Worship Weblog

Toronto Book Group – Third Meeting

Posted by cicw

Wednesday, December 23rd, 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.
Learn more

It isn’t just about age. We must be willing and open to engage with one another.

Our discussion today began with a question based on Chapter Six: “How do the
different age groups experience our faith stories?” This led to discussions
about preaching, music and liturgy. More than that, we delved into the
tensions and dynamics that shape how we experience each of them.

Kristine O’Brien said that since we need to hear the same
stories differently throughout our lives, preachers feel pressure. “How do
you make them fresh and inviting? What new thing could I possibly say?” John
Mills, the retired Salvation Army officer, said that life experiences
provide the window into scripture. Kristine agreed. “The more life you
live,” she said, “the more you can lay life’s stories next to the
scriptures.” She said that the results of her preaching are out of her
hands. As she preaches, she knows she must depend on the Spirit to reach
another person through her preaching.

We shared our own experiences of biblical stories. I remembered
that as a child and a teen, since we celebrated communion every week, the
crucifixion was a central story in shaping my faith. Kristine remarked that
the crucifixion story demands that we be uncomfortable, but that some
generations do not handle well the feeling of being uncomfortable. Karen
Pozios, an elder at Trafalgar Presbyerian, remarked that some stories are
simply difficult. She said, “The bunnies and eggs help us avoid the part
that tells how Jesus had to die.” Kristine said that sometimes we make the
assumption that people know the stories. Claire Lemiski told about attending
a reading of the Gospel of Mark. Hearing the story told that way, from
beginning to end in one evening, gave her a different perspective, drawing
her attention to parts she had never noticed before.

David Locke said that he was challenged by the chapter on
storytelling, that it made him ask how we can make stories more accessible
to children. “Some churches,” he said, “skip the telling of the story and go
straight into talking about it.” Kristine said that it is a skill they don’t
teach to seminary students. John said that in the Salvation Army, it is the
wife of the officer who traditionally tells stories to the children.

Kristine said that she doesn’t use many of the children’s story books that
she has, because they are “moral” stories or object lessons. We agreed that
children want to hear stories, and want to be spoken to on their level. We
also agreed that the issue isn’t a person’s age, but that we must engage
with one another.

John Mills summed it up: “Children are not just an addendum. We
must give them the chance to tell the story. We must train them to be active
in ministry.”

Tags: bgtoronto, Book Groups 2009, intergenerational