Renewal

What a day! My intention to start the day by delving furth into Walters was delayed by the unexpected appearance of a young skunk in our yard this morning. Needless to say, it took my studies to a whole new level. During my morning time of reading and exploration I found answers to questions I never thought to ask (i.e. does Arapahoe County Animal Control help w/ skunk removal? No; How much does a private vendor charge for skunk removals? Roughly $170; Where do you find materials to dissuade skunks from calling your yard home & what can you use to get skunk smells out of dogs? Petco). As I said yesterday, you never know where your studies will lead if you remain open :) I finally did get around to four of Walters' chapters from "Can't Wait for Sunday" this evening. The chapters covered the topics of leadership, liturgy, tradition, and renewal. Let me touch on three things I found most helpful in Walters work. First, I loved his exploration of Don Saliers' identification of the 3 biggest inhibitors of worship: (1) when worship is done for the congregation, (2) when worship is done to the congregation, and (3) when the congregation doesn't understand what is happening liturgically (85). I have to say that as a worship facilitator, I'm most susceptible to succumbing to inhibitor #2 as I often have such a vision and passion for what I want to see unfold that I can impose a worship experience on the congregation. Saliers' words were a nice reminder to create more room for the Spirit and less room for MY vision. The second item of value for me was Walters' quote of Daniel Frankforter who wrote of the early church: "The Apostle Paul did not manate forms or liturgies to guide the Spirit's flow in the worship of his congregations, he simply urged Christians to exercise self-control out of consideration for others and the reputation of the faith" (92). The statement reminded me of the greatest challenge I've faced on the worship front: providing leadership for lay worship leaders. In working with volunteers, it's easy for a pastor to be so greatful to the volunteer that you end up enabling the volunteer to do whatever he/she wants. In the years ahead, I need to work on inviting lay worship leaders to "exercise self-control out of consideration for others" so that they grow in their ability to balance their visions and passions with the visions and passions of the congregation. Hard stuff! Third, I appreciated the acronym that Walters passed on for the worshipping community led by Leonard Sweet: EPIC, which stands for Experiential, Pariticipatory, Image-Based, and Connecting (112). Those adjectives perfectly describe the spirit of the emerging culture. I found it interesting that the two words I consistently used to describe this Fall's new worship gathering at Mountain View were experiential and participatory. I think I'll close with a sentence that came at the end of Walters' seventh chapter. In speaking of a worshipping community's chances for sucess in terms of worship renewal, Walters wrote: "Ultimately, a church's embrace or denial of worship renewal will hing on the pastor's and congregation's willingness to open their lives to God's Spirit" (117). I smiled when I read this because it reminded me of the last sermon I preach at Mountain View before I started my sabbatical. In my sermon, I used Brad Berglund's analogy of a shark. Berglund notes that a shark's nature is to grow to fit the size of container in which it is held. If it's held in a small tank, its growth is minimal; if it is released into a sea or ocean, it will grow to it's God-given size. I closed my sermon that day by inviting the congregation to spend the summer considering what size of tank they wanted to create for God's Spirit - both individually and collectively. I said we'd compare notes about the size of the tank when I returned in September. I'm getting a pretty good idea of what size I want the tank to be; I'm hoping they are too. Tomorrow, I'll finish Walters' book and offer my last thoughts on his words. Til next time...