|
Principles
of Growth
Where there is life,
there is always growth. We relish the life God has given us in Christ
and therefore also recognise the need to be fostering in our worship
that growth which the Spirit of God himself is surely nurturing.
Jesus’ words –
God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth
– serve as a constant reminder of the shape that growth will have.
in spirit:
we recognise the
need for our worship to be offered in and by and through the Spirit of
God: we long for, pray for, look out for, and leave room for his work –
and express all that in our humble, earnest dependence on God in prayer
we recognise also,
of course, that the ‘substance’ or ‘spirit’ of our worship is always
more important than the ‘form’
in truth:
we recognise the
need for our worship to be centred on the One who is himself ‘the Truth’
and to flow from that Truth which God speaks to us through his Word: we
seek to ensure it is that Word God speaks to us which shapes our worship
as a humble response to him
we recognise, too,
that the stress on our worship being ‘in truth’ involves us always being
true to ourselves: not copying the worship of others, nor pretending to
be a people we are not – but maintaining and reflecting a basic
integrity in our worship
Developments
Over the course of
the past while a number of changes have taken place. What follows is
not in any particular order nor should it be presumed to be entirely
comprehensive!
Welcome
– we have tried to ensure that
·
the welcome
afforded to one and all is as warm, appropriate and practical in each
case as it can be:
·
the welcome
is extended right on through to the time shared over refreshments (and
indeed, where possible, beyond, into the life of the congregation):
·
a
‘gifts-based’ approach is applied to this sphere of ministry.
As a result we have
moved away from the pattern which involved simply a rota of all the
elders, to one which now sees a range of members of our fellowship (old
and young) as part of a welcoming team
Flowers
– with a view to facilitating the distribution of the flowers at a time
more convenient for both those taking them and those being visited, the
flowers are now removed after the morning service.
When an afternoon or
evening service is taking place subsequently in the church, the
(artificial) floral arrangement is moved from the side window to be set
on top of the font at the front of the church. This arrangement works
well and is much appreciated both by visitors and those being visited.
Technology
– training has been given to those
involved and a bit of ‘stream-lining’ has taken place whereby the
sound-system and web-casting are regularly done by one and the same
person. Skilled operators are still in rather short supply, and there
is a need for ongoing training.
A new projector was
installed in the North Hall to replace the existing one which had
reached the end of its ‘natural life’.
Content/conduct
– Sheena has continued to take
responsibility for the morning services and has sought sensitively to
broaden our expressions of worship in a way that (a) gives expression to
the gifts of our people and (b) remains true to ourselves [an
increasingly difficult challenge as the composition of our congregation
becomes ever less uniform!]
In particular, she
has tried to recognise and make full use of those with particular gifts
in leading public prayer, reading the Scriptures and speaking to the
children (a process that has involved a bit of trial and some error):
she has also explored the use of the same person over a succession of
weeks with a view to generating more ‘continuity’, and using the same
person, for instance, to read the Scripture during the whole of a series
of studies.
She’s also been keen
to organise some workshops and sees the need for helping folk develop
their gifts.
I believe that the
sort of ministry Sheena has been exercising in regard to our morning
worship has been hugely beneficial to both the congregation and myself,
and I have been keen to develop a similar sort of ministry in relation
to our evening worship.
Communion
– a number of significant changes have taken place in this
regard:
-
the pattern and dates of our four
‘communion Sundays’ have been slightly altered, with the sacrament
no longer being celebrated at the evening service on these Sundays,
and the dates ensuring a better spread through the year and less of
a clash with holidays [we see the benefit of our having some sort of
annual handbook in which the details of communion services through
the year could be included]:
-
two additional celebrations of the
sacrament at our morning worship have been added into the diary, one
at the start of the ‘church year’ (September), one in Lent (March) –
the manner in which the sacrament is celebrated on these occasions
will be less formal, and will not be simply two more instances of
the customary ‘communion Sunday’ pattern:
-
a more frequent and less formal
celebration of the sacrament at the evening services on something
like a 6-week cycle is envisaged:
-
responsibility for organising
communion services has been moved from the Session Clerk to a team
of people headed up by Martin Pearce:
Cleaning/heating
– partly [but not exclusively]
with environmental issues in mind we have moved the evening service from
the main church building into the North Hall (which was being heated
anyway on a Sunday evening). As well as reducing significantly heating
costs (and carbon emissions!) this creates a necessarily slightly
different ‘context’ for worship, more conducive to the ‘relational’
dimensions of our worship and to a greater informality.
It should be noted
that the change of venue, however, has not been to everyone’s liking by
any means and there are a number of folk (for a variety of reasons)
uncomfortable with the change.
Vocal
– we have sought to ensure there is regular and appropriate choral
input, and the pattern has changed from there being a ‘resident choir’
to there being a range of different singers who are involved in
exercising their gifts in this choral ministry.
Hospitality
– recognising the importance and value of the ‘relational’ dimension to
our worship, we have begun to explore the benefits of hosting a regular
Sunday morning ‘breakfast’ before morning worship. Starting more as an
experiment than anything, we’ve been aware of the value, in a number of
regards, of our Sunday worship beginning in this sort of way – and have
accordingly tried to develop a pattern of such a thing taking place on a
(roughly) monthly basis.
Transport
– by renting the services of the PEP bus, we have been able to ensure
that the services on a Wednesday lunch-time have continued to develop.
With breaks over Christmas, Easter, and the summer, these now are very
much a part of our weekly rhythm of worship, and very much valued by
many who otherwise are unable to share in worship with others.
The sacrament of
communion is celebrated generally three times a year at these services
(at the end of every ‘term’), and, while they continue to be led in the
main by myself, others are also involved in the leading and teaching.
Issues
Growth is an ongoing
thing. As we constantly reflect on our worship here and all that the
Lord purposes for and among us, I’m aware that ‘managing’ growth
requires a great deal of care.
Our congregational
life has seen a lot of change over this past little while, not least in
the move from the Model Constitution to the Deed of Constitution
(Unitary Form) and in the significant reduction in the size of the Kirk
Session. Such changes, resulting in a different pattern of working,
inevitably take some getting used to, and at a time when we’re all as a
people ‘feeling our way’, other changes require to be handled with great
sensitivity.
Tentative steps
towards growth, in line with our vision statement, at the evening
service, for instance, have highlighted a couple of lessons we’ve needed
to learn.
First, change is
best brought about after the reasons behind it, and the difficulties
related to it, have all been carefully worked through with the
congregation as a whole. Change is always best embraced rather
than being something imposed (with little by way of ‘warning’ or
explanation): and that involves a careful and cautious approach whereby
reasons are given and issues are faced in a patient and sensitive manner
Secondly, and more
specifically, a good deal of ‘ground-work’ requires to be done before we
implement a ‘gifts-based approach to ministry’ in relation to our
worship here. We have used this phrase for long enough, and the
principle now is enshrined in our vision statement as being an integral
part of the people God calls us to be: and I have been keen to show
myself willing to give a lead in this regard in the Area for which I’m
responsible.
I recognise,
however, that although I may be familiar enough myself with the phrase
(having lived with, and reflected on it for what seems like years!), the
concept itself has not really ever been worked through in any
significant way with the congregation. And therefore, before ever
starting to implement such an approach, there’s a need first to
expound it – to work through from the Scriptures what it means
and why it’s so important, and how (and by whom) the many varied gifts
are to be recognised.
These are lessons,
of course, which apply across the board of our common life: but they’re
lessons we’ve been certainly having to learn ‘on the hoof’ in regard to
the way that our worship of God both develops and grows!
February 2010 |
.jpg)