(The thoughts are in utero, not the worship.)
Worship Leader surprised me this month! Their July/August issue, Return of the Folk, is actually really helpful, and talks about things I care about, namely participation in worship. The very first article mentioned the exact same things I was in conversation with about this past weekend, which could have significant implications in my ministry and the church as a whole. More about that later.
As I had mentioned a few months back, I lost my voice. That compounded an already-existing thought, that participation in worship needs to be wholistic, not just for singers, but for everyone. The congregation participates in Sunday worship by singing, and sometimes by taking communion. Then there are those litanies we do, and those are okay. I like them, most of the time.
But the truth is, worship is a spectator sport in most Sunday services. Why? Probably because leadership generally doesn't know how to do it another way. Certainly this isn't the way it has to be, it just takes energy and creativity to do things differently. It also takes courage and vulnerability. I'm better at the former than the latter. But even making time for the former is hard.
A man comes to a point, though, where discontent isn't an option. There needs to be a change. I've crossed that threshold. Now I'm wondering, what can be changed? How can we make our worship our worship, instead of the leaders imposing it on the congregation? (I could easily dive into a theoretical diatribe about whether we are actually imposing anything, the roles of pastors and leaders, expectations of the congregations, etc., but I'd rather not.)
Let me actually say something in this post. A lot of these were suggested by the magazine:
Texting during worship
What if people could text questions during the sermon, and either have them answered at the end of the service, or later on in the week on the blog? (This was the conversation from this past weekend.)
Also, texting prayer requests would totally work, and people could text them in all week, not just on Sunday. Save the number in your phone.
Responsive Dialogue
I'm a fan of dialogue as opposed to lecture, which makes me always reconsider whether or not the sermon is the best means of communication. At best, I find it incomplete. So, can people raise hands and ask questions?
Or, after the sermon, can there be a response time after the sermon somehow? Either with the whole congregation, or maybe circled up in groups?
As my professor said this past week, "The church is going through a wormhole, and we have absolutely no idea where it'll be in ten years. We used to have a guess, but now we've got nothing." If I've grown up in the church, and I'm tired of the music/sermon status quo, it makes me think there are tons of others. So, I'm praying, dreaming, scheming, imagining.
Thoughts?
