Monday, August 25, 2008
Interlacing Gathered and Scattered Worship as an Evangelistic Enterprise
Alongside the issue of developing an understanding of interlacing worship between gathered and scattered worlds is the issue of whether gathered worship embraces the people variously noted as “seeker,” “non-believer, “ or “first-time worship attendee.” Discussing what has sometimes been called the “target” group for ministry is an on-going issue in the life of many local congregations.
Also to be considered is the importance of using clear and inclusive words versus ambiguous and exclusive language in the Church, another issue that is discussed in many Church and academy circles. Like target groups, such discussion has been heard within the Church Growth movement gatherings and writings, particularly when it has talked about barriers that the local church either consciously or non-consciously creates when it uses a too highly developed “church language-speak” in its worship services. Such barrier language uses words that often are unfamiliar to those outside the church, words which remain ambiguous unless someone at some point provides clear definitions of those words.
Now if words like sanctuary, pulpit, hymnal, and the like are the issue, little is lost if the words remain somewhat ambiguous, at least for a time. Besides, those are relatively easy to explain and can been seen physically. However, if the words are the words that are often heard in worship, words like grace, sin, communion, and the like, those new ones who have gathered for worship and now knowingly or not are hearing the story of God and the response of God’s people are without the ability to understand how important such words are to the gathered worship of God. These newly gathered people remain outside the gathered experience spiritually, even though they may be present physically.
As a side note, it is interesting to me, in this day of general biblical ignorance on the part of some members of many congregations, that the stories of Scripture, the very stories which over the years have done much to shape the Christian faith – stories which now are often unknown by those members – themselves present a hurdle for relating concepts of worship like community, covenant, faith, sin, grace, etc. within the gathered community! Such concepts cannot be adequately understood apart from telling and re-telling the story of God and God’s people. Thus, a narrative theology approaches the Scripture itself in ways that re-tell the story. This is likely more useful in conveying the meaning of concepts like Trinity, sin, human depravity, etc., than the creeds of history, unless of course the creed becomes a launching point for relating these beliefs to the stories of Scripture. Another plus is that stories are just plain more interesting and inviting than dogma. Perhaps it is because people can often find themselves within a story. This moves them toward feelings of connection (or disconnection) versus only toward a mental assent of spiritual concepts.
Larry Hurtado has written along similar lines in considering how to deal in a university setting with students of various faiths. He notes: “I propose as a good test of clear thinking by religions is whether they can present their beliefs and practices with clarity and some cogency to interested non-adherents” (Larry Hurtado, 1999. At the Origins of Christian Worship: The Context and Character of earliest Christian Devotion. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., p. 99). Though his focus in this telling regards the community that is found within the academy, and though he is focused here in dealing with non-Christian religions (Islam and Buddhism, for example), this is not too terribly different from reaching and integrating people who are new to gathered worship. Some church leaders begin to ask questions like: How do we worship with these people present apart from telling the rather exclusive story of God and risk alienating them? Or, what words should we use that will be understandable to all?
Also, there are competing worship issues that lie between groups, groups sometimes identified with markers like “mainline” denominations and “free” denominations, or Reformed groups and Holiness groups, and other such divisions. Belief issues developed within these rather closed communities sometimes (often?) draw various conclusions, which lead to the development of different expectations and practices. For example, something as central to gathered worship as to who its leadership should be (ordained or lay, male and female, etc.) can create walls of separation not only between these various groups, but also within local congregations, and can unintentionally create a dense mystery for those who find themselves outside those walls. More than one member of some Christian denominations has jokingly asserted that it is often harder to join their particular denomination than it is to become a Christian.
To think of such issues and now to add what is seemingly another concept of worship, a worship that is practiced both inside the walls and is interlaced with worship that is practiced outside the walls may be just too much to consider. Even more, such a concept could be an obstacle for some denominational groups or local churches. That may be true unless this lifestyle of worship can be seen not as some innovation, but as a stream the roots itself in harmony with the practices of the early Church.
Being able to clearly delineate the distinctions and cogently apply theological/Scriptural bases for a practice of interlacing gathered and scattered worship is essential. Hurtado has suggested an important ingredient for such conversations: “[I]t is good for religions to conduct their reflections on their beliefs and practices ‘out in the open’ so to speak, inviting auditors and visitors as well as adherents to respond” (99). This is right thinking. However, even more important than “inviting” people to come to this conversation is to hold this conversation in the world where people live, and to hold it in a manner which invites all people to join in the conversation. It is essential for Christian worship to be a living entity among those who are being invited to join in it, to be “enfleshed” so that it can be seen as well as heard. This worship in the world, this scattered worship, provides a great invitation for investigators and investigations everywhere and at all times. Alongside this daily living out of the worship of God comes the extending of intentional, living words of invitation. Words like those of early believers in Jesus who invited people to “Come and see” (John 4:29), and then began to tell the story of what they had both seen and heard. These are spoken words. These remind me of the words 13th century Francis of Assissi, “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”
Such a scattered worship practice invites an investigation of the daily lives of those who live this worship life. It opens doors of opportunities for members of a congregation to speak of their belief(s) about God and God’s work in the world, and most importantly, to not only believe and speak of these things about God but to live them and to do them in their everyday, ordinary lives.
Many members of congregations feel inadequate to join in the evangelistic task of the Church, so they simply don’t do it. Why is that? Is it because they believe only “gifted” people do such things? Is it that they believe that they do not possess such gifts? More importantly, do they believe, or has current worship practice taught, that daily worship is optional, since they do their worship “at the church?” What if they were taught that evangelism is not so much a set of prescribed words and a prepared methodology as it is the extension of the worship that they share each time they gather with their spiritual brothers and sisters at the local congregation? What if they were told that all they need to do in order to be an evangelistic force is to live out the pattern of responding to the call of the Holy Spirit in worship, a pattern that many of many of them have been following for many years?
As far as developing church outreach ministry goes, wouldn’t it be a better approach to have living worship be the invitation for people to “Come and see” than spending so much time dreaming up and empowering events that the Church imagines may be interesting to people outside the life of the Church, events that the Church often creates so that it can invite people to come join in the life of the Church, events which often remain the exclusive possession and experience of those who are already gathered in the Church?
The interlacing of gathered and scattered worship is based, in part, on a presupposition that people who see something interesting, something inviting, something of which they would like to be part, something that arouses awareness of need in them, something which can meet that need, something that they might just seek out, something which they may very well respond to (and note here that such response lives in the world of worship!), something that might allow for a “Yes” to bound from their lips when the question is actually asked in words, “Won’t you come and see?”
Also to be considered is the importance of using clear and inclusive words versus ambiguous and exclusive language in the Church, another issue that is discussed in many Church and academy circles. Like target groups, such discussion has been heard within the Church Growth movement gatherings and writings, particularly when it has talked about barriers that the local church either consciously or non-consciously creates when it uses a too highly developed “church language-speak” in its worship services. Such barrier language uses words that often are unfamiliar to those outside the church, words which remain ambiguous unless someone at some point provides clear definitions of those words.
Now if words like sanctuary, pulpit, hymnal, and the like are the issue, little is lost if the words remain somewhat ambiguous, at least for a time. Besides, those are relatively easy to explain and can been seen physically. However, if the words are the words that are often heard in worship, words like grace, sin, communion, and the like, those new ones who have gathered for worship and now knowingly or not are hearing the story of God and the response of God’s people are without the ability to understand how important such words are to the gathered worship of God. These newly gathered people remain outside the gathered experience spiritually, even though they may be present physically.
As a side note, it is interesting to me, in this day of general biblical ignorance on the part of some members of many congregations, that the stories of Scripture, the very stories which over the years have done much to shape the Christian faith – stories which now are often unknown by those members – themselves present a hurdle for relating concepts of worship like community, covenant, faith, sin, grace, etc. within the gathered community! Such concepts cannot be adequately understood apart from telling and re-telling the story of God and God’s people. Thus, a narrative theology approaches the Scripture itself in ways that re-tell the story. This is likely more useful in conveying the meaning of concepts like Trinity, sin, human depravity, etc., than the creeds of history, unless of course the creed becomes a launching point for relating these beliefs to the stories of Scripture. Another plus is that stories are just plain more interesting and inviting than dogma. Perhaps it is because people can often find themselves within a story. This moves them toward feelings of connection (or disconnection) versus only toward a mental assent of spiritual concepts.
Larry Hurtado has written along similar lines in considering how to deal in a university setting with students of various faiths. He notes: “I propose as a good test of clear thinking by religions is whether they can present their beliefs and practices with clarity and some cogency to interested non-adherents” (Larry Hurtado, 1999. At the Origins of Christian Worship: The Context and Character of earliest Christian Devotion. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., p. 99). Though his focus in this telling regards the community that is found within the academy, and though he is focused here in dealing with non-Christian religions (Islam and Buddhism, for example), this is not too terribly different from reaching and integrating people who are new to gathered worship. Some church leaders begin to ask questions like: How do we worship with these people present apart from telling the rather exclusive story of God and risk alienating them? Or, what words should we use that will be understandable to all?
Also, there are competing worship issues that lie between groups, groups sometimes identified with markers like “mainline” denominations and “free” denominations, or Reformed groups and Holiness groups, and other such divisions. Belief issues developed within these rather closed communities sometimes (often?) draw various conclusions, which lead to the development of different expectations and practices. For example, something as central to gathered worship as to who its leadership should be (ordained or lay, male and female, etc.) can create walls of separation not only between these various groups, but also within local congregations, and can unintentionally create a dense mystery for those who find themselves outside those walls. More than one member of some Christian denominations has jokingly asserted that it is often harder to join their particular denomination than it is to become a Christian.
To think of such issues and now to add what is seemingly another concept of worship, a worship that is practiced both inside the walls and is interlaced with worship that is practiced outside the walls may be just too much to consider. Even more, such a concept could be an obstacle for some denominational groups or local churches. That may be true unless this lifestyle of worship can be seen not as some innovation, but as a stream the roots itself in harmony with the practices of the early Church.
Being able to clearly delineate the distinctions and cogently apply theological/Scriptural bases for a practice of interlacing gathered and scattered worship is essential. Hurtado has suggested an important ingredient for such conversations: “[I]t is good for religions to conduct their reflections on their beliefs and practices ‘out in the open’ so to speak, inviting auditors and visitors as well as adherents to respond” (99). This is right thinking. However, even more important than “inviting” people to come to this conversation is to hold this conversation in the world where people live, and to hold it in a manner which invites all people to join in the conversation. It is essential for Christian worship to be a living entity among those who are being invited to join in it, to be “enfleshed” so that it can be seen as well as heard. This worship in the world, this scattered worship, provides a great invitation for investigators and investigations everywhere and at all times. Alongside this daily living out of the worship of God comes the extending of intentional, living words of invitation. Words like those of early believers in Jesus who invited people to “Come and see” (John 4:29), and then began to tell the story of what they had both seen and heard. These are spoken words. These remind me of the words 13th century Francis of Assissi, “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”
Such a scattered worship practice invites an investigation of the daily lives of those who live this worship life. It opens doors of opportunities for members of a congregation to speak of their belief(s) about God and God’s work in the world, and most importantly, to not only believe and speak of these things about God but to live them and to do them in their everyday, ordinary lives.
Many members of congregations feel inadequate to join in the evangelistic task of the Church, so they simply don’t do it. Why is that? Is it because they believe only “gifted” people do such things? Is it that they believe that they do not possess such gifts? More importantly, do they believe, or has current worship practice taught, that daily worship is optional, since they do their worship “at the church?” What if they were taught that evangelism is not so much a set of prescribed words and a prepared methodology as it is the extension of the worship that they share each time they gather with their spiritual brothers and sisters at the local congregation? What if they were told that all they need to do in order to be an evangelistic force is to live out the pattern of responding to the call of the Holy Spirit in worship, a pattern that many of many of them have been following for many years?
As far as developing church outreach ministry goes, wouldn’t it be a better approach to have living worship be the invitation for people to “Come and see” than spending so much time dreaming up and empowering events that the Church imagines may be interesting to people outside the life of the Church, events that the Church often creates so that it can invite people to come join in the life of the Church, events which often remain the exclusive possession and experience of those who are already gathered in the Church?
The interlacing of gathered and scattered worship is based, in part, on a presupposition that people who see something interesting, something inviting, something of which they would like to be part, something that arouses awareness of need in them, something which can meet that need, something that they might just seek out, something which they may very well respond to (and note here that such response lives in the world of worship!), something that might allow for a “Yes” to bound from their lips when the question is actually asked in words, “Won’t you come and see?”
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Following in the Spirit of God in leading Christian Worship
In the preface of the second edition of his book, In Search for the Origins of Christian Worship, Paul Bradshaw notes, “What we do know about patterns of worship in that primitive period points towards considerable variety more often than towards rigid uniformity” (X). This should not be discouraging to liturgical leaders. Rather, we should be reminded that all worship of God is led by the Holy Spirit, the creative energy who is part of bringing all things into being, and who enlivens all things. To be unable to unlock past worship practices without confidence pushes us in the direction of increased dependence on the present Spirit who first led the early Christians to the worship of God in Christ, and who now leads us. As such, we are not on strange new ground. Rather, we follow the practice of the early Church as we hear and follow the voice of the Spirit. Our prayer should be then, “Allow your Spirit to lead us, O God, teaching us as we follow ever more closely each day in what it means to worship You with all of our lives, as we are being conformed to the image of Your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen.”
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Interlacing Worship Worlds
“[T]he New Testament bears witness that from the beginning believers saw their humble worship gatherings in small groups in houses as events with this transcendent significance and character” (At the Origins of Christian Worship, Hurtado, 113).
The importance of interlacing a “this-world” thinking with a “that-world" thinking should be obvious for interlacing the gathered worship experience with the scattered worship experience. Perhaps part of the reason that many people in the Church have come to believe that the practical world is more valuably different than what is often described as the idealistic love-oriented gathering of believers for worship is central to the problem of interconnecting these worlds.
Practical Christianity must engage practical living or it is valuable only as a fairy tale is. A fairy tale contrives a world that we wish were true, but which we acknowledge is not. Faith is not a fairy tale. It is an expectation of living in the world that is not yet, but a world that will be. Christian worship should reflect such faith. Worship that is divorced from everyday experience will struggle to be more than a hoped for life, and will never be the reality that people will embrace cogently and in everyday practice.
The importance of interlacing a “this-world” thinking with a “that-world" thinking should be obvious for interlacing the gathered worship experience with the scattered worship experience. Perhaps part of the reason that many people in the Church have come to believe that the practical world is more valuably different than what is often described as the idealistic love-oriented gathering of believers for worship is central to the problem of interconnecting these worlds.
Practical Christianity must engage practical living or it is valuable only as a fairy tale is. A fairy tale contrives a world that we wish were true, but which we acknowledge is not. Faith is not a fairy tale. It is an expectation of living in the world that is not yet, but a world that will be. Christian worship should reflect such faith. Worship that is divorced from everyday experience will struggle to be more than a hoped for life, and will never be the reality that people will embrace cogently and in everyday practice.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Worship with Two Halves
The focus of this book I am writing is worship, specifically a theology of Creative Worship. I am not an expert on liturgy, though I have been engaged in what can be called liturgical practice for thirty years, as I have served as a pastor of worship ministry in local congregations. My observations about developments in worship over these years, as well as my own conclusions, right or wrong, about many current worship practices have drawn me to research and write about a particular form of worship practice, which I think is not only valid but is necessary as we enter what has been called by some a post-modern / enlightenment world.
Some of the conclusions that I have been drawn to are because of recent events in my own life which led me to become deeply enmeshed in providing educational assistance, specifically tutoring, to thousands of children in the United States who are enrolled in underperforming schools, in lower and poverty income cities. From New York to California I have observed these students and found creative ways to help partner them with young college students who are interested in becoming teachers. Even as I did this, I imagined myself in the tradition stream of John Wesley who cared earnestly about children working in mines with little hope of escape without an educational foundation, a foundation that he helped to create and fund.
Along the way, I picked up some new insights about education that have deep resonance with church worship practice. The simple word hands-on became a mantra for me, as I learned about learning and helping children who had lost sight of the purpose and love of learning. Re-engaged and empowered, they began to flow in new ways that not only improved their grades, but I believe is a step in improving their lives. The many young tutors that I recruited and trained came from various universities around the country. They taught me the importance of relational learning, a topic I would one day like to write about, but this book will not provide that opportunity. Key to all of this learning process was a statement made by Chris Widdle (sp?) of Edison schools in the early stages of the development of the nation-wide tutoring service we began. Paraphrasing what he said, I remember “Two things have not changed in the last 400 years: Schools and Churches.” Chris was about changing schools, but it struck me as being very on target about churches. The Reformation provided impetus for vast realignment intended to reach back to the early Church with a view to re-connecting to its purity and ideals. It also created a world view about worship practice in the church. What the Reformation longed for, a more engaged – hands-on—laity became an ordained-minister-led worship practice which changed the Reformed message from a trajectory toward greater involvement by congregational members to one in which church members consider that worship practices are those which the minister does, and does them only when the congregation gathers for worship at the local church.
This has effectively created an environment in which much of what is done in the worship of God is left at the door of the church as the congregation departs to live in the real world. This divorcement of worship and real worlds, I believe, has been caused in part because those charged with worship leadership have ineffectively communicated the relationship between worship practice – the rituals of worship – and daily life. Another part of the reason for this separation within worship life is because when worship does occur in the gathered worship moments of the church, there is little for the congregation to do. In many local churches, congregational participation is left to singing songs – and at times this is half-hearted at best because of wars caused -- in part -- by the introduction of new songs which are often introduced poorly, versus familiar and loved songs that are left behind. The congregation is invited to give money to support the work of the Church, but often this is practiced as more of a utilitarian device rather than the continuation of worship. The actual gathering of the church is often understood as waiting for people to take their seats, or pews as the case may be. Prayer is mostly led by ordained clergy. The absence of Scripture in most congregations is due to the thought that the preaching pastor will present the Scripture – sometimes thought of as the topic of the day— the meaning of which will be explained to the congregation in a lecture format where the preacher stands at a desk and the congregation sits, like students aligned in rows. (Such learning practice is seldom used in effective classrooms these days because it is understood that most students learn by doing rather than solely by hearing.) The heart of early Church practice – the Eucharist or Communion or whatever name you are familiar with – in many churches has been relegated to a monthly observance, rather than what seems to be a New Testament standard being shared every time a congregation gathered. The congregation is sometimes “dismissed” from worship. Nothing should be further from the truth if, as the Scripture calls us, we are to go into the world to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20). Rather, as I propose in this book, worship is to be our life lived in the daily routines – or rituals if you will – of our lives, living out the practices that we practice when we come together. When we scatter, are not to be dismissed from worship. We are to be commissioned to go worship with our lives, as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God which is our spiritual worship (See Romans 12:1).
Reconnecting the gathered worship of the Church with a theology of scattered worship is the goal. Along the way, as these thoughts are developed, we may find new ways to make the gathered moments of worship more hands-on, or at least begin to teach congregations that the worship they enjoin is not dismissed when they leave. Rather, as a good friend, pastor, and boss that I served with liked to say, “We now go to the second half of the service.”
Some of the conclusions that I have been drawn to are because of recent events in my own life which led me to become deeply enmeshed in providing educational assistance, specifically tutoring, to thousands of children in the United States who are enrolled in underperforming schools, in lower and poverty income cities. From New York to California I have observed these students and found creative ways to help partner them with young college students who are interested in becoming teachers. Even as I did this, I imagined myself in the tradition stream of John Wesley who cared earnestly about children working in mines with little hope of escape without an educational foundation, a foundation that he helped to create and fund.
Along the way, I picked up some new insights about education that have deep resonance with church worship practice. The simple word hands-on became a mantra for me, as I learned about learning and helping children who had lost sight of the purpose and love of learning. Re-engaged and empowered, they began to flow in new ways that not only improved their grades, but I believe is a step in improving their lives. The many young tutors that I recruited and trained came from various universities around the country. They taught me the importance of relational learning, a topic I would one day like to write about, but this book will not provide that opportunity. Key to all of this learning process was a statement made by Chris Widdle (sp?) of Edison schools in the early stages of the development of the nation-wide tutoring service we began. Paraphrasing what he said, I remember “Two things have not changed in the last 400 years: Schools and Churches.” Chris was about changing schools, but it struck me as being very on target about churches. The Reformation provided impetus for vast realignment intended to reach back to the early Church with a view to re-connecting to its purity and ideals. It also created a world view about worship practice in the church. What the Reformation longed for, a more engaged – hands-on—laity became an ordained-minister-led worship practice which changed the Reformed message from a trajectory toward greater involvement by congregational members to one in which church members consider that worship practices are those which the minister does, and does them only when the congregation gathers for worship at the local church.
This has effectively created an environment in which much of what is done in the worship of God is left at the door of the church as the congregation departs to live in the real world. This divorcement of worship and real worlds, I believe, has been caused in part because those charged with worship leadership have ineffectively communicated the relationship between worship practice – the rituals of worship – and daily life. Another part of the reason for this separation within worship life is because when worship does occur in the gathered worship moments of the church, there is little for the congregation to do. In many local churches, congregational participation is left to singing songs – and at times this is half-hearted at best because of wars caused -- in part -- by the introduction of new songs which are often introduced poorly, versus familiar and loved songs that are left behind. The congregation is invited to give money to support the work of the Church, but often this is practiced as more of a utilitarian device rather than the continuation of worship. The actual gathering of the church is often understood as waiting for people to take their seats, or pews as the case may be. Prayer is mostly led by ordained clergy. The absence of Scripture in most congregations is due to the thought that the preaching pastor will present the Scripture – sometimes thought of as the topic of the day— the meaning of which will be explained to the congregation in a lecture format where the preacher stands at a desk and the congregation sits, like students aligned in rows. (Such learning practice is seldom used in effective classrooms these days because it is understood that most students learn by doing rather than solely by hearing.) The heart of early Church practice – the Eucharist or Communion or whatever name you are familiar with – in many churches has been relegated to a monthly observance, rather than what seems to be a New Testament standard being shared every time a congregation gathered. The congregation is sometimes “dismissed” from worship. Nothing should be further from the truth if, as the Scripture calls us, we are to go into the world to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20). Rather, as I propose in this book, worship is to be our life lived in the daily routines – or rituals if you will – of our lives, living out the practices that we practice when we come together. When we scatter, are not to be dismissed from worship. We are to be commissioned to go worship with our lives, as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God which is our spiritual worship (See Romans 12:1).
Reconnecting the gathered worship of the Church with a theology of scattered worship is the goal. Along the way, as these thoughts are developed, we may find new ways to make the gathered moments of worship more hands-on, or at least begin to teach congregations that the worship they enjoin is not dismissed when they leave. Rather, as a good friend, pastor, and boss that I served with liked to say, “We now go to the second half of the service.”
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