Worship Weblog

Pella Book Group – First Meeting

Posted by cicw

Friday, October 9th, 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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A central question in our discussion was, How can corporate worship facilitate faith development of children and youth in the congregation?

We discussed how some aspects of worship in our youth don’t become meaningful until later.

• Bruce noted that the worship that he grew up with is just “there,” and he is richer for it, but the style and content wouldn’t speak to his kids. It would be harder for them to “get it,” but still, there’s something important about what our kids experience when they are young.
• Noreen noted that she discovered the rich theology and beauty of hymns only in or after college when she wrote out the lyrics for a catechism class.
• Jeff noted that it was in college, after deciding that his Lutheran high church liturgy was spiritually dry, that he discovered that most of that liturgy was drawn directly from Scripture, and then appreciated its richness.
• Noreen identified a trade-off, that many kids listen to a lot of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), and this is what is imprinting them.
• Kristi felt that her young children really don’t understand much of the lyrics of the hymns in worship, but they understand or ask about the CCM that their parents listen to and sing with at home. We wondered, is there an advantage to having music in corporate worship be more integrated with the music of “the rest of life” for our young people? What will be the benefits and disadvantages of such integration, in light of the elements of the historic Christian tradition that may be missed?

We also discussed the role of story in the faith formation of a congregation.
• Nancy said a good story makes worship intergenerational.
• Kristi said that the children’s sermon is the most important thing we do in worship for her children – they really listen!
• Nancy pointed out how often adults will say they got more out of the children’s sermon than the adults’ sermon.
• Jeff wondered if that is more praise of the children’s sermon or critique of the adults’ sermon. He noted that children’s sermons are too important to “wing it,” and that they need to be carefully prepared and presented.
• Bruce also identified having the pastor do the children’s sermon connects the pastor to the children, which will pay benefits for the children in the long run.
• Noreen added that the children didn’t want to sit on the disciples’ knees; they wanted to sit on Jesus’ knee.
• Nancy described the way drama can be used in worship to draw in all generations present. Whether it is a children’s sermon or an illustration in an adults’ sermon or a drama, Bruce noted that everybody loves a good story, “from the littlest kid to a 90-year old.”

Tags: bgpella, Book Groups 2009, intergenerational