Worship Weblog

Langley Book Group – Third Meeting

Posted by cicw

Thursday, December 17th, 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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Passion, Intergenerational Planning, and the De-professionalization of Worship

In our last meeting together, our conversation revolved issues sparked by chapters 8-10.

We began by discussing what appears to make worship resonate with the younger generation, especially teens and young adults. We were unanimous in our observation that teens resonate much more with passion than with any particular style of music. Dave (high school music teacher and worship leader) has observed that teens really appreciate singing hymns if they sense that their leaders and the congregation as a whole are resonating with the truth that those hymns express; but if the congregation seems to be participating by rote or without passion, they catch the vibe and reject the hymns (or other songs and liturgical elements) as irrelevant. More often than not, teens and young adults have expressed their resonance with hymns, new or old, that express deep theological truth. Young people do not buy a façade of worship, and insist on seeing passion in their leaders and mentors, a passion that emerges from a real life in Christ. In contrast (and risking unfair generalization), we have each observed that some of the older generation (especially the baby boomers) seems to struggle with adjusting to unfamiliar styles, in spite of the way in which it may express the passionate worship of other generations. However, the desire for an “older” style seems to be associated particularly with a nostalgia for the music that expressed that generation’s awakening faith, i.e. mid-80′s praise and worship, or perhaps earlier “gospel music” (e.g. Gaither Homecoming). Perhaps a similar nostalgia will emerge from the emerging generation, 15 years down the road. In the end, the question is not just style, but whether or not the faith we’re living continues to be alive and dynamic with today’s experiences.

Dave and Tim (campus minister) have had some experience with including the younger generations in worship planning and leadership. In his work with youth, Dave has planned a “one-off” worship service as part of a class on liturgy, as a way of teaching the students, through experience, the dynamics of worship. Outside of this kind of “one-off” experience, however, Dave has not observed significant efforts in the church to disciple young people beyond the age of 16, and sees this kind of worship planning as a promising way to begin. Tim uses an adapted liturgy to plan weekly “praise chapels” collaboratively with a group of university students. This has become a significant element, not only in planning more thoughtful worship, but also in discipling students through a common meditation on the metanarrative of Scripture; It could easily be used in a church context as well (not only for youth!).

Cyndi (worship pastor), Dave and Tim shared some of the ways they have sought to connect people’s spiritual journeys to worship. The Praise Chapel lectionary is available online for all members of Tim’s university community, and are included in the weekly announcements about chapel, so that anyone can pray through the Scriptures in preparation for worship. Dave’s church has used a “funeral invitation” to announce Good Friday worship to its congregation, as a way of highlighting the solemnity of the event; they have also used children extensively in the call to worship during each Sunday of Advent. Cyndi has used an idea from Reformed Worship magazine of using the texts from Handel’s Messiah, and has been using all generations in that to read/recite Scripture, light candles, perform the solos and choruses of that work. This had generated far more positive response than any other series of services that her church has ever done, from people in all generations.

Cyndi experienced some interesting reactions from some of the participants in these Advent services that raised a final issue of concern for us. The seniors, though immediately keen to participate by singing a couple of carols for the congregation, soon became increasingly anxious, feeling very inadequate and at times acting like nervous preschoolers in their stage manner. Tim observed that this hesitancy to participate may be the fruit of an increasing professionalization of worship leadership, where only the clergy and really good musicians are included in the stage leadership of worship. Lindy (children’s pastor) observed that we need to make a shift in propositions, from worship being “done to” us, to worship being “done with” us. “Done to” may bring a greater number of people into the church (at least as observers), but “done with” is much more fruitful in the process of discipling the congregation. In other words, we need to cautiously and gently move people toward different expectations about their experience of, and participation in, worship on Sunday morning.

The final comment went to Dave, who asked, “What is the cost of The Church of All Ages in bulk? This is a book that we need to get into our congregations’ hands!”

Tags: bglangley, Book Groups 2009, intergenerational