{
  "id": "artifact:the-church-doors-were-open-the-table-was-closed",
  "slug": "the-church-doors-were-open-the-table-was-closed",
  "title": "The Church Doors Were Open. The Table Was Closed.",
  "thesis": "Christian faith should be judged less by the boundaries a church defends and more by the people it serves.",
  "abstract": "A first-person reflection on church, belonging, mercy, and the visible fruit of faith. Tony Malott follows a lifetime from compulsory attendance and inherited boundaries through doubt, return, and a decision to measure faith by the people it moves toward.",
  "topics": [
    "faith",
    "belonging",
    "mercy",
    "church",
    "first-person-reflection"
  ],
  "date": "2026-07-27",
  "dateLabel": "Source dated",
  "published": false,
  "publicationState": "MERGE_READY",
  "updated": "2026-07-27",
  "sourceDates": {
    "created": "2026-07-26",
    "updated": "2026-07-27"
  },
  "kind": "Faith and ethics essay",
  "sourceFamily": "SharePlane Platform",
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  "canonicalUrl": "https://shareplane.malott.ai/artifacts/the-church-doors-were-open-the-table-was-closed/",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "source:shareplane-platform-issue-148",
      "type": "governing-semantic-authority",
      "title": "SharePlane Platform Issue #148",
      "locator": "https://github.com/pinklon/shareplane-platform/issues/148",
      "role": "Governs the thesis, source manuscript, evidence boundaries, privacy boundaries, and Creative Lock.",
      "description": "Canonical owner authority for this article.",
      "publiclyExposed": true
    },
    {
      "id": "source:shareplane-platform-pr-150",
      "type": "governing-implementation-authority",
      "title": "SharePlane Platform PR #150",
      "locator": "https://github.com/pinklon/shareplane-platform/pull/150",
      "role": "Governs bounded implementation, exact-head protected Development validation, merge, and Production publication.",
      "description": "Owner orders authorize exact-head merge and Production publication only after the current critical gates pass.",
      "publiclyExposed": true
    },
    {
      "id": "source:first-umc-sacramento",
      "type": "public-institutional-source",
      "title": "First United Methodist Church, Sacramento",
      "locator": "https://firstumcsac.org/",
      "role": "Supports only current public claims about the named congregation's ministries and welcome.",
      "description": "Public institutional source; it does not establish Tony's interpretation or speak for private individuals.",
      "publiclyExposed": true
    },
    {
      "id": "source:biblegateway-matthew-25",
      "type": "scriptural-source",
      "title": "Matthew 25:31-46",
      "locator": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025%3A31-46",
      "role": "Contextual scripture reference for care of people in need.",
      "description": "Interpretive source, not proof that one denomination is righteous.",
      "publiclyExposed": true
    },
    {
      "id": "source:biblegateway-james-2",
      "type": "scriptural-source",
      "title": "James 2:14-18",
      "locator": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%202%3A14-18",
      "role": "Contextual scripture reference for faith and visible works.",
      "description": "The essay acknowledges longstanding theological disagreement about faith and works.",
      "publiclyExposed": true
    }
  ],
  "posture": "Owner-originated first-person reflection with accepted semantic and Creative Lock authority under Issue #148.",
  "media": [],
  "schema": "shareplane.portable-work.v1",
  "author": {
    "name": "Tony Malott",
    "url": "https://malott.ai/"
  },
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    "path": "records/the-church-doors-were-open-the-table-was-closed/context.txt",
    "sha256": "a354331a50f4ec1241480dd5f98367cc048b3fe4ad577a4658fa5278da0368cd",
    "complete": true,
    "extraction": "Native presentation reading order; scripts, styles, and platform chrome excluded."
  },
  "relationships": [
    {
      "source": "artifact:the-church-doors-were-open-the-table-was-closed",
      "target": "artifact:the-beautiful-hour",
      "type": "related-to",
      "group": "companions",
      "label": "Visible practice and lived attention",
      "explanation": "Both essays ask readers to inspect what an operating commitment produces."
    }
  ],
  "representations": {
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}