Worship Weblog

Edmonton Book Group – First Meeting

Posted by cicw

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Book Groups

We invited 34 book groups across the U.S. and Canada to meet and discuss The Church of All Ages and its implications for their worship, and to share their notes here.
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How do we plan worship that allows people of various generations and faith development stages to enter in?

Eight women of various ages and church backgrounds gathered to discuss worship. As we nibbled white chocolate raspberry squares and snacked on baked brie, we shared our opinions on intergenerational worship. In our two hours together, we barely scratched the surface, and we probably walked away with more questions than answers. Here is a glimpse of the conversation we shared.

Do we agree with the premise that intergenerational worship is important? We discussed this question for a while, with some in our group sharing that their opinions have changed over the years. Yes, we agree that intergenerational worship matters. We see value in having our children worship alongside of our grandparents. We love the idea of all generations planning worship together. One group member shared that some of her best memories in worship involve children. Another shared the beauty of seeing her three year old son clap and wave his arms as the congregation sang an upbeat worship song.

Yet as we agreed that intergenerational worship matters, we also agreed that it’s challenging. One mom explained that Sunday mornings are, for her, filled with helping her children learn to worship, so that she feels she doesn’t enter into worship herself. This led us to the questions: What is worship? What does it mean to worship?

The teenager in our group expressed that she sees the importance of worshipping with all the generations, but she feels like she really worships when it’s just her generation that is gathered. This allows them to sing the songs they enjoy and worship in the ways they prefer, as well as hear a message that speaks directly to them. This brings up another question we discussed. The book points out that intergenerational worship takes into account the needs of all generations. But, we wondered, how do you discern between needs and wants? And when a choice must be made, what gets priority? We appreciated the chapter on faith development stages. We agree that it is difficult to preach a sermon and to plan worship that speaks to people in each of those stages, and so we are interested to read and discuss more about this. We also observed that part of the puzzle is that we come ready to worship, no matter what the format or style of the service might be.

As we discussed how our churches have attempted to be intentional about intergenerational worship, some good insights where shared. One person observed that in the church she attends, the layout of the worship space affects where different generations sit (young families sit on one side because it’s close to the door to the nursery, etc.). The order of service also affects intergenerational worship; for churches that dismiss children part way through the service, it was observed that these kids often don’t get to be present when communion is celebrated.

We have just begun to scratch the surface, and we’re excited to dig deeper in the coming weeks.

Tags: bgedmonton, Book Groups 2009, intergenerational