Worship Weblog

Lucknow Book Group – Second Meeting

Posted by cicw

Thursday, November 12th, 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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Good books always raise more questions than they give answers!

That was the summary statement offered by Karin as we wrapped up our second gathering of the Lucknow area book club. She commented that it is difficult to separate preferences from purpose. She’s right. While we recognized the value of worship that meets the tastes and preferences of the people in the pew, we must be constantly examining our worship practices lest we settle for convenience and comfort at the expense of authentic worship. As we discussed personal preferences we had to acknowledge that it is difficult to leave our inhibitions behind and simply experience being in the presence of God. Meghan said that if the youth can immerse themselves fully in worship in a retreat setting, that should be a possibility in our churches as well. Henry observed that when we are in conversation with a friend, we always use body language along with our spoken words, yet in church, most people sing without any movement of their hands – there’s something unnatural about that.

As this discussion progressed, we began to see that we were no longer talking strictly about worship preferences but about the level of acceptance felt or perceived in our congregations. Jocelyn said that the lack of acceptance can escalate into disapproval. Ron asserted that this has to be acknowledged; it has to be named. “Intergenerational worship,” he said, “is about hospitality.

“So, where do we start?” I asked our group. Ken pointed out that the body of Christ is not just about Sunday worship. Hospitality and mutual acceptance starts with the small things, like when the senior members know the names of the children, suggested Siemen. As we started to talk more specifically about children and the evolution of children’s worship, various comments popped up. Grace expressed concern that children do not know the Old Testament bible stories. Henry went further and observed that many in the under 30 category were in the same position. This led us again to the purpose of the worship service. Is it all God-directed or is there also something happening for the people? Jocelyn commented that she likes to learn something new in a message. Meghan observed that for the youth, worship happens more readily when it is just the youth present, to which Ken replied that it’s easier to separate by age categories than it is to gather as one diverse group; it takes work to make intergenerational worship happen.

As we concluded that we were asking more questions than offering answers, we set our date for our next meeting (rather than come up with all the answers tonight!).

Tags: bglucknow, Book Groups 2009, intergenerational