The Church. Just some thoughts....

I grew up in the United Presbyterian Church, now PC(USA), and have watched it wax and wane over the years as our culture changed drastically, if not gradually, and the church held on to “how it’s always done things.” I was just reading an article that gave startling statistics of my church over the past ten years. We went from 11,178 churches in 2000 to 10,560 in 2010. (The graphs in the article show what happened to all those churches, and I recommend the it: TRIBAL CHURCH, Planning for a vital future, Feb 23, 2012 by Carol Howard Merritt, found at: http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2012-02/planning-vital-future)


So what’s the problem? Why are so many churches dying? I think part of it has been simply keeping up with what’s going on in the world. So why is it that the church has such a hard time changing and keeping up? Didn’t Paul say that he became all things to all people for the cause of Christ? I’ve thought long and hard about this and talked it over with plenty of my fellow seminary students, church staff, and church members and attenders.

We have eighty-year-olds sending emails and blogging on the internet, yet for some reason we balk at bringing our worship and even many of our programs into the 21st century. Do that many people really listen to music played on the organ at home? Is it REALLY necessary to be that formal in order to talk to God?

Many people believe that it’s simply a matter of changing the music style and getting rid of all that darn liturgy. All that back and forth, you talk then I talk, then you talk...wait, am I THE BOLD PRINT or are you? Who does that anywhere else except the church?

Part of my own struggle in worship has been the formality that many churches feel they must adhere to. When I finally came to know Jesus FOR REAL, I wanted to talk to him like I talk to my best friend or a family member - not like I’m reading a phone book to him! I was really excited when I went from my King James Version Bible to my gramma’s Living Bible (I know, I know, it’s a paraphrase! That’s a different argument!). It was language I could understand and it sounded like I sound when I talk! That was exciting!

My eyes were later opened when, as a youth director on my first conference retreat, I heard rockin’ music with lyrics about Jesus! What the heck? Where has this been all of my life? It was awesome! But the hardest part of the whole week was actually our first Sunday back at home, after experiencing energetic, “alive” worship we came home to death. People standing and singing with no expression on their faces, parents almost angry with their kids trying to keep them quiet and still, and older folks semi-asleep during the message... This is how we love Jesus?
Since that time I’ve been advocating to bring the 21st century into the church, ultimately coming to seminary to help be a part of revitalization. How, you ask? By utilizing technology, for one. Why just tell about a sermon illustration when you can show it in a movie clip or picture? We have become such a visual and auditory society, and yet so many churches still rely on hymn books and the written sermon, strictly.

Second, by bringing in music that not only TELLS about the joy of Jesus, but may actually even bring a smile to the face of someone when they sing it! By trying to actually walk what we talk - if we love God, maybe our faces can reflect that! Not that hymns are horrible, they’re not, but I think we get in ruts and need help getting out of them. Even just taking a hymn and accompanying it with guitar can make people take notice, or add a chorus to break up those eight verses!

Third, I’d “tone down” the liturgy. That is, I might not always use a prayer of confession, maybe sometimes I’ll use a song of confession. I still believe that the various parts of worship are important - preparing for the Word, presenting the Word, responding to the Word - but let’s get creative with how we can do that. What are other ways we can prepare ourselves to be transformed by God’s Word? Maybe prayer stations around the sanctuary that invite us with more tactile interactions that we can approach before the service starts.

Finally, by changing things up on a regular basis. We are creatures of habit, and many habits, especially in the faith, are good ones. Sometimes, though, when we do the same things week in and week out, we just start doing or saying them mechanically and their meaning gets lost. Changing everything all the time is cruel to any congregation, but switching things out occasionally keeps people on their toes and hopefully paying attention to what’s going on next.

I want to bring authenticity into worship. I want people to feel that they can be themselves in worship. It would be my hope that people won’t feel that they have to know some special language or say prayers in a certain way for God to hear them or to be acceptable in worship.

We are called to witness to what God has done and is doing in our lives and I advocate the sharing of testimonies in worship. What better way to learn that God is real and active than by hearing stories and accounts from people you know and trust.

These are just some of the things I hope to do in worship when I have my own church. Next time I’ll talk about things outside of worship!

Still loving the Church...