by Don Chapman
Over the past few weeks and months I've been
pursuing one of my favorite hobbies: churching!
I love to visit all types of churches to
see what they're doing. Here are some things
I've noticed:
- The Bible is making a comeback. Surprisingly, in two of the most cutting-edge
contemporary churches I've visited lately,
I've witnessed the re-introduction of real,
live Bibles into their services! When the
preacher begins his sermon and reads the
passage, ushers rush down the aisles carrying
a stack of Bibles, handing them out to whoever
wants one [plus, the text was displayed on
the screen.]
- No pay for play. I've noticed that some baby-boomer-led seeker
churches are stopping the practice of paying
professional musicians in lieu of using less-talented
volunteers from their own congregations.
These same churches most likely began in
the 90's with the reputation of having the
best band in town, but are shifting from
that value to one of participation. They
often lose the "pros" in the process.
I've also noticed many
of the new, gen-x-led
churches seem to be picking
up where the
baby-boomers left off,
and have the standard
of either paying pros or
only letting those
with professional abilities
participate musically.
- Graphics. In the worship background arena, I'm seeing
less nature scenes and more abstract images.
- It's worse than I thought. I knew some churches struggle with worship
flow, but I didn't know it was really that
bad. I've recently endured some of the most
ill-conceived worship services ever.
For instance, I attended
a mainline, staunchly
traditional church that
has started a contemporary
service [haven't they all!]
The first 15
minutes of this service
(yes, 15 minutes)
was spent doing Bible sword-drills
with children
on stage [remember that
from Sunday school,
where the teacher tells
you to find a passage
and then you race to see
who can find it
first?] 10 minutes into
this I was so incredibly
bored that I wondered why
I had gotten out
of bed. Follow that with
a CCM song [not
worship], a boring sermon
filled with abstract
theology, offertory and
10 minutes of announcements
and I couldn't wait to
get out of there.
Obviously, this contemporary
service was
"contemporary"
because they simply
substituted a band for
piano/organ, and was
geared for their regular
church members who
wanted to get a little
more hip on Sunday
morning. Visitors? If I
was bored stiff,
I doubt a seeker would
return.
One more bad thing - the
church had absolutely
no lighting on stage. People
on stage had
house lights just like
anyone in the congregation.
I'm so used to contemporary
churches with
stage lighting that I forgot
how important
this is, and how odd things
looked without
it.
My uncle Hank, who worked
for years with
the Billy Graham organization,
taught me
this. He said that even
simple stage lighting
is necessary - when the
speaker is illuminated,
you subconsciously are
drawn in and focused
on him or her.
- Video churches. I talked about the video church movement
last year...
http://worshipideas.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html
...and it continues to
gain momentum. Major
churches are planting video
venues. Seacoast
Greenville is thriving
with over 400 regulars
and the network is gearing
up for expansion.
I visited the local Andy
Stanley Catalyst
franchise and was surprised
to see almost
200 meeting in a local
theater with heart-felt
worship, great music and
a relevant message
that I could actually remember
after I got
home.
As I said in my blog last
year, what's going to happen when Rick Warren decides
to start a church in your
town? How long do you think Bible-Sword-Drill-Church
will last?
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