supported by two rows of pillars about 10 metres high, the porch was approximately 15 metres wide. At the time of the writing of the New Testament the scribes held their schools and debates there.
The Acts references are relevant because of the life of the early church. It appears that the Portico was the site where the church of Jerusalem gathered en masse. Here the whole of the church as an assembled community was able to receive the “apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:46). The proximity to the temple, without participation in the sacrificial system, symbolised that the church was both the fulfilment of the old covenant promises and the new people of God (1 Peter 2:4 -10). It appears that from this hub, the apostolic doctrine was applied at a local level in a multiplicity of locations (Acts 5:42).
2. Context
At the 2003 W.A. Prayer Summit there were a range of prophetic words given concerning the current situation of the church. One of these was a dream shared by Paul Gordon that symbolised the church has become a closed in and darkened shed, oblivious to the fact that the fish were biting at a nearby jetty. (Symbolising a willingness of people to embrace the gospel in the marketplace outside the programmes of the organised church.) This imagery received deep resonance from the assembled group of eighty or so pastors and Christian leaders.
The day following this John Yates, with the agreement of the Servant Leadership team shared a conviction about a Solomon’s Portico arrangement that would see apostolic- prophetic teaching at a central location in the city of Perth. The aim of this teaching would be to equip and resource those present to engage in missional work in their local contexts. This could involve local churches, counselling services, para-church groups and many other forms of the expression of the gospel of Christ. Foundational to the ongoing success of this entire endeavour was the centrality of the cross of Christ.
3. Theology
A passage underlying this conviction is Acts 3:17 – 21. This represents the preaching of the apostle Peter in Solomon’s Portico following the healing of the cripple at the Beautiful Gate. He promises “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord” that will come when Jesus is accepted as the heavenly Messiah. According to Peter, what is in process is “the restoration of all things that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.” This theme is both tied to the entire expectation of the Old Testament prophetic tradition and unlimited to any earthly horizon. Jesus is currently applying the universal reconciliation achieved in the cross (Col 1:20) to “all things” that he is seeking to “fill” with his own life through the church (Eph 4:10; 1:22). This reality is released by the 5- fold ministry gifts imparting the reality of the ascended Lord to the people of God (Ephesians 4:11 – 13).
The vision of Solomon’s Portico cannot therefore be contained within the walls of buildings, but envisions a penetration into all the sectors of society and culture (arts, education, technology, media, education etc.) so that they may be transformed under the Lordship of Christ. This corresponds to the ultimate intention of “the plan of God for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him (Christ), things in heaven and things on earth.” (Eph 1:10).
According to this pattern, as Jesus reveals the dimensions of his person and work of Christ through apostles and prophets, the present structures limiting the penetration of the church into the world will be reformed and the Holy Spirit will be released in power into a host of particular contexts in our city and beyond.