Worship Weblog

Surrey Book Group (Tom's Group) – Second Meeting

Posted by cicw

Wednesday, October 14th, 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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Getting perspective

Our discussion revolved around the perspective we have as we plan worship.

At least two of us thought of preaching when we came to the question on p. 69:
What strategies…have become so sacred in our congregation that we would have to struggle to change them if they no longer accomplished their purpose?

Carolyn wondered how it got to be that we have a 20-30 minute sermon by ordained clergy in the centre of our worship. Why can’t it be something else or by someone else? Is this something that only Protestants do?

Added to this was a perceived lack of adult education so that we sense that the sermon takes the place of adult education in many of our churches. Sermons then become the primary method of spiritual formation for adults. As a result, sermons tend to be adult-oriented.

We talked about the diversity we have regarding sermons. Tom’s church occasionally has a Taize service, with a sermon replaced by a 15 minute period of silence. Other churches use testimonials, using the power of stories to show how God is working in our lives. Stories are important for all ages. We also recognized the need for God’s word to explained and proclaimed in ways that all ages can understand.

All of us loved Evelyn’s story on page 84. We wish for more seniors who would take the same initiatives as Evelyn and her group. We want to see true hospitality in worship, with changes being made to accommodate all generations.

On page 78, the author writes: “…but the biggest consideration of all is that the church is the body of Christ.” We all agreed with that statement. We want a perspective that breaks through the idea of “cohort worship” to seeing us as the body of Christ. This needs to permeate all our planning and be communicated continually.

Our prayers need to reflect that we are all part of the body of Christ. One participant told the story of when her pastor asked for prayer requests. The adults made the first requests, asking for prayer for “big world” conditions. The children got the subtle message that prayer was for big things, adult things; not their things. But children come to church sad because mom and dad fought this week, of because their pet died. We need to have prayer that everyone can say, “that was for me, too.” One church does this by having prayer in small groups in the sanctuary during worship. The pastor has them gather in groups of four in age cohorts and they spend time in the worship service in prayer that way.

Tags: bgsurreytom, Book Groups 2009, intergenerational