Archive for the ‘Worship’ Category
Monday, April 14th, 2008
I spent Saturday and Sunday afternoons of the Forge Grassroots Festival based at the UCA Hub in Little Collins Street, Melbourne. Cheryl Lawrie (of [hold :: this space]) (right below), Sam Charlesworth (middle) and Blythe Toll (left below) worked with a team to transform a corporate car park into Holy Ground : : Holy City. I was there to talk with interested people about alternatives to standard models of worship - a conversation deeply enhanced by the environment in which we met.
The burning bush/sacred ground experience of Moses was juxtaposed with the glimpses of God’s redeeming, transforming, hope-giving presence in the cities. iPods hanging from the ceiling showed video clips of the Tianenmen Square protester, the monks protests in Burma, and the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Around the walls and ceilings were projected films and photographs of pedestrian traffic in Melbourne. This was an invitation to explore the small clues to life, including the nature of concrete, cigarette butts and shoes.
In the middle was a space surrounded by security tape, with the words “Do Not Enter”, alongside phrases connecting the sacred ground experience of Moses with our experience.
Out on the wall outside was a chalk outline of the cityscape, with the words “New Earth”, and the invitation to dream of a future life for the city.
See more of Cheryl’s reflections on the experience at [hold :: this space]
Tags: alternative worship, Cheryl Lawrie, Forge, Postmodernity
Posted in Art, Australia, Emerging Church, Mission, Social Justice, Worship | No Comments »
Saturday, February 9th, 2008
Today’s Q Weekend magazine, an insert in Brisbane’s Courier Mail, features a story on house churches by Will Storr.
Will introduces readers to the house church movement through the eyes of Sarah Williams at Jahworks in Doveton, Melbourne (ex Salvation Army), Bessie Pereira, Oikos House Church Network, Dave Andrews at Waiters Union, members of Pacific Parks Uniting on the Gold Coast, Pathway in Brisbane, and a group meeting in Cloncurry. There’s a photograph from one of the Coomera Baptist house churches on the Gold Coast.
Will sums up the house church movement with the common hallmarks of being decentralised, self-funded and unadvertised, meeting on a Sunday or Thursday, sitting in a circle, being leaderless, having a prickly dislike of preaching, a loose conversational program of worship usually involving a meal, considering their entire lives to be an act of “church”, and acts of charity and social justice to be an essential element of their Christianity. He says they’re often the subject of persecution from the inhabitants of what they like to call “pointy buildings”.
It’s a risky thing talking to a reporter knowing that only small parts of your conversation will end up in the article, sandwiched by fashion advertisements linked with the new David Jones store in Brisbane. The section of the article that focuses on our house group shows us as a group who focus on conversation, risking hints of heresy and intimate enough to reveal deep hurts and differences. Suggesting that I started the group as part of my Vision for Mission investigation into new forms of worship doesn’t quite do justice to the team with whom Ennis and I are working. For some of us, we are able to express our membership of the Uniting Church in the house church setting. It’s not an either/or situation.
The Waiters Union is described as Dave Andrews’ house church - which again over simplifies a network of people who wouldn’t fit into the house church framework.
‘Houses of the holy’ is a colourful article, with vivid stories, a critique of institutional Christianity since Constantine, showing awareness of the diversity found in the house church movement. Will, a freelance writer from the UK, is known for his book, Will Storr versus The Supernatural, a John Safran-style exploration of the ghost busting industry. Photography is by Russell Shakespeare, on the Gold Coast.
Posted in Australia, Church Planting, Emerging Church, Worship | 1 Comment »
Thursday, October 25th, 2007
A discussion list (Theology and Worship) in the Uniting Church is currently discussing cafe worship style. Here’s 12 pointers I posted today. I’m aware that the recommendations here fly in the face of what is accepted as theologically acceptable worship. But my contention is that much of our preciousness about order of worship is based not on theology but on setting.
1. Visit popular cafes to explore best practice ambience.
2. Communal singing works best when people are standing close enough to each other to hear other voices. It doesn’t work well when people are sitting around tables or at a bar (or scattered around a church building for that matter). For that reason I’ve preferred to either drop the singing or make it a time when we get together around the piano like a choir. Communal singing means more when people have had a shared experience - and so I prefer to schedule it at the end rather than the beginning.
3. Up front teaching without dialogue works best in lecture theatre settings. So what works best in the cafe or restaurant setting? Eating, conversation, casual reading.
4. People come and go in cafes and restaurants, not all at the same time. So I’ve allowed a good 15 to 30 minutes at the beginning to allow for the development of conversation, the enjoyment of food and drink. Likewise - I like to allow the same kind of time at the end.
5. After we’re warmed up we might then introduce a fresh conversation starter - whether that be a Nooma DVD, a music video clip, a drama or dramatic reading of Scripture, a real-life story interview or a clip from a movie.
6. Look around the well established cafe and you’ll find newspapers and magazines, maybe wireless internet access, table activities for kids, and perhaps arty advertising postcards. I’ve put the Sunday newspaper on the tables to allow for introversion time as well as conversation starters later. In some cases we’ve put newsprint (butchers paper) on the tables with felt pens and invited people to doodle. Or we’ve put out activity sheets.
7. In some cases we’ve invited each table to contribute to the worship by preparing a prayer or dramatic Bible reading.
8. In one setting we divided into interest groups part way through - the craft group, the prayer group, the deep and meaningful discussion group, the music group, the kick a ball around outside group.
9. Clarify the contract. People usually expect ‘church’ to fit certain criteria - starting and finishing time, teaching from the front, singing at the start etc. So right at the beginning - for those who are gathered ready to go, I’ve learnt to explain how the next 60 to 90 minutes will proceed and why.
10. Consider meeting outside the usual church environment. The typical church building (even if it has movable chairs) elicits expectations of what church is like. Meeting in a hall, cafe, restaurant or bar frees that up.
11. Get some decent food and drink. It doesn’t have to be coffee. Quality juices, herbal teas, soft drinks, water, along with nibbles make all the difference.
12. Consider meeting less often. Doing cafe church can be a bit draining on the financial and time budget.
Posted in Uniting Church, Worship | No Comments »
