Worship Weblog

Pella Book Group – Third Meeting

Posted by cicw

Tuesday, December 8th, 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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The main question guiding our discussion was, “How do we get (and keep) teens involved in worship?”

Our meeting began by considering the chapter by Stan Mast about LaGrave CRC. Judie has attended worship there and said it was a highlight for her. The worship was very intergenerational and unified. Noreen commented that the most meaningful worship services for her have been those where there was a unified theme and message, with all elements working to communicate that message. But she also asked the stewardship question regarding how many people it takes to accomplish what Stan Mast describes, and said that some say that we spend too much time preparing worship services.
Dan noted the quote by Jane Vann that “Youth are heat-seeking missiles; they will go where there is fire,” and said this isn’t true only of youth. Jeff said that his experience and conviction is that if people are meeting God in worship, people will come.

Judie noted Mast’s insistence on the significance of the role of parents in getting teens involved in worship. Dan was hoping for specific answers regarding how to address teens who don’t want to go to church. Noreen said it helps to get the teens involved, but Nancy commented that those who get involved are generally there already. What do you do with the others? Dan said some kids get noticed by the congregation, but others are more quiet and reserved and go unnoticed and may go to church without anyone talking to them. We would love to have adults intentionally connect with the teens relationally. Nancy said teens need to feel valued and loved, and it may only take one person to notice them. Judie observed that this is true for every person. Bruce agreed that the focus cannot be only on teens; that we can’t lose the big picture.

Jeff asked about ways to make Sunday special, and Noreen noted that it can be a simple shift of terms – from “you have to go” to “you get to go.” Bruce said that parents’ excitement can be contagious, but still some kids won’t respond. Dan noted that kids being bored in church is nothing new, but also pointed out that in other cultures, worship is more physically active, and it is hard to be bored.

Jeff wondered if we need to help people understand why we worship. Nancy acknowledged that this is good, but said it has to go beyond understanding to experience, that worship becomes meaningful and important not when we are intellectually convinced, but when our hearts are warmed.

We acknowledged that the ideas and suggestions from the book and our discussions are overwhelming, but that selecting a few ideas and doing them will help. Small things can have a big impact.

Tags: bgpella, Book Groups 2009, intergenerational