07.31.05
Posted in faith at 4:20 pm by
As the title indicates, this post has been a long time coming. Months ago, Zalm asked me what exactly about the church that Jen and I were attending that I liked. And, following our ‘break-up’ from our past church, and the intertestimentary period where we attended the local ‘bedside Baptist’ church (or for all you closet neo-calvinists out there–the ‘rollover Reformed’ church), it seemed that coming up with some good things about the great idea of ‘Church’ was in order.
However, it also seemed prudent to me to wait a touch before I got myself all wound up about how wonderful our current church was before I made my revelation to the world about how much I liked it. Also, Greg’s recent posts about the meaning and true purpose of the worship experience have spurred on some thinking on my part about the role that the church that Jen and I currently have been attending plays in ‘doing good worship.’
One thing I love about our church is that it participates in honest, and to borrow an idea from David Dark, confessional worship. This isn’t to say that the service is overly focussed on the concept of confession of sin. I mean by confessional worship, that this Church remembers its collective history of faith. You see, our church is honest to the religious traditions of its parishoners. The value I see in this is that though there are many parishoners with the same historical religious tradition as I, there are also many who do not share that tradition. Though our church has a long way to go, it’s striving to be multi-cultural.
Our worship follows a traditional liturgy anyone who’s grown up in a Christian Reformed Church is probably farmiliar with. At the same time, there are many aspects of worship that follow a liturgy that someone from an african american pentecostal tradition would find farmiliar. Why does this blending matter to me? Well, frankly, because it challenges me to be more than what I’m comfortable with. I’m able to grow in my understanding of the liturgical tradition, and more than just the liturgical tradition of white religious America. Understanding the value of rhythm–be it in a call / response praise format, or in a repitious praise chorus–in worship is something I’ve found to be moving. It helps me to experience God in a way that only a multi-cultural church can. And, I like that.
Another aspect of our current church that I like a lot is the community aspect of the church. Our church is located in a community that it should’ve–by all suburbio-white-middle-class-consumerist standards–fled from long ago. I go to church in a predominantly lower-income neighborhood. Now, going to church in a place like this is one thing. But, BEING the church in a place like this is entirely another. From what I can tell, this church LOVES BEING the church in and to this neighborhood.
One final community aspect of this church that I think is fantastic, is the way it raises up its children. First, these children are allowed to see role models in the form of pastors, youth instructors, etc, that aren’t all white. People in positions of authority are–though imperfectly–from more than just one color. That’s cool, because kids are given the opportunity to see that despite our differing histories: we all worship the same God.
Along that same vein, I love that ’sunday school’ for kids doesn’t happen during church. Who cares? Well, me. I care because a ’sunday school’ that happens during the worship experience is often just an excuse to ‘get the noisemakers out of the sanctuary.’ The thing is, those noisemakers are just as much a part of the church as you and I. I love that these kids are learning the value of a sermon, of praise and worship, at a very young age. They’re also seeing their parents worship God. Yes, sometimes the crying babies, the sound of hot-wheels on the tile floor, the occasional sibling war over a box of magic markers, and the rare dropping of a collection plate can, at times, be disturbing; however, all told I’ll take the distractions to realise the power of the people of God coming together to worship.
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Posted in faith at 4:20 pm by
As the title indicates, this post has been a long time coming. Months ago, Zalm asked me what exactly about the church that Jen and I were attending that I liked. And, following our ‘break-up’ from our past church, and the intertestimentary period where we attended the local ‘bedside Baptist’ church (or for all you closet neo-calvinists out there–the ‘rollover Reformed’ church), it seemed that coming up with some good things about the great idea of ‘Church’ was in order.
However, it also seemed prudent to me to wait a touch before I got myself all wound up about how wonderful our current church was before I made my revelation to the world about how much I liked it. Also, Greg’s recent posts about the meaning and true purpose of the worship experience have spurred on some thinking on my part about the role that the church that Jen and I currently have been attending plays in ‘doing good worship.’
One thing I love about our church is that it participates in honest, and to borrow an idea from David Dark, confessional worship. This isn’t to say that the service is overly focussed on the concept of confession of sin. I mean by confessional worship, that this Church remembers its collective history of faith. You see, our church is honest to the religious traditions of its parishoners. The value I see in this is that though there are many parishoners with the same historical religious tradition as I, there are also many who do not share that tradition. Though our church has a long way to go, it’s striving to be multi-cultural.
Our worship follows a traditional liturgy anyone who’s grown up in a Christian Reformed Church is probably farmiliar with. At the same time, there are many aspects of worship that follow a liturgy that someone from an african american pentecostal tradition would find farmiliar. Why does this blending matter to me? Well, frankly, because it challenges me to be more than what I’m comfortable with. I’m able to grow in my understanding of the liturgical tradition, and more than just the liturgical tradition of white religious America. Understanding the value of rhythm–be it in a call / response praise format, or in a repitious praise chorus–in worship is something I’ve found to be moving. It helps me to experience God in a way that only a multi-cultural church can. And, I like that.
Another aspect of our current church that I like a lot is the community aspect of the church. Our church is located in a community that it should’ve–by all suburbio-white-middle-class-consumerist standards–fled from long ago. I go to church in a predominantly lower-income neighborhood. Now, going to church in a place like this is one thing. But, BEING the church in a place like this is entirely another. From what I can tell, this church LOVES BEING the church in and to this neighborhood.
One final community aspect of this church that I think is fantastic, is the way it raises up its children. First, these children are allowed to see role models in the form of pastors, youth instructors, etc, that aren’t all white. People in positions of authority are–though imperfectly–from more than just one color. That’s cool, because kids are given the opportunity to see that despite our differing histories: we all worship the same God.
Along that same vein, I love that ’sunday school’ for kids doesn’t happen during church. Who cares? Well, me. I care because a ’sunday school’ that happens during the worship experience is often just an excuse to ‘get the noisemakers out of the sanctuary.’ The thing is, those noisemakers are just as much a part of the church as you and I. I love that these kids are learning the value of a sermon, of praise and worship, at a very young age. They’re also seeing their parents worship God. Yes, sometimes the crying babies, the sound of hot-wheels on the tile floor, the occasional sibling war over a box of magic markers, and the rare dropping of a collection plate can, at times, be disturbing; however, all told I’ll take the distractions to realise the power of the people of God coming together to worship.
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meg said,
July 31, 2005 at 4:54 pm
Hey Brandon, as a fellow Grand Rapidian I have a notion what church you’re talking about. Would you mind dropping me an e-mail to confirm my suspicions?
Thanks, Meg
Benjamin said,
July 31, 2005 at 6:20 pm
Now that sounds like a cool church. I’ve gotten past (or more accuratly, become numb to) all the failings of our church during worship, but the banishment of the children is still something that rankles me….
zalm said,
July 31, 2005 at 9:52 pm
Wow. I did ask that, didn’t I?
Sounds like a great church. The church we attended in St. Louis was pretty similar — devoted to racial reconciliation, committed to being the church in and for its lower-income neighborhood. Truly a special place.
Eric said,
August 1, 2005 at 3:24 am
Churches that go “to” the poor neighborhoods to do once-a-year projects have always bothered me. Feeding the homeless on Thanksgiving or gifts for kids during Christmas…it sounds great and all but seems more to serve a person’s good feeling about themselves than actually serving a person’s real, genuine, and very serious need.
I like a church that’s actively involved in their community - especially year round. That’s a church with people who gain a broader and more deeper compassion for suffering neighbors. Reach out to me once and it’s a great gesture. But reach out to me consistently and i know that it comes from love and you will begin to understand why I am in need and what exactly I am in need of. Ever hear of a church having a canned food drive and seeing the bin full of the stuff no one likes? Or how about cans of stuff that you need a microwave for in order to eat properly? Or even cans without a pop-off lid (as if a homeless person keeps a spare can opener in his pocket).
I like that your church is in a low-income neighborhood and that you are choosing to go there rather than a nice comfortable (safe) church. You have the opportunity to sincerely sympathize (and perhaps empathize if you invest in their lives) with residents there. Effective ministry occurs when we understand the plight of those desperate and realize that we are (or were) desperate ourselves. We are one of them. Our ministry is not “to” this community, but rather we are a ministry “of” this community.
mep said,
August 1, 2005 at 10:57 am
I enjoyed this post because my boyfriend and I have been struggling with finding a church for a while now. We’ve resorted to not attending because we got bored with the church we were attending and are frustrated by other churches we been to. One of the things that bothers us the most is the “corporate” mentality of a lot of churches - the “give us your money” attitude. It seems like so many churches are all about guilting you into giving them money so that they can have a fancy building in a better location with more expensive sound equipment and more technology, and a pastor wearing high-dollar suits and driving a mercedes.
I would also like to find a church that is truely mutli-cultural. As an interracial couple I would like to attend a church that reflect the diversity that we represent. I don’t mind attending a Black church, and I know that he doesn’t mind attending a White church - but on principle, I would like to find a church that actually embraces diversity. I think that if it embraced diversity it would also be liberal enough for me to enjoy messages that are challenging without being discriminatory to other groups.
Josh Fuller said,
August 1, 2005 at 2:16 pm
Brandon, I don’t recall having seen any indication on your blog that you have children. If I missed it I apologize; I’m sharing this in the assumption that you aren’t a father yet.
Your church seems to have a lot in common with mine, and I feel as fortunate and blessed as you do to be there. We’ve taken a similar approach to kids, letting them participate with the community during church gatherings. Before my son was born I thought this was a wonderful and admirable outlook. In principle I still do. But when you say “they’re also seeing their parents worship God,” I hope you’re right. Often my wife and I find it difficult to focus on worship when we have to keep our toddler from tipping over candles or tugging on someone’s hair. Over the five years our church has been in existence, several couples have left when their kids reached the terrible twos. I’ve adapted my stance and I now feel that the ideal situation would be one where kids are allowed to worship with the community if they and their parents prefer, but also provided an environment more specific to their needs and abilities if that would serve them better.
I say all this simply to exhort you and anyone in such a church to do whatever you can to help parents of young kids participate fully in worship.