Once again, we were pleasantly surprised. Though I can't always explain where certain misconceptions within my own heart come from, I have to admit I expected this particular demographic to be less amiable and more rigid or stuffy. But this group loved their church, their pastors, and one-another. And most importantly, they clearly loved God. Listening to them sing old hymns, the way they repeated in unison "Here our prayer," their laughter with one-another as jokes were made at the end of the service all served to create a comfortable, beautiful environment of corporate worship.
Over the last 24-hours, I've been really mulling over what else to include in this post to avoid meaningless rambling, and the one concept that keeps arising both in conversation with people and in my own reflection is the concept of multiple services. Many of the churches we have gone to have had multiple service options, and my thoughts have not ventured this directions until this week. I find myself questioning why so many churches have different services?
Holy Cross offered three services: "Traditional" at 8:00a.m., "Blended at 8:45a.m., in the other sanctuary, and "Contemporary" at 11:00a.m. All three were very different. The traditional service we attended has already been described; they sangs old hymns, had a choir involved, and had music notes in the worship folder to guide certain songs. The blended service had the same liturgy in the worship folder as the traditional service, but instead of hymns and tonal chants, they sang worship choruses like "Above All," and "Open Our Hearts, Lord." The contemporary service is referred to as "Expressions of Praise" on their website and is entirely different. Everything is projected on a screen, worship is led by a band, everything seems more casual.
My question is this: Does this kind of smorgasbord of services serve the body of Christ as it serves the world? Or does it foster the same "have it your way" mentality that pervades all aspects of modern society?
I spent one week at this church, and am in no way attempting to place judgment on them, their staff, or the motives behind their decisions. The building and the size of the two services we saw (we poked our heads in the 8:45 service before leaving) are indicative that the church is by no means ineffective. I am simply presenting my own observations alongside accompanying thoughts and reflections: Why have multiple services?
If one service is running out of space and a church is growing to the point where adding a service is the only way to accommodate for growth then by all means, add services! I'd like to think that this is the mindset behind most churches with such options. But the fact that I just referred to them as 'options' speaks to the preference-oriented mindset in the American church today, and if we, as a body are choosing to not worship God corporately as one whole body simply because, "I don't get anything out of the liturgy," or "I don't like the drums," or "It's too loud," or "It's boring," I'm afraid we're losing something vital in the body.
The young have so much to learn from the old, and the old remember a faith and life so vibrant and fresh when worshiping with the young. Why would we separate the two into various styles of services? Based on preferences? Or is it legitimately based on needs? Is it to reach a larger crowd by appealing to various ages, demographics, and... worship preferences?
I am simply trying to convey that this seems like a dangerous path to start down. Implications are endless regarding what might happen to our motives, to our spiritual sensitivity, to the DNA of our entire church we let questions of "What will make those in attendance most comfortable, most happy during worship?" and "How can we appeal to one generation while maintaining a relevant hold on another generation?" take the place of "What does God truly desire for this body of believers?" and "How can we be most effective in reaching our community?"
We can never be too self-aware, as individuals, or as a church. We ought never stop evaluating ourselves and our motives. To quote the Father of the Reformation,
"I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess."Anything we attempt to do in our own strength, with human motives, will eventually and catastrophically fail. That which we do because it we were called by God will eternally and gloriously endure any kind of hardship.
-Martin Luther
I have always found it very interesting to see a church have a variety of styles of service options. Like you, I don't mind it, as I have my preference, however, I think we begin to lose sight of what church is all about. We live in a world that is full of instant gratification and the "have it your way" mentality, and this is just another example. Outside of the different service options at one church, look how many denominations of the Christian Church is out there - hence your 15 weeks at different churches. We live in a very pluralistic society where so many people pick and choose what works for them.
ReplyDeleteThere are some very sad things happening in our churches these days, and many well-known, "respected" leaders (in my opinion) turning their backs on basic doctrine or twisting/leaving out certain aspects of theology to “reach the masses”. I don’t remember reading anywhere in Scripture that we can accept only the aspects of The Word we like…
For instance, Rob Bell, who many remember from the Nooma Media Projects, recently was quoted saying "I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it’s a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man. I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs — I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are." This can be interpreted in many ways, but it seems to me that he is for gay marriage and things the church needs to embrace it.
Have we reached a time in our lives where the church in no longer standing ground on our beliefs? Are we not supposed to be in this world but not of it? Romans 12:2 says it best. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Timothy makes a great point that many have made in the past - the difficult teaching and learning point here is "What is worship?" Is "worship" how I feel during the gathering of the body? Is "worship" how good the preaching, teaching, reading, chanting, singing, comedy relief or whatever makes me 'feel'? That seems to be what it has come down to.
ReplyDeleteNot "worship" as "experiencing intimacy is my spirit with a Holy God, moment by moment throughout the day." Worship is me seeking and enjoying constant spiritual fellowship with God. The worship service is where the body comes together and enjoys that same constant fellowship that they have felt individually throughout the week and NOW it culminates with them coming together and expressing themselves.
The elements of the service should not matter - nor should the style, if each member is coming together to express what they have already been experiencing during their week.
However, because we do not tend to live a moment by moment existence of worship - we come together on a Sunday wanting to get hyped up, pumped up, challenged and energized for the coming week of spiritually fasting from God. Therefore, we need the experience. We need to have a service the meets "ME" right where I am - coming off of a God fast. So give me what I want and that will help my selfish approach to God.
I know that may seem harsh or overly sarcastic, however, this seems to be prevalent in our American culture today. Does the Chinese or Indian underground church have the whole package to "properly" worship and feel it? Yes - but it does not include all that we think the "package" should include. They will come together in a room with dirt covered floors and a few chairs and cram as many people into the room as possible, they will kneel on the dirty floor and pray aloud. They will spontaneously lead out in song. They stand and clap or stand and wait while the one Bible in the room is read and then expounded upon. They WORSHIP regardless of the elements in the service, the properly timed structure, the clock or the meal that they hope to have afterward.
That being said -
There is an effectiveness to "marketing" to meet generational needs that draws people in to experience what they are accustomed to experience and then teaching the truth of the Word and seeing lives changed.
The bottom line has to be - are we sharing the truth and seeing changed lives? We cannot compromise the truth of the Word of God but we can accommodate preferences if needed to reach the unchurched.