REthinking Church Services
Something I wonder about with limited regularity (contradiction?) is how the "church" should be. I wonder if we are doing it how Jesus/ God intended.
I'm not sure of your background, but for better or worse, I grew up going to church. My experiences gave me the idea of how church is supposed to go in a nice process.
- Enter and get the church bulletin. Socialize as you make your way to your established seat or section. You can chat or just read your bulletin until the music is cued nudging everyone to take their position.
- Sing the first song.
- Sit for announcements from bulletin, followed by shaking everyone's hand around you. If you're in a particularly small church, visitors may be singled out at this time.
- Enter the main body of music. Lots of singing and nursing home style aerobics at the command of the worship leader (stand, sit).
- Take the offering while another song or video happens.
- Sermon
- Invitation
- Introduce converts from the rival baptist church down the street.
- Dismissal
There just a few simple steps and you have a recipe for a great church service. But I wonder if this is what God/ Jesus intended. I'm not against music or preaching, I just wonder if this was what was in mind.
If I were to wipe the slate clean and ask, what can we do on a weekly basis to honor God, how would I do it? Here are some things I would consider...
- Weekly service project in the neighborhood
- Meals with church family and neighborhood
- Sharing of burdens
- Intentionally meeting new people
- Working with the church body to find creative ways to celebrate God, truth and righteousness
Anyway, have you ever thought about this stuff? If you were to wipe the slate clean and re-think how we do church, what would you consider doing different?
Lectio Divina
I wanted to share an ancient prayer practice called Lectio Divina. I just learned this technique in Betsy's Wednesday night (6pm, 4th floor) class about the book "Creating a Life with God" by Daniel Wolpert. Although I still struggle to settle my mind, I find that this technique allows a particular Bible phrase or verse to pop back into my mind throughout the day. Give it a try and see if it works for you!
Lectio Divina has 4 steps: lectio (reading), meditatio (pondering), oratio (responding), contemplatio (resting). Basically, you pick a Bible passage and read it through twice. This is not a Bible study but rather a chance to allow a certain phrase or idea to catch your attention. Once you find your phrase you can repeat it to yourself many times and allow God a chance to conjure up images in your mind or respond to you in various ways. At last, you are to respond and you pray to God about how the phrase works in your life. Once your conversation with God comes to a natural close you may rest a minute before saying, "Amen." The book suggests starting with Mark 1:14-20 or Isaiah 40:1-5.
Don’t Question the Church
I was having a good discussion with a friend/ co-worker the other day about different ways to approach belief and faith. One of the things that I was talking about was the importance of questioning my belief set on a regular basis. I'm almost constantly living in a state of semi-doubt. I know this may seem heretical to say this, but I think honest and openness are important too.
Anyway I guess the thing I wanted to say was I'm really glad to be going to a church like Second Baptist that encourages and welcomes questions. We/ I don't proclaim to have all the answers, but we/ I want to be apart of the journey of life with others. And the one thing I can't get past is that the teachings of Christ seem to be the best way that I've found to the best life. That is a pretty loaded statement that is influenced by a lot of aspects of the life I've lived, but I suppose that's something I can probably talk about better than typing out quickly. :)
Anyway, just something to think about. I encourage you to question everything so you can have a good foundation for your life. If you're in a situation/ group where questioning isn't welcome, question that. :) And if you want to be apart of this life journey with me, I want to be apart of it with you too.
Best,
JEE
What would you write?
I recently saw this promo for an interesting conference in Toronto. Then I stumbled across a response from one of my favorite bloggers. What we need is bigger banquet tables.
All of this makes me wonder what my message would be...