Worship Weblog

Ancaster Book Group – Third Meeting

Posted by CICW

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

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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Adjourning

As the colours of Fall gave way to the gray tones of Winter so too did the conversations of our small group as we anticipated a good-bye. The collision of Advent and Christmas left little time for us to meet together. The soft snow of January welcomed the beginning of our end.

Stan Mast’s chapter entitled “One Congregation’s Story” gave us something tangible to discuss. A few of us have heard Mast preach from the multi-coloured stained glass adorned pulpit of LaGrave Christian Reformed Church. A few more of us continue to read the devotional words of Jacob Eppinga who has long since been called home to his Heavenly Father. As we considered how our congregation could help the generations feel at home, we celebrated ways in which we were already achieving a homecoming each week. Dreams and yearning were also shared. There were also a few tones of frustration and helplessness. We soon recognized our limitations as a small group believing that our congregation’s worship planning team should be crashing in on our conversation.

Our seventh and final meeting was bittersweet. Our meal was wonderful. The hospitality was superb, but the conversation was frustrated by the reality that few of us share this same kind of intimacy within our congregation on Sunday. Chapters nine and ten provided the greatest challenge to our small group. Much of the anxiety addressed by Norma deWaal Malefyt and Howard Vanderwell in chapter 10 was present in our question: “How can we bring closure to our time together?” One of the members said that she would challenge the worship planning committee to go through the process of reading this book thoroughly. Another member said he would be able to use this book in another congregation where he serves as their worship coordinator. One of the teenage members said that this book should be read by as many small groups in our congregation as possible then maybe we can address the issue of our lack of passion. There was a notable and awkward quiet after those words were spoken.

Seeds were sown. We shall see what soil lies beneath the snow when spring comes again.

Tags: bgancaster, Book Groups 2009, Church of All Ages, intergenerational