Worship Weblog

Strathroy Book Group – Second Meeting

Posted by cicw

Monday, November 30th, 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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Key Concept: To some degree, true intergenerational worship will seem strange to representatives of various generations

As we reflected further together on what meaningful intergenerational worship actually looks like in the liturgical practices of congregations, we began to appreciate the creative tensions that exist between familiarity and unfamiliarity, comfort and discomfort. Members of our reading group endorse a recurring theme in The Church of All Ages, represented by quotes such as the one found on page 56:

“People of different generations often like and enjoy being with one another. They may even see themselves as similar to one another, coming from the same families, or living in the same communities. Nonetheless, because of the cohort differences, discomfort below the surface commonly makes sharing worship, program planning, or decision making difficult across generations.”

As we probed this further, we came to the conclusion that while there is much in our worship practices that speaks to people across the generations, there are also elements that speak more to members of some age groups than others. As a result, an element of “strangeness” or unfamiliarity—even discomfort—should be expected in worship. Members of our group did not endorse promoting discomfort in worship for its own sake, or due to an indiscriminate attraction to novelty, or for the purported cause of catering to specific age groups. We expressed concern about the possibility that the introduction of unfamiliar worship practices, at least to some members of the congregation, could prove to be unsettling and even divisive. As in everything else, changes in worship must be well thought out and introduced in a pastorally sensitive way.

That said, we found ourselves agreeing with the concept that elements of worship should have a sense of strangeness that fluctuates between representatives of different generations. We noted that while it is typical for children and youth to ask questions related to why certain things are done, that same element of questioning ought to characterize people across the generational spectrum. One member of the group pointed out that the instructions about how the Passover was to be celebrated assume that children will ask questions about what is being done, and why (see Exodus 12:26). These days, it tends to be members of older generations who ask questions about what is being done in worship, and why—and often the kinds of questions asked today are not borne out of curiosity, but out of criticism or suspicion.

Genuine intergenerational worship will elicit questions from congregants for whom some elements of worship will seem unfamiliar. Can we find a way to honor the questions posed by members of all ages? Can every member of a church learn to ask questions in the right way and for the right reason? Can questions posed by members of the church of all ages become catalysts for greater discoveries in intergenerational worship, and not present barriers that threaten that very pursuit? These are themselves questions. To some degree, the prospect of intergenerational worship depends on how—or whether—they are they are answered in worshiping communities.

Tags: bgstrathroy, Book Groups 2009, intergenerational