Christianity is more about a lifestyle than a worship event. I’m not suggesting that worship isn’t important! But we must not use the worship event as an opportunity to slip back into language and ritual that none but the ‘insiders’ understand. The Gospel must be communicated in the language of the contemporary world, not just so that ‘outsiders’ can understand what we are talking about, but so that ‘insiders’ are able to relate their faith to what they face in the world outside of church.
Unfortunately, most forms of (modern) Christian worship demand very little from most of the congregation, reducing people to passivity or to routinised responses. Often, congregations are made to watch in virtual silence because they can’t play the guitar and they can’t preach. These are often the only two gifts that seem to be acceptable as worship. Which seems such a waste.
But congregations of emerging churches are not an audience watching the people at the front as the principal performers. Rather, the entire congregation is actively and creatively engaged in offering worship. They consider that “unless every person makes an effort to use his or her gift, the community is not healthy, and as a result they see participation and involvement as key: “In a consumer culture it’s all too easy for worship to be something else we consume. So … we consciously want to get people involved in worship creation rather than in worship consumption” (Jonny Baker (Grace, London) quoted by Gibbs & Bolger, Emerging Churches, p.159).
Here’s what some of them do:
- “We pray a lot … do a confession, the Eucharist, and have incense every Sunday. We have a … candle stand for people to use to light candles in prayer after communion” (Debbie Blue (House of Mercy, St. Paul, USA) quoted by Gibbs & Bolger, Emerging Churches, pp.224-5).
- “… communion each week … pray an abbreviated office … silence and antiphons … lectio divina, chanting, a discussion of what they have read, and the reading of Scripture (not necessary teaching)” (A description of worship at Vine and Branches (Lexington, USA), Gibbs & Bolger, Emerging Churches, p.225).
- “We read the book of common prayer together … and we read the Psalms …” (Jason Evans (Matthew’s House, Vista, CA, USA) quoted by Gibbs & Bolger, Emerging Churches, p.225).
- “… drums start … call everyone together … sing one song … light the Christ candle as a poem is read … congregational drumming …pray … prayer of confession … We listen and pray, and we imagine that Jesus comes. Sometimes the sermon is art … read Scripture through lectio divina … The room is dark, relying on candlelight for the whole service … We gather everyone for communion, the words of institution. We use wine, pass the cup around, and say the Lord’s Prayer together. After a benediction, we bring food in and everyone eats together” (Rebecca Ver Straten McSparran (Tribe, Hollywood, USA) quoted by Gibbs & Bolger, Emerging Churches, p.225).
- “… soup, bread, wine, an Irish blessing, and a communion prayer” (A description of worship at Thursday PM (Seattle, USA), Gibbs & Bolger, Emerging Churches, p.225)
- “… communion and prayer techniques such as the Jesus prayer and body prayers (prayers through gestures rather than through words)” (A description of worship at Sanctus1 (Manchester), Gibbs & Bolger, Emerging Churches, p.226)
- “We have a stations of the cross service on Good Friday … We use the traditional Catholic liturgy to walk the stations” (Debbie Blue (House of Mercy, St. Paul, USA) quoted by Gibbs & Bolger, Emerging Churches, p.226)
- “… lectio divina … times of silence … meditate with PowerPoint images” (Gibbs & Bolger, Emerging Churches, p.226)
In these ways, their creative worship provides space and opportunities for all people to reconnect with themselves, with other people, and ultimately with God.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Learning from the Emerging Church: being creative
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3 comments:
Marcus, what about people who aren't familiar with terms such as 'mission', 'ecumenism', 'the emerging church' et al?
If you're wanting to reach as many people in the community as possible, do you feel that they could remain alienated due to such language going right over their heads?
Of course, I am using the royal 'they' and am talking about me really !!
I've been troubled for some time with the standard "audience and stage" format of church meetings. I always think that the Corinthian model with the whole body playing a part is more valid. The idea of consumers coming along like cars with empty tanks ready to be filled up again by professionals (musicians and pastors), is a poor way to live. By the way , I love playing drums in the band and preaching a bit but I'm strongly aware that I'm just one part in the whole body.
There is always something new in God and it's grand to see this new move in the so called "emerging church". There is a pruning, dismantling, reconstruction process that should regularly be expected from God. It keeps the church alive.
Thanks for the list of the sort activities that actually constitute a modern Christian Church for some people. Some good ideas.
As with all new moves of God however, there is the temptation to develop a superiority complex with all the associated new jargon. It certainly happened with the Pentecostal movement. I remember growing up through the 70's in Australia and if you weren't babbling in tongues and jumping up and down clapping then you were classed as so much dead wood in the eyes of some. I remember when my wife and I first visited a Penticostal church at that time. We found the rising sound of a hall full of people in full tongues mode really creepy. Like a scene from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". We were young at the time but had been Christians for some years.
So now I'm 46, still drumming, wanting our Church meetings to be alive to the Holy Spirit and a time when people can be inspired to really "do business with God" rather than passively sit and listen as an audience. BUT..... I sense that old slightly creepy feeling, like being outside some inner ring of people who are in the know. "Lectio Divinia, Silence and Antiphons, Christ Candles and Chanting, Congregational Drumming".
Am I groovy enough for this? Will my unchurched friends find this stuff any easier to swallow than what's on offer already?. Does it have to be a choice between "Standard Boring" and "Slightly Creepy"?
One thing I'm sure of. I want to be IN whatever God's interested in.
I think there's a very clear danger in two things:
1) using christianese. This is a hobby horse of mine (and I think it might even be my word!), but it highlights the fact that sometimes our whole practise of church meetings is like we're speaking in our own language, not understandable by some Christians, let alone non Christians.
2) The danger of replacing our current incomprehensible activities with other incomprehensible ones.
The key, I think, is in looking for creative ways (as you've noted) to express what it means to belong to God and commune with Him and each other. Perhaps we should be looking more to the common practises that people in today's culture engage in as examples. Like Ross, there's a part of me that struggles with the overtones of mysticism that seem to be apparent in some of the practises you've cited.
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