March 2006 Update
A Week of Scary, Wonderful Things
Doing new things in church services can be scary. There’s always that fear that if we try something new, we’ll introduce it, be excited about it, and then stand there during an awkward silence while everybody silently refuses to play along. There’s the fear that those who have been a part of the church for a while will resist the unfamiliar, and the fear that those who are seeking God and exploring faith, maybe for the first time, will be scared away if we’re too weird. On the other hand, doing old things can be just as scary. There’s the fear that it won’t be cool enough, up-to-date enough. There’s the fear that people will see it as too extreme and that they’ll be scared away if we’re…well…too weird again.
But I’m learning that when we go ahead with what we know God is leading us to, these scary things can have wonderful results. Two things happened this week that fit into this strange, scary, yet wonderful space. This was a week of the new and the old for us.
New things
On Saturday, we had one of our Oasis Madrid services, and in keeping with our series about body parts, we talked about the “Right Brain,” in other words, about using your creativity and emotions to honor God. I got to speak this time, which was exciting since this is a subject I’m pretty passionate about. After the talk, we had kind of an “alternative” worship time—experiencing God in creative ways. Amy danced our closing prayer to a recording of the Lord’s Prayer by Jennifer Knapp. We had different worship stations set up around the room. There was a quiet corner with Bibles and a book of daily prayer. Next to that, there was a section set up for confessing to God, either represented by writing out confessions and then ripping them up to symbolize God’s forgiveness, or using clay to get our hands dirty, and then asking God for forgiveness as we washed our hands in the water bowl beside the clay. Next there were communion elements. In the middle of the room there was an art table where people could write or draw or paint their prayers to God, and there were a bunch of dry erase markers so people could write their prayers on the mirrored wall in the front of the room. Next, there were a pile of stones where people could make “stones of remembrance,” writing their praises for what God has done on these permanent reminders, and a meditation on God’s goodness using the sweet taste of honey. We wanted to really give people the opportunity to express themselves to God and experience Him in ways they hadn’t thought about before.
When we first introduced and explained the different stations, for a couple seconds there was an awkward silence. Something started to knot up in the pit of my stomach. We had gone out on a limb to try new things, and I was really afraid that no one would even try it. But all of a sudden the silence ended and the room sprang to life. People got up out of their seats and went to different stations. Individuals and groups of 2-3 worked on expressing themselves artistically to God on the mirrors and at the art table. Some spent their whole time there, writing praise. Some made their way around the room in a progression, spending a few minutes at each station. At the end of the service, the mirror was covered in pictures, scripture, and prayers. There was a pile of rocks covered with praises for what God has done. Rather than people getting tired of it and quitting a couple minutes into it, we had to actually announce that the service was officially over b/c they were still going. And a few kept going after that!
It was amazing to see people really being creative and interacting with God in new ways, and so far the feedback we’ve had from it was that it was a really meaningful experience.
Old Things
On Monday night, the community groups came together to have a (few days lateJ ) special Ash Wednesday prayer service to mark the beginning of Lent. We used ancient liturgy, with the leader and the people reading responsively. It was really cool to get to use some of the liturgy I remember from when I was growing up, to be connected through these words with Christians around the world and throughout the centuries. We had a time of public confession, and then together we acknowledged our brokenness and our need for Jesus’ healing and forgiveness. We then served communion to each other and ended with a time of determining to follow God together and asking for His help.
Now this was scary! Confessing sins publicly? Are we crazy!? There were 20 of us in the room, and we were all kind of nervous and fidgety when it came to this point. But when Troy read our unsigned confessions aloud, the room became quiet. You could almost see it on every face. With every confession, the thought that came into my mind was “this is me, too,” and I think that others were feeling the same way. By the end of it, we really meant it when we were asking God to have mercy on us poor sinners. Suddenly, the ashes symbolizing our burned-out selves and our hurt had more meaning, the oil symbolizing Christ’s healing was fresher, and our thankfulness for Jesus’ sacrifice and forgiveness was heartfelt. It was one of the most amazing worship settings I have ever been a part of.
The amazing thing is, no one was freaked out or scared away! No one complained that we weren’t “cool” enough! Instead, we had some awesome experiences together that I think will help continue to bring us together as a community. I love my job, and I love my church. I love that these people are willing to try new things and to try ancient things. I love that we were real with each other and that we are starting out this church knowing that it is Christ who heals and brings us together. This was definitely a week of things that were scary for us, but that turned out wonderfully.
Doing new things in church services can be scary. There’s always that fear that if we try something new, we’ll introduce it, be excited about it, and then stand there during an awkward silence while everybody silently refuses to play along. There’s the fear that those who have been a part of the church for a while will resist the unfamiliar, and the fear that those who are seeking God and exploring faith, maybe for the first time, will be scared away if we’re too weird. On the other hand, doing old things can be just as scary. There’s the fear that it won’t be cool enough, up-to-date enough. There’s the fear that people will see it as too extreme and that they’ll be scared away if we’re…well…too weird again.
But I’m learning that when we go ahead with what we know God is leading us to, these scary things can have wonderful results. Two things happened this week that fit into this strange, scary, yet wonderful space. This was a week of the new and the old for us.
New things
On Saturday, we had one of our Oasis Madrid services, and in keeping with our series about body parts, we talked about the “Right Brain,” in other words, about using your creativity and emotions to honor God. I got to speak this time, which was exciting since this is a subject I’m pretty passionate about. After the talk, we had kind of an “alternative” worship time—experiencing God in creative ways. Amy danced our closing prayer to a recording of the Lord’s Prayer by Jennifer Knapp. We had different worship stations set up around the room. There was a quiet corner with Bibles and a book of daily prayer. Next to that, there was a section set up for confessing to God, either represented by writing out confessions and then ripping them up to symbolize God’s forgiveness, or using clay to get our hands dirty, and then asking God for forgiveness as we washed our hands in the water bowl beside the clay. Next there were communion elements. In the middle of the room there was an art table where people could write or draw or paint their prayers to God, and there were a bunch of dry erase markers so people could write their prayers on the mirrored wall in the front of the room. Next, there were a pile of stones where people could make “stones of remembrance,” writing their praises for what God has done on these permanent reminders, and a meditation on God’s goodness using the sweet taste of honey. We wanted to really give people the opportunity to express themselves to God and experience Him in ways they hadn’t thought about before.
When we first introduced and explained the different stations, for a couple seconds there was an awkward silence. Something started to knot up in the pit of my stomach. We had gone out on a limb to try new things, and I was really afraid that no one would even try it. But all of a sudden the silence ended and the room sprang to life. People got up out of their seats and went to different stations. Individuals and groups of 2-3 worked on expressing themselves artistically to God on the mirrors and at the art table. Some spent their whole time there, writing praise. Some made their way around the room in a progression, spending a few minutes at each station. At the end of the service, the mirror was covered in pictures, scripture, and prayers. There was a pile of rocks covered with praises for what God has done. Rather than people getting tired of it and quitting a couple minutes into it, we had to actually announce that the service was officially over b/c they were still going. And a few kept going after that!
It was amazing to see people really being creative and interacting with God in new ways, and so far the feedback we’ve had from it was that it was a really meaningful experience.
Old Things
On Monday night, the community groups came together to have a (few days lateJ ) special Ash Wednesday prayer service to mark the beginning of Lent. We used ancient liturgy, with the leader and the people reading responsively. It was really cool to get to use some of the liturgy I remember from when I was growing up, to be connected through these words with Christians around the world and throughout the centuries. We had a time of public confession, and then together we acknowledged our brokenness and our need for Jesus’ healing and forgiveness. We then served communion to each other and ended with a time of determining to follow God together and asking for His help.
Now this was scary! Confessing sins publicly? Are we crazy!? There were 20 of us in the room, and we were all kind of nervous and fidgety when it came to this point. But when Troy read our unsigned confessions aloud, the room became quiet. You could almost see it on every face. With every confession, the thought that came into my mind was “this is me, too,” and I think that others were feeling the same way. By the end of it, we really meant it when we were asking God to have mercy on us poor sinners. Suddenly, the ashes symbolizing our burned-out selves and our hurt had more meaning, the oil symbolizing Christ’s healing was fresher, and our thankfulness for Jesus’ sacrifice and forgiveness was heartfelt. It was one of the most amazing worship settings I have ever been a part of.
The amazing thing is, no one was freaked out or scared away! No one complained that we weren’t “cool” enough! Instead, we had some awesome experiences together that I think will help continue to bring us together as a community. I love my job, and I love my church. I love that these people are willing to try new things and to try ancient things. I love that we were real with each other and that we are starting out this church knowing that it is Christ who heals and brings us together. This was definitely a week of things that were scary for us, but that turned out wonderfully.
posted by kelly_w at 7:40 AM
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