a well-watered garden

Worship in Any Church

I just wrote an entry this week (on Monday I think) about Worship in the Simple Church.  Today I'm thinking about worship in general and wanted to write down a few more thoughts.  These are things that come to mind as I prepare for a service, or visit a church, and I rarely take them out and examine them - let alone in front of others.

A few years ago, okay maybe 10 or more because it was while studying at RWC as an undergrad, I went to one of the Mr. Dr. Berry's lectures related to Church music, it's history, etc.   I can still see in my mind's eye the pictures of the shape of church buildings as they changed.  From the upper room, homes, and temple courts used by the early Church, to the basilica/cathedral style used to this day by most of the Catholic Church, to the preacher-audience set-up (or now worship team/drama team/dance crew/preacher-audience) that set the standard for Protestant/Evangelical churches to this day...

One major difference that stuck in my head was the difference between the typical Catholic church building and the typical Protestant church building.  At the center of the Catholic church is the table and the priest -- and the building itself is a physical representation of the Body of Christ - with the table right at the heart.  Arms go out from the sides and the body extends from head to foot (where the exits are, I guess).  If I understand correctly, the Eucharist is the center of Catholic worship, and so it is represented fully in the physical set-up of the church building.

The Reformation brought an emphasis on the written Word of God and it's power to release people from what was seen as a works-based theology to a theology of grace--'salvation by faith through grace.'   The preaching office of the Church became primary, since it was through preaching that people were brought to repentance and an understanding of the gospel message.  This emphasis continued throughout the revival movements in America -- and the tent meetings where music was the 'pre-game show' to draw in the crowd and warm them up to hear the 'main event' -- the revival message.  (Reminds me of most of our family camp services to this day!)

I'll go on one more step in this hack-job of Christian worship history  :) 

It seems the charismatic movement, or the praise & worship movement some might call it, brought us to another step that changed our buildings (in the Evangelical churches) once again.  We need a bigger platform (or even, gasp!, 'stage') to fit the drum set that we finally got our congregation to agree to (after a few families left).   We can't put on our Christmas play unless there's more room and a decent back stage. 

There's at least two little 'movements' that affected these kinds of changes - and I mean the changes in physical structure (larger platforms and arrangement of seats so that people are closer, can see better, or so that the acoustics work better for concerts and plays).  One, perhaps the strongest, is the 'attractional church' movement (it's not really a movement, but I'm running out of vocabulary).  What I mean is something many writers have talked about in the last several years--an attractional church is one whose primary outreach strategy is to make the church, its people, its programs and its worship services as attractive as possible so that people will want to come.  It's the 'come to us' posture of evangelism.   The other 'movement' is the more charismatic or pentacostal element that affected the kinds of music we use today in most churches.  These are simpler, more intimate songs of praise and adoration which flowed out of churches where people believe that God speaks today through individuals who are prophetically gifted, who may sing and pray in the Spirit, and who write songs that are expressions of that kind of gift and/or invite others to sing creatively, in the moment, a personal song of praise to God.   How many of our churches which sing these songs actually use them in this way?  Hmm...

And if we don't, or if a church has a theology that runs counter to the idea of 'singing in the Spirit' -- should we wonder at all that some have a preference for hymns?  :)

So, back to buildings, I wanted to share a paragraph from James F. White's An Introduction to Christian Worship: 

    "The relationships between architecture and what Christians do when they worship are complex.  Church architecture not only reflects the ways Christians worship but it also shapes worship or, not uncommonly, misshapes it.  Architecture reflects Christian worship by providing the setting and shelter needed by a community to carry out its worship together.  This is perhaps obvious--not even a football crowd will sit still in below-zero weather.  Bu, at the same time that architecture is accommodating worship, it is also, in a subtle and inconspicious way, shaping that same worship.  In the first place, the building helps define the meaning of worship for those gathered inside it.  Try to preach against triumphalism in a baroque church!  Try to teach the priesthood of all believers with a deep Gothic chancel never occupied by any but ordained clergy!  Second, the building dictates the possibilities open to us in our forms and styles of worship.  We may want good congregational song, but do the acoustics swallow up each sound so that all seem mute?  Or do we have to give up any hope of movement by the congregation because everyone is neatly filed away in pews?  We soon realize that architecture presents both opportuniites and limitations, some possibilities opened and others closed.  We could worship with difficulty without buildings; often we worship with difficulty because of them."

[For most of my readers who probably have less experience in the Eastern Orthodox Church than in the Catholic Church whose buildings were described earlier--the Orthodox Church in Ukraine never uses pews or seats of any kind except for a bench or two along the side for people with extreme cases of sickness or fatigue.   Talk about allowing for movement!]   

So, something to think about...What do our worship spaces say about our beliefs?  What are we putting first in our gatherings?  What are we allowing and what are we limiting?

I was talking about simple/organic church last time - which is usually something done in the home - what does a home gathering allow and what does it limit?

this blogging thing . .

. . . is so much more fun and effective when you actually write!

worship in the simple church...

I've been wanting to write this entry for a week or so but have been gathering my thoughts (i.e. procrastinating as usual and not blogging).

There are two topics in one here:  Simple Church and Worship.

Simple Church is one of the expressions for a new/old way of doing church:  Church that goes beyond the weekly meeting, or the pastor-audience model;  a more participatory gathering which helps people be disciples from the A to Z of life.   In a simple church (or 'organic church' as Neil Cole calls it), your regular meetings may more likely be a family-style meal than a Sunday morning hour or two consisting of 5-7 worship songs, a pastoral prayer, offering collection, and sermon.  Ideally the meeting would reflect Ephesians 5 or Colossians 3 passages that talk about the church (the believers) ministering to one another and bringing glory to God through Spirit-filled and inspired sharing, teaching, singing, exhorting and giving thanks.

But what I think may be the most important part:  a 'simple' church is meant to be simple in order to be about the business of making disciples.  Often our churches drain our people (or that 20% or less who lead in the church) of their time and resources on programs that may or may not effectively make disciples.  The resources go back into an institution (which exists for its own sake) instead of fueling a movement (which exists for others).   A lighter structure may be helpful in keeping things moving--much like less gas is needed to keep a motorcycle on the road than a Hummer--and it can still get you where you need to go.  The simple church is supposed to be about 'going.'

The 'model' itself - if it is a model - isn't what makes the difference.  You can meet with a small group all you want and have it be neither church nor a disciple-making entity.  But for the sake of part two here, I just wanted to lay out a few basics.  For more, see www.simplechurch.com.ua where some folks in Ukraine are working to apply simple church principles to the context there.

'Part two'.

I wanted to talk about worship.  Worship-leading and the whole science (or art?) of worship in the church has been greatly influenced by the church-growth and seeker-sensitive initiatives.  We tend to make choices about the kind of music we need and the kind of leaders who should be up front based on the 'audience' we'd like to attract to our church.  The questions we ask ourselves tend to go like this:  Are our Praise & Worship songs in the current "Top 40"? is this the style that people in our demographic target group listen to? are the worship team members the right age to relate well to the congregation? etc

I can't make fun really, since I'm always looking for something new and fresh to sing - and preferably something that sounds a little bit like U2.

And in about a month I'll be leading worship for a conference in Europe using primarily modern songs written by English-speakers containing only 3 chords.

But I'm getting a little off-topic and talking about style when I want to talk about intent, purpose, and all that . . .

The question is:  if we want to make disciples, if the Church's task is to GO and make disciples and then BE disciples when we are together, then I think some of the worship questions might be:

-- How do you lead worship in a way that teaches others the habits of worship?  (How do you lead believers in worship?  how do you help nonbelievers 'see' and to some extend comprehend what's going on as the believers worship?  how do you temper 'excellence of performance/modelling' with meeting people where they are - spiritually as well as musically?)

-- Is the phrase 'LEAD worship' even fitting anymore if we are talking about a simple, organic church where 'everyone has a hymn . . .'   Do you need a worship leader?

-- Do people need to be taught how to participate in a participatory church meeting?

-- What kinds of music lend themselves to being useful in a setting where you want everyone to be as able to participate as possible?

These are some of the things I've been thinking about and I wanted to get them down in writing and perhaps even start a conversation with you (since that's what a blog is kind of supposed to be!)

So - what do you think?

-------------------------

Also, if this entry was interesting to you--see "I just like a more traditional church..."

a divided memory of the War...

Those of you who heard me speak this summer would have heard something about how Ukraine veterans are divided into two main groups:  those who fought in the Soviet Army and those who fought in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army--which at times fought on the side of the Nazis in order to drive out the Soviets.

You can read more about it here:  http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5grKmzcVCt8L0-UfHxPGan5N5VStwD8S9BTO00

10 Things I Like about Being Back in Ukraine

1.   The grocery store is a short walk (not drive) away.  How cool is that?

2.   Almost everyone I know here responds to text messages.  One efficient communication system for all!

3.   I can bump into people without excusing myself all the time.

4.   Someone I've only recently and incidentally met sees me in the center of the city today and is so happy, you'd think we were long lost relatives.

5.   My cat, the longgggggest little tiger kitty in the world, who wakes me up every morning.

6.   Ladies selling sunflower seeds on the street.

7.   Fizzy water.  Who knew I'd like it so much?  (What I'm referring to is also known as 'water with gas', but I prefer to call it fizzy, thanks)

8.   Coffee made right in the cup.

9.   You can send important documents across the country by handing them to a minibus driver and giving him 2 bucks.  While doing it,  you kind of feel like you're asking a friend for a favor, even though you don't know him from Adam.

10.  Korona chocolate! :)

(p.s. I only made this list as a result of inspiration from "Hello My Name is Scott" - Google him, you'll know what I mean)