So I have several pet peeves when it comes to worship and making sure it's human factors (leadership, arrangements, venue, sound, timing, etc) are done well. But today I'll just mention one peeve.
Sound.
I feel sorry for singers when the sound is not adjusted so we can hear them (at least a little, so they give us the lead as we attempt to sing tunefully and in time).
Normally a sound maladjusted guitar or keyboard can be heard. And drums normally need the volume turned down! But singers sing their hearts out and all too often are not heard which means ... they might as well not be singing.
So, sound guys and girls. Listen up. If the singers are not being heard, bring them up a notch or two on the desk so they can lead and we can follow!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Ages since
Ages since I have posted here. Partly busyness, partly being frequently in the parish of which I am the Priest in Charge. Bit hard to post on Sunday by Sunday things without people thinking a finger is being pointed at them!
So, in general terms, noting that I do get to a few other services, what am I observing?
(1) Review and revise. Much of what we do has a background. We were right to begin doing certain things in a certain way at a certain time. But months, or even years later, should we keep doing it that way? Review might confirm the way things are going as being the right way to keep going. But it might open the question of revision. Change!
(2) Minimal is good. Always good, in any of the different types of services I am involved in, to flow with minimal leadership. Because people know what to do and when to do it, without being invited or directed to do so.
(3) Inclusive language watch. I have been noticing lately that some versions of the Bible (even though approved for use in our church) are very exclusive in their language. In short: too much 'men', 'man', 'he', 'him' when the context is God addressing all of us, women and men. Could we try harder to use (say) the NRSV?
So, in general terms, noting that I do get to a few other services, what am I observing?
(1) Review and revise. Much of what we do has a background. We were right to begin doing certain things in a certain way at a certain time. But months, or even years later, should we keep doing it that way? Review might confirm the way things are going as being the right way to keep going. But it might open the question of revision. Change!
(2) Minimal is good. Always good, in any of the different types of services I am involved in, to flow with minimal leadership. Because people know what to do and when to do it, without being invited or directed to do so.
(3) Inclusive language watch. I have been noticing lately that some versions of the Bible (even though approved for use in our church) are very exclusive in their language. In short: too much 'men', 'man', 'he', 'him' when the context is God addressing all of us, women and men. Could we try harder to use (say) the NRSV?
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Don't preach
The heading is intentionally provocative. Normally we want to encourage preaching but there is one part of a service in which preaching should be forbidden. That is every part of the service which is not actually the sermon itself. It is very tempting to preach when introducing songs or leading the prayers or giving the notices. I strongly recommend resisting that temptation.
First, it is simply annoying as a member of the congregation to find oneself poised to worship the Lord in song only to have to listen to a short excursive sermon; or to want to engage in prayer for others only to find that a short discourse on something such as faith or prayer or anything else in the intercessor's mind needs first to be endured.
Secondly, it is rude to the preacher her or himself. Little sermons interspersed through the service undermine the commission of the preacher to be the preacher at that service. Likely they detract from the message the preacher has been given by God.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Not in abeyance
I know this blog looks like it is in abeyance, but it is not.
Am pretty busy these days attending to worship and preaching Sunday by Sunday in one location (St Aidan's, Bryndwr, Christchurch, as interim Priest in Charge).
Soon I hope to post some links to material I developed for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Day services.
Am pretty busy these days attending to worship and preaching Sunday by Sunday in one location (St Aidan's, Bryndwr, Christchurch, as interim Priest in Charge).
Soon I hope to post some links to material I developed for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Day services.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Things that bring joy when we worship
OK. Most important 'joy' in worship is that joy that comes from being in God's presence.
But important joys come from the service of worship being well performed. (By contrast think about the anti-joys that come when the sould system coughs, rattles and booms, or the dignity of the service is destroyed by some crass action or crudity invoked in the course of someone speaking).
Two joys noticed recently by me have been intelligently led, well crafted intercessions.
But important joys come from the service of worship being well performed. (By contrast think about the anti-joys that come when the sould system coughs, rattles and booms, or the dignity of the service is destroyed by some crass action or crudity invoked in the course of someone speaking).
Two joys noticed recently by me have been intelligently led, well crafted intercessions.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Experts tips from a expert in all matters of the oral arts
Lovely post here about the reading preparation and performance of a famous actress who is a regular lector in her congregation in Paris.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
The challenge of preaching
Working on tomorrow's sermon. Do not think I have the force and flow of ideas I seek. Turn to various reputable internet sites for possible catalysing assistance. No. Worthy thoughts, standard recitations of history of life and times of the text. But good news is what I seek. Where is it?!
Monday, January 9, 2012
The preacher got it
Yesterday, perchance, I heard a preacher preaching whom I did not expect to hear preach and who did not expect me to turn up to hear him preaching. The self-confession of the preacher during the sermon is that he did not preach often (and it was a bit scary having a person listening, me, who made a full-time living out of preaching).
In a way it put a bit of acid on me: what would I say at the end of the sermon? With a set up like that, even saying nothing would be, so to speak, saying something. To have said nothing would be, I sensed, to have implied I did not think much of the sermon.
So I listened more intently than usual.
Fortunately for me, to say nothing of the preacher, the sermon was very good.
Why was it a good sermon? I thought it would give more substance to me saying 'That was a good sermon' if I could tell the preacher why I thought it was good. This is what I said:
1. There was a message and he stuck to it, kept coming back to it, and didn't lose track of it.
2. The opening of the sermon was touched on in the closing of the sermon.
3. The sermon connected with the passage of Scripture read before the sermon.
I have no reason to think the preacher ever reads this particular blog, but he could well have done, because the sermon, effectively, followed frequently repeated advice here.
In a way it put a bit of acid on me: what would I say at the end of the sermon? With a set up like that, even saying nothing would be, so to speak, saying something. To have said nothing would be, I sensed, to have implied I did not think much of the sermon.
So I listened more intently than usual.
Fortunately for me, to say nothing of the preacher, the sermon was very good.
Why was it a good sermon? I thought it would give more substance to me saying 'That was a good sermon' if I could tell the preacher why I thought it was good. This is what I said:
1. There was a message and he stuck to it, kept coming back to it, and didn't lose track of it.
2. The opening of the sermon was touched on in the closing of the sermon.
3. The sermon connected with the passage of Scripture read before the sermon.
I have no reason to think the preacher ever reads this particular blog, but he could well have done, because the sermon, effectively, followed frequently repeated advice here.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Memorable lines in a sermon
From this morning's excellent (encouraging, inspiring, moving, pointing to God's power in our lives) sermon, I can just about report word for word these lines:
The rugby rules of life,
Always feed your backs,
Never go down the blindside on your own,
When in trouble, always kick for touch.
Worth thinking about why I can recall these so well. Here is my thinking:
- I am interested in rugby and could relate to each rule.
- A connection was made between 'rugby' and 'life' which made me listen intently ('what has the game to do with real life?' was the curiosity value in this part of the sermon).
- Just three rules (four and I might not remember them all!)
- The last rule has a lovely touch of humour: the rule applied on the rugby field is excellent; the rule applied to life is questionable as it sounds like being advised to run away from a problem, or to hand it over to someone else to deal with. The difference between the two contexts provides both subtle humour and food for thought: thinking about this rule meant ending this exercise in listening in the same frame of intensity as at the beginning.
I could over analyse this! But the point for preachers is straightforward: we can find words to say things in such a way that they are memorable and we can avoid doing that with the effect that our words are less effective.
The rugby rules of life,
Always feed your backs,
Never go down the blindside on your own,
When in trouble, always kick for touch.
Worth thinking about why I can recall these so well. Here is my thinking:
- I am interested in rugby and could relate to each rule.
- A connection was made between 'rugby' and 'life' which made me listen intently ('what has the game to do with real life?' was the curiosity value in this part of the sermon).
- Just three rules (four and I might not remember them all!)
- The last rule has a lovely touch of humour: the rule applied on the rugby field is excellent; the rule applied to life is questionable as it sounds like being advised to run away from a problem, or to hand it over to someone else to deal with. The difference between the two contexts provides both subtle humour and food for thought: thinking about this rule meant ending this exercise in listening in the same frame of intensity as at the beginning.
I could over analyse this! But the point for preachers is straightforward: we can find words to say things in such a way that they are memorable and we can avoid doing that with the effect that our words are less effective.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The liturgy of Jesus
Prompted by an excellent post at Liturgy, itself stimulated by other posts on the internet, I have been thinking a little about worship and where we are going in our services as Anglicans, given that we do indeed want to achieve a lot from our liturgies: advance in mission, teaching the faith, mini-parish meetings (as sometimes our "notices" become), incorporating families (perhaps especially aiming at children, at youth, at young adults, at parents), evolving ourselves into deeper alignment with Anglicanism or (sub-)consciously moving away from that form of Christian life, as well as, lest we clergy forget, collecting the offertories to maintain stipend payments, dispensing pieces of paper, themselves sent by church and para-church officials with ambitions about what they will achieve from our congregations, building fellowship, offering hospitality. Quite a list! Oh, and had better mention the aim of worshipping God.
Rather than slate or promote this or these aims beside worshipping God, I think it useful to reflect a little on what a liturgy of Jesus might look like, i.e. if he were both the vicar and the chair of the worship committee.
We could think, for instance, of the way in which Jesus was at ease among groups and crowds of people, readily imbibed food and offered hospitality, never lost an opportunity to teach, often looked up to the Father to praise and to pray, quoted Scriptures frequently, often the Psalms, was regular at the synagogue, and at temple festivities.
Which makes me think whether one question about liturgy is wrongly framed: rather than ask whether we expect too much of liturgy, could we be expecting too little of ourselves as a fellowship of believers?
That is, make liturgy the reason primarily why we gather together, then tack various things on to the liturgy, then we may grumble that we are losing sight of what liturgy is primarily about.
What if we met together Sunday by Sunday (indeed more frequently than that) because we think meeting together is important in its own right. Then in the course of our meeting together we could talk, discuss, eat, drink, plan, prepare for other activities, and, yes, intentionally worship God through liturgy.
Rather than slate or promote this or these aims beside worshipping God, I think it useful to reflect a little on what a liturgy of Jesus might look like, i.e. if he were both the vicar and the chair of the worship committee.
We could think, for instance, of the way in which Jesus was at ease among groups and crowds of people, readily imbibed food and offered hospitality, never lost an opportunity to teach, often looked up to the Father to praise and to pray, quoted Scriptures frequently, often the Psalms, was regular at the synagogue, and at temple festivities.
Which makes me think whether one question about liturgy is wrongly framed: rather than ask whether we expect too much of liturgy, could we be expecting too little of ourselves as a fellowship of believers?
That is, make liturgy the reason primarily why we gather together, then tack various things on to the liturgy, then we may grumble that we are losing sight of what liturgy is primarily about.
What if we met together Sunday by Sunday (indeed more frequently than that) because we think meeting together is important in its own right. Then in the course of our meeting together we could talk, discuss, eat, drink, plan, prepare for other activities, and, yes, intentionally worship God through liturgy.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Bosco Peters' extraordinarily helpful e-NZPB page
Bosco Peters' is offering anyone who goes to this link the possibility of downloading important parts of NZPB electronically. The digital NZPB is slowly coming into being. It is grace on Bosco's part to offer this to the church; but the grace rests, in this instance, on a lot of work.
Deo gratia!
Deo gratia!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Who to vote for this coming election: a sermon
Just occasionally I will publish a sermon here which I have written and preached. On the two passages in this morning's readings, Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Matthew 25:31-46, I used the following as my text. Some aspects of it will only make sense to Kiwis who have followed the news re our forthcoming election and our post-quake struggles in Christchurch.
From Ezekiel, let me re read a few words: v. 16 “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.”
And from Matthew I want to re read a few words: v. 35 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me ... Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers you did it to me.”
What is at the heart of God’s message to us? What is God’s will for the world?
Justice, could be one word to sum it up. Justice and mercy, would be three words to put it in a phrase.
The gospel, the good message is that justice is possible. It can happen in life, not just in our dreams.
First, God shows mercy to us in Jesus Christ and forgives all our debts to God.
Secondly, God creates us to be a new people of justice.
Christians carry with them the story of God from Ezekiel: our God is merciful and works for justice.
Our hearts beat with the simple challenge of Jesus: someone is hungry, we feed them, thirsty we give them a drink, strange we welcome them, naked clothe them, sick we visit and in prison we go to them. The least significant is Christ in our midst.
Or that’s the way things should be.
Justice is a hot subject. Work for justice in the church and people are liable to look sideways at you; wonder if you are one of those left-wing types, or, these days, a greenie. Yet no one says we have no business with justice, that we should have nothing to do with works of mercy.
Mike Coleman is one of our priests. He is trying to give voice to the folk in the red zone. Their quest is for justice and for mercy from our government.
Jolyon White is one of our deacons. This week he has been in the news. Quite a few people, as far as I can tell, are mad with him.
His particular protest has been referred to the police by the Electoral Commission. Whatever we feel about what has happened, Jolyon’s heart beats for justice, his protest asks whether a brighter future for New Zealand is a just future or not.
In less than a week we vote in our election. It feels like a strange election to me.
A cup of tea seems to have dominated it.
Winston Peters might prove that resurrection can happen in this life.
But these are distractions.
Our votes are choices we make as Christians.
With today’s passages in mind dare we cast them in the interest of ourselves?
Dare we cast them in order to make sure our lives are better?
Of course not.
We can only vote for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison.
We can only vote for those who will work with the grain of God’s shepherd heart
A heart which seeks the lost, the strayed, the injured and the weak.
Which party,
who is the prime minister,
what are the policies which will make our country strong in order to support the weak,
which will make our country healthy so we can bind up the injured,
which will make our country a safe haven for the lost?
That is our question this week.
If we are not ‘stirred up’ on this ‘stir up Sunday’ we should be stirred up.
Stirred up knowing that when Christ comes again he comes as judge,
yet right now he is in our midst
as the one who is hungry (200000 children below the poverty line),
who is thirsty (we have issues about the quality of our water),
who is alien (we have refugees struggling to settle here),
who is naked (well we had a naked rugby star in the news this week but what a lost young man he seems to be),
who is sick (we will know many).
and who is in prison (still many there though we can be thankful the numbers are falling).
This Saturday let’s vote for Christ!
From Ezekiel, let me re read a few words: v. 16 “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.”
And from Matthew I want to re read a few words: v. 35 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me ... Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers you did it to me.”
What is at the heart of God’s message to us? What is God’s will for the world?
Justice, could be one word to sum it up. Justice and mercy, would be three words to put it in a phrase.
The gospel, the good message is that justice is possible. It can happen in life, not just in our dreams.
First, God shows mercy to us in Jesus Christ and forgives all our debts to God.
Secondly, God creates us to be a new people of justice.
Christians carry with them the story of God from Ezekiel: our God is merciful and works for justice.
Our hearts beat with the simple challenge of Jesus: someone is hungry, we feed them, thirsty we give them a drink, strange we welcome them, naked clothe them, sick we visit and in prison we go to them. The least significant is Christ in our midst.
Or that’s the way things should be.
Justice is a hot subject. Work for justice in the church and people are liable to look sideways at you; wonder if you are one of those left-wing types, or, these days, a greenie. Yet no one says we have no business with justice, that we should have nothing to do with works of mercy.
Mike Coleman is one of our priests. He is trying to give voice to the folk in the red zone. Their quest is for justice and for mercy from our government.
Jolyon White is one of our deacons. This week he has been in the news. Quite a few people, as far as I can tell, are mad with him.
His particular protest has been referred to the police by the Electoral Commission. Whatever we feel about what has happened, Jolyon’s heart beats for justice, his protest asks whether a brighter future for New Zealand is a just future or not.
In less than a week we vote in our election. It feels like a strange election to me.
A cup of tea seems to have dominated it.
Winston Peters might prove that resurrection can happen in this life.
But these are distractions.
Our votes are choices we make as Christians.
With today’s passages in mind dare we cast them in the interest of ourselves?
Dare we cast them in order to make sure our lives are better?
Of course not.
We can only vote for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison.
We can only vote for those who will work with the grain of God’s shepherd heart
A heart which seeks the lost, the strayed, the injured and the weak.
Which party,
who is the prime minister,
what are the policies which will make our country strong in order to support the weak,
which will make our country healthy so we can bind up the injured,
which will make our country a safe haven for the lost?
That is our question this week.
If we are not ‘stirred up’ on this ‘stir up Sunday’ we should be stirred up.
Stirred up knowing that when Christ comes again he comes as judge,
yet right now he is in our midst
as the one who is hungry (200000 children below the poverty line),
who is thirsty (we have issues about the quality of our water),
who is alien (we have refugees struggling to settle here),
who is naked (well we had a naked rugby star in the news this week but what a lost young man he seems to be),
who is sick (we will know many).
and who is in prison (still many there though we can be thankful the numbers are falling).
This Saturday let’s vote for Christ!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
The eucharist as a seamless robe of words and movements, i.e. ...
... do not, repeat NOT, put any instructions between the Great Thanksgiving//Breaking of Bread and Distribution of the Elements.
So many do this!?!?
Instructions for a meal take place before the meal not during it.
The profound fellowship with our Lord during Holy Communion is brought through the interplay of word and action, of Word and Sacrament. To intrude into the middle of the sequence instructions about wine or juice, chalice or small cups, standing to the left or moving to the right should be anathema!
Instruct (if required) before the Great Thanksgiving and let the great prayer and reenactment of the Lord's Supper be a seamless robe of words and movements.
No instructions in the middle.
So many do this!?!?
Instructions for a meal take place before the meal not during it.
The profound fellowship with our Lord during Holy Communion is brought through the interplay of word and action, of Word and Sacrament. To intrude into the middle of the sequence instructions about wine or juice, chalice or small cups, standing to the left or moving to the right should be anathema!
Instruct (if required) before the Great Thanksgiving and let the great prayer and reenactment of the Lord's Supper be a seamless robe of words and movements.
No instructions in the middle.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Never comment, never draw attention to yourself
If I could control the world of worship leading, here are two things I would control (after inventing a means of making worship leaders do what I programmed them to do):
(1) Never comment on stuff happening before or during leading (like, "I have lost my notes so I do not know where I am" or "It hasn't been a very good week, the choir had a bad practice on Thursday night so tonight will be a bit problematic.")
(2) Apart from introducing oneself by name, never draw attention to oneself while being the leader (like, "It's my first time leading tonight" or "I am feeling a bit nervous.")
Of course another way forward here is for me not to be in control and not to invent the means to programme leaders to do what I want them to do, rather, worship leaders take responsibility for not doing these two things!
Positively: "Just lead, and lead people to God."
(1) Never comment on stuff happening before or during leading (like, "I have lost my notes so I do not know where I am" or "It hasn't been a very good week, the choir had a bad practice on Thursday night so tonight will be a bit problematic.")
(2) Apart from introducing oneself by name, never draw attention to oneself while being the leader (like, "It's my first time leading tonight" or "I am feeling a bit nervous.")
Of course another way forward here is for me not to be in control and not to invent the means to programme leaders to do what I want them to do, rather, worship leaders take responsibility for not doing these two things!
Positively: "Just lead, and lead people to God."
Monday, October 17, 2011
Transitions are more important than you think
If I were Robbie Deans and (another big "if"), if it was timely to have a review with the Australian players this morning about how the game went last night - I can imagine they just want to get on the plane and go home - then I would talk about 'transitions' in the game. For instance, the transition at the beginning, from nothing happening to the first interaction between players and the ball: Quade Cooper kicked off in the first second and got it wrong because he kicked the ball out on the full, handing the initiative over to the All Blacks.
But we can say similar things about liturgy, in which 'transitions' are crucial to the flow of the service.
The obvious transitions in the eucharist are at the beginning, the Peace and at the end. The less obvious transitions are from sermon to intercessions, and from breaking of the bread to the post-communion.
Rather than me say how I think these transitions should go, I encourage constant review of how transitions in your services are going. In particular, I note that some transitions are handled the same way, week after week after week, so that the transitions become embedded traditions in the liturgical life of the parish. If the transitions are, in fact, not done well, then it can become quite difficult to improve them because , like any tradition, such transitions can be all but impossible to change.
Here are some review questions:
Do the transitions serve visitors and strangers in our midst well? Transitions can be moments for 'in house' stuff (chat, jokes, notices with first names of people to see after the service) which may be brilliant for the regulars and unnerving for visitors.
Do the transitions serve God and our worship of God well? Transitions can be (so to speak) secular moments in a sacred space. For example, a notice about how to receive communion may intrude into the moment prior to receiving communion as the culmination of the grand narrative of salvation recited in the Great Thanksgiving.
Do the transitions serve the dynamics of the service well? A long transition, for instance, can destroy the flow of the service, especially if the next movement in the service does not 'pick up' the service.
But we can say similar things about liturgy, in which 'transitions' are crucial to the flow of the service.
The obvious transitions in the eucharist are at the beginning, the Peace and at the end. The less obvious transitions are from sermon to intercessions, and from breaking of the bread to the post-communion.
Rather than me say how I think these transitions should go, I encourage constant review of how transitions in your services are going. In particular, I note that some transitions are handled the same way, week after week after week, so that the transitions become embedded traditions in the liturgical life of the parish. If the transitions are, in fact, not done well, then it can become quite difficult to improve them because , like any tradition, such transitions can be all but impossible to change.
Here are some review questions:
Do the transitions serve visitors and strangers in our midst well? Transitions can be moments for 'in house' stuff (chat, jokes, notices with first names of people to see after the service) which may be brilliant for the regulars and unnerving for visitors.
Do the transitions serve God and our worship of God well? Transitions can be (so to speak) secular moments in a sacred space. For example, a notice about how to receive communion may intrude into the moment prior to receiving communion as the culmination of the grand narrative of salvation recited in the Great Thanksgiving.
Do the transitions serve the dynamics of the service well? A long transition, for instance, can destroy the flow of the service, especially if the next movement in the service does not 'pick up' the service.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Quality and quantity
Getting our worship services right is a huge challenge. There is the challenge of this coming Sunday, who will preachk, preside, pray, read, distribute and so forth. Oh, and the crack organist is away so what are we going to do for an alternative? CDs again? There is also the challenge of the longer term, say, the next 52 Sundays - the next year ahead. We could lurch from week to week filling in gaps on the roster, or perhaps we are blessed with many helping hands leaving us with the question whether across a whole year we are growing and developing the quality of what we are doing? Then there is a much greater question in terms of time: what about ten years from now, what will be happening in our church?
In some ways the last question is the one which most interests me, and perhaps I have the luxury of thinking about it because I am not a vicar and thus not worried about next Sunday's worship! But that ten years from now question should be thought about sometimes, I suggest, by vicars and priests-in-charge. After all there may be some things now which could begin to change in order to be ready for ten years ahead.
If some changes are not happening now, then ten years from now you can be sure there will be some big changes! Some congregations will not exist. Some will be confronted with a new vicar or priest-in-charge pushing for tumultuous change. Some will be staring a rather large maintenance bill in the face, or may be gulping at the size of the funds which need to be raised to bring their church interior into a new age.
Evolution or revolution? If we are not evolving our worship now, are we bequeathing revolution to those who come after us?
I started off thinking about 'quality and quantity' and have ended up thinking about 'evolution and revolution.' I think the relationship is that we can overlook the importance of quantity in seeking quality (in some cases the quality of our worship keeps numbers static), so a future revolution may be needed in order to resurrect a congregation. Yet, conversely, we can be enamoured by quantity and overlook the importance of working on quality. Without quality even the largest congregations can decline. So evolution is about holding concern for quality and quantity hand in hand.
But then I could be wrong!
In some ways the last question is the one which most interests me, and perhaps I have the luxury of thinking about it because I am not a vicar and thus not worried about next Sunday's worship! But that ten years from now question should be thought about sometimes, I suggest, by vicars and priests-in-charge. After all there may be some things now which could begin to change in order to be ready for ten years ahead.
If some changes are not happening now, then ten years from now you can be sure there will be some big changes! Some congregations will not exist. Some will be confronted with a new vicar or priest-in-charge pushing for tumultuous change. Some will be staring a rather large maintenance bill in the face, or may be gulping at the size of the funds which need to be raised to bring their church interior into a new age.
Evolution or revolution? If we are not evolving our worship now, are we bequeathing revolution to those who come after us?
I started off thinking about 'quality and quantity' and have ended up thinking about 'evolution and revolution.' I think the relationship is that we can overlook the importance of quantity in seeking quality (in some cases the quality of our worship keeps numbers static), so a future revolution may be needed in order to resurrect a congregation. Yet, conversely, we can be enamoured by quantity and overlook the importance of working on quality. Without quality even the largest congregations can decline. So evolution is about holding concern for quality and quantity hand in hand.
But then I could be wrong!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Evolution or Revolution
I was struck yesterday by experiences which raised for me the question whether change in worship style is best achieved by evolution (i.e. gradual, incremental change) or by revolution (i.e. instant, dramatic, global change)?
I guess the answer is probably that in some contexts evolution works well, and in other contexts revolution works well.
In the background to my mentioning this question is that in some places there is an associated question: does the situation provide the time for evolution to take place or must revolution occur before the church doors are shut?
I guess the answer is probably that in some contexts evolution works well, and in other contexts revolution works well.
In the background to my mentioning this question is that in some places there is an associated question: does the situation provide the time for evolution to take place or must revolution occur before the church doors are shut?
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