our gathering last night was cancelled. 6″ of snow followed by ice. so, no new ideas to share. i do, however, have time to go back and comment on the previous week (#3).

i’d still love to hear ideas for effectively starting a service. my mind is woefully bereft of ideas.

the biggest blunder was clearly my mangling of the lord’s prayer, but only a blunder in so far as i didn’t know all the words. didn’t make for a particularly “worshipful” or solemn moment, but that’s fine. i rather thought the lighter vibe was refreshing. we tend to do somber and reflective very well, while upbeat cheery-ness is more difficult. not that we’re a sad lot; many have the equation worship/church=solemn written into their firmware.

the song and scripture were well received and well executed, but the highlight was the marathon man clip and accompanying prose. not everyone got it; not everyone understood what we were trying to drive home with the clip. but that’s entirely ok. “getting it” isn’t necessarily the point. sure there is an intended meaning with art, but often that is no more than a suggestion, a direction to point the observer as they engage with the piece.

regardless, whether they “got it” or not, they engaged with it. they discussed it and asked questions about it afterward. they remembered it and related to it later in the week. (kerri shared an encouraging antecdote along these lines.) there have been more “on-topic” conversations following the service in the last three weeks than in the previous three years! (slight hyperbole) agree or disagree, like or dislike, understand or not: people are engaging, thinking, considering, discussing, pondering and, hopefully, living.

negative feedback, such as the visiting couple who were too wierded out to consider returning, is so draining. this, however, is just the encouragement i need to continue.

continuing our exploration of james, led us to focus on being “doers” not just “hearers.” walking the walk. having the courage of our convictions. etc. here is how we approached the evening. comments, as always, are appreciated. you’ll have to pardon me, but i didn’t note the songs used.

live music was used throughout the evening. a song was used to gather people to their seats. (here’s a question: what other methods effectively lauch a service? how else do you “start the engine?”) i welcomed folks and ran thru some announcements. these were going to be done during the break between worship and the message, experimenting with jordon’s remarks, but several people were still getting situated, so i needed to fill time.

next i said a word of opening prayer, and then lead the congregation in what was supposed to be the lord’s prayer. i totally botched it. apparently there is something about tresspassing in it that i forgot. it went downhill from there with everyone just trailing off into silence… and giggles. anyway, it was all good. i said a nice loud “amen,” and passed the mic to the band.

a two song set was mixed with an interlude of scripture: a paraphrase from romans 8, given from god’s perspective, as if hewere speaking directly. finally, we concluded with an art piece. a script below was used in conjunction with a clip from marathon man. briefly, dustin hoffman is running in a park, when a younger, faster man passes him. dustin gives chase, only to give up. the first two stanzas were presented, then the clip shown. as the clip drew to a close, with a defeated dustin hoffman panting heavily against a chain link fence, the final stanza was read, ending with the words “what if” as the scene faded.

What if Rosa Parks had given up her seat on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama?
What if Abraham Lincoln had not signed the Emancipation Proclamation?
What if Michael Jordan has quit playing basketball after his high school coach cut him?
What if British aviators and citizens had given up in the dark days during the Air Battle over London and allowed England to be conquered by the Nazis?
What if Gandhi and his Indian countrymen had backed down from their English governors?
What if the passengers of Flight 93 had remained in their seats on September 11th, 2001 instead of challenging their hijackers in the air over Pennsylvania?

What if Abram had decided to head back to Ur instead of going on to wherever it was that God was leading him?
What if Moses had refused to speak to Pharaoh?
What is Joshua and Caleb had gone along with their countrymen and the cowardly report of the Promised Land?
What if Peter had returned to fishing permanently after denying Jesus?
What if Paul had not pressed on to Rome?
What if Jesus had passed on his cup of suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane?

What if you stay in bed instead of getting up when you child cries at 2:00am in the morning?
What if you head to the golf course instead of going to work in the morning?
What if you give in to every temptation instead of fighting for and honoring your marriage?
What if you turn your back when someone asks you for help?
What if you decide to turn back at the next obstacle, the next sign of resistance?
What if you pass on the chance to be God’s hands and feet, to be an agent of His love and grace?

What if?

gabe gave another good message, we closed by singing “take my life,” and then we ate… potluck night at hcf.

like before, i’ll post my criticism in a couple days.

i can be brief this week, because last nught was a pretty “traditional” service. corporate singing both before and after the message. the final song of the opening set, the one leading into the message, was broken up with some scripture - a collection from the psalms on god’s faithfulness and perseverance - from the front. the two guys, ben and josh did a good job passing the focus with one leading the singing and the other doing the readings. (one technical note: the sound was a little off volume-wise. not a big deal though.) our video icon/symbol continued to run.

last night was also our monthly “leadership gathering.” once a month the family (those who attend regularly, give financially, etc.) sit down to discuss the busness of the church. feedback on the first week was the major topic. two things jumped out at me like a ghoul at a haunted house:

(1) music - particularily song - must be incorporated in some fashion every week. music, with its familiarity in a church setting and in the culture-at-large provides a much needed touchstone for folks. no matter how much other elements might throw them off balance, song helps to comfort and stabilize. also, music bridges a number of sacred pathways. it can engage both the left and right brain. its power should not be under-estimated.

(2) i was taking notes, and saw comments from different people that directly contradict one another. e.g. the metronome was a great aid to some, but a distraction to others. the moral: you can’t keep all the people happy all the time. don’t try. you can keep everybody happy some of the time, and teach them to appreciate the elements that dont’ ring their bell (so to speak.)

the worst comment to come out of our leadership gathering: a couple who had been away from church for a long time were visiting with friends. they won’t be returning. it was too weird. on the one hand, i was hurt, because i put a lot of myself into the evening, and i feel a bit rejected. (…by total strangers, i know; but rejection is rejection.) on the other hand, i was angry that they’d make such a snap judgement on the basis of so little information. on the third hand (or perhaps that’s my foot) i know god can/will use this in some way. kerri suggested, “perhaps they’ll visit another church in the future, and they’ll stay there, ’cause it isn’t as weird at that other one.” works for me.

ok, i’ll drop some criticism now that i’m a few days removed from everything. this is a complilation of my own thoughts, the thoughts of my fellow pathmakers, and the conversations we had with congregants that evening.

first, the opening video clip hung without much impact. we used the opening footage from chariots of fire, a wonderful scene of the men running on the beach accompanied by the classic theme song. we used it to gather everyone to their seats. that, in and of itself is not the problem. the problem was i failed to connect the clip to the rest of the evening, because…

my welcome dragged on way too long. one reason to rule them all: i was nervous as hell. now, i tend to ramble in the best circumstances, but i get positively diarrhetic when nervous. (sidebar - my sister-in-law thinks i’m generally quite succinct for some unknown reason. hmm?). anyway, i was nervous about how folks would react to not singing, the language of my call and response, etc. afterward gabe put it succinctly: “they trust us.” had i more fully grasped that fact, i could have spoken much more confidently at the outset and… well… succinctly.

third, the call-and response was flat for a number of reasons. (1) the language of the response was a barrier. i intentionally spanned time, mixing modern slang and ancient elements. i also worked hard to make sure i was creating something organic and genuine vs. trying to affect a certain image or posture. i believe i was successful in these efforts with the call, because those were the parts i read. in the response, however, the slang was very foreign to much of the congregation. some didn’t even know what the terms meant, and my definition of “mad props” was too fuzzy to be read on the screen. (2) this was the first corporate element, and these often come across like hard-starting a cold engine. i was fairly energetic with the call. still, it takes a bit for folks to get warmed up… especially after my sub-par welcome. finally (3) responsive/corporate readings have always gone flat at hcf. something in our culture. like learning to use a new hand tool, however, time, persistance, and repetition can turn these sort of elements into useful worship tools for us.

next came the apostles’ creed. it went a bit better that the call and response because (1) the language, though ancient, was still less of a barrier than the slang; and (2) folks were a little warmer. also, it seems the word “catholic” isn’t as well known as i thought. i added a definition on the slide at the last moment (again, too fuzzy to be read), but it was too late to add anything to the handouts.

onto the readings. they went well. the chariots of fire track provided great ambiance to the abraham/issac story. we originally planned on three separate readers, one for each role, but i think that would have been distracting. (god and issac have very small speaking roles.) having the remaining readings come from within the congregation was effective, though i would like to give the readers more time to internalize the bits they are reading. i handed out assignments as folks walked in the door.

the guided reflection (i’d say meditation, but that can be a dicey word for some christians: too eastern and new-agey.) was also very effective. the metronome is quite persuasive; i had a couple remarks about how heartrates actually increased with the tempo on the metronome. only my sister-in-law, kelli, found the clicking a distraction, but that is because she’s a musician by training and trade. she was always trying to figure out what the tempo was. btw, she was right.

the response ritual was satifactory. i would have really liked to have actual numbers like you’d get at a race, but they were prohibitively expensive online and far more difficult to find in person than i anticipated. nevertheless, our homemade ones (3″ stick-on decals from the hardware section of meijer and white cardstock cut into half sheets) were up to the task. also, since people got to choose any number, i think it’s more likely they’ll remember it from week to week.

communion was rushed, because everything else went long. our nursery/children’s space is very tight, so we try to hold things to about 70 minutes. last week ran almost 90. communion, being at the end, suffered.

2003 saw the return of the king. (i haven’t seen it yet, so shhh.) 2004 brings the return of the pathmakers, the ministry at our church charged with creating structure for our sunday gatherings. the loss of a significant portion of our band (as blogged about earlier in this space) forces us into some much needed - and anticipated - creativity. sunday marked our return to the stage (so to speak), so let me share some of the details with the good folks in blog-land. i’ll critique myself later.

we’re beginning 2004 with a look at james, a practical letter on what we’re calling the art of follow thru, on perseverance, on being a kingdom-bringer in a world that’s kingdom opposed. the race, the marathon, these are our metaphors carrying us thru the series. we have an animated gif running on a 3-tv display: a continuous loop of a runner; a sort of 21st sentury symbol or icon. a running theme has been used to decorate our tables. (we sit around tables vs. in rows or pews.) a metronome either flashes or “clicks” the tempo throughout the evening. after i rambled nervously for far too long at the welcome, we proceeded into a call & response that i wrote:

L: We pray to the Lord, God Almighty.

R: Lord, hear our prayer.

L: We holla’ at You, Lord, for You are the God of the Past. You called Abraham into a new land. You gave him a promise: His children would outnumber the stars. You delivered a young nation out of slavery, working miracles to do so. Thru famine and drought, thru war and plague, thru all manner of catastrophe, You have sustained and nurtured Abraham’s children. Mad props* to the God of the Past.

R: Mad props to the Lord, our God.

L: We give You a shout out, Lord, for You are the God of the Present. In Your Son and in Your Spirit, You live with us even now. You are the God Who Puts on Skin. You are the Friend Who Sticks Closer Than a Brother. You are a Rock and an Anchor in the storms of life. You are Fresh Bread and a Cool Drink on life’s long journey. Word up to the God of the Present.

R: Word to the Lord, our God.

L: We declare, “You are the Bomb!” for You are the God of the Future. Your Kingdom breaks thru! With a Mighty Hand You conquer all of Your enemies. With wisdom and grace You prepare a New Home for Abraham’s children. With Never-ending Love and Energy You see all Your Plans thru to completion.

R: You, O God, are the Bomb!

L: Though politics, economics, philosophy, language– indeed though all of life changes, You, the God of the Past, the Present, and the Future, You are The Great “I AM!” You exist in the Eternal Now. You are Unchanging. You see all Your Purposes thru to the very end. To You we give all our worship.

R: Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever more shall be, world without end. Amen.

next, we turned to our tables and recited the apostles’ creed.

this was followed by four readings: abraham sacrificing isaac, matthew 5:11-12, 1 corinthians 9:24-27, and our keystone verse, james 1:4. the genesis passage was taken from walter wangrin’s paraphrase, the book of god. track #3 from chariots of fire provided excellent ambiance for this reading.

next, i led the congregation in a guided reflection, accompanied by a metronome. this is the text i wrote more or less, with the metronome settings in parentheses:

Close your eyes now, and listen. (60bpm) Listen to the metronome. Listen to its slow and steady beat….Breath deeply and slowly. Calm yourself. Let go of any distractions you carried with you as you entered this place. Let them go. Allow this to be a Holy Moment, a Sacred Space, set apart unto God. Calm your spirit, your mind, your heart, your soul. Calm yourself, and listen.

Listen to the steady rhythm of your heart. Like the metronome it’s beat is steady, sure, constant. Minute by minute, hour by hour, with each passing moment your heart beats. As certain as the tomorrow’s new dawn, one heartbeat is followed by another…and another…and another. Listen to the steady rhythm of your heart, and hear God in it. Hear His steadfast love. Hear his enduring faithfulness. Hear him. He is always with you. His Spirit beats as one with yours. Ever present, ever faithful, hear God’s steady rhythm as His heart beats in yours. Take a moment and offer a silent prayer to the Everlasting One…and continue to listen.

(increase to 120bpm)Hear now the quickening. Delve into your memory. Feel the rhythms of life speeding up: the frantic pace of the Holiday Season, the many cries for your time and energy. Remember the busy-ness of life. Call to mind those moments when you felt as if you couldn’t catch your breath, when it seemed as if life were spiraling out of control. Feel your heart race, your muscles tense. But thru it all, hear the steady heartbeat. It continues in the midst of the frenzy. Though life accelerates, though changes come with ever increasing speed, we cannot outrun our heartbeat.

(gradually slow back to 60bpm) We cannot outrun the steady rhythms of God. Listen to your memories. Try to hear the Ever-Present God in the middle of life’s din. He was there. He is there. Hear Him. He is at your side. He does not shout, not is He silent. Hear Him. Feel him. He was with you as you drove here tonight. He is with us now. He will be with us when we leave. Hear Him. Hear His steady rhythm. Amen

the reflection was followed by a time of sharing and prayer around our tables, and then the sermon. a ritual of response followed the message: on the racenumber each of us made (like the one you get at a triathalon or 5k) write down areas of resolution, areas in which God is calling us to follow thru. finally, we closed with communion.

i won’t make any comments just yet, allowing you to “experience” it with a minimum of insider info, just as most folks did. i’ll provide background, explanation, and self-criticism later this week.

at our pathmaker meeting last night we spent a while discussing the notion of “follow thru.” since there were three athletic guys discussing this, all of our metaphors were sports related: following thru on a golf swing, a baseball pitch, a kick, etc. follow thru is important for a power, accuracy, safety.

question for the blogging world (or at least the few who drop by here): do any non-sports related ideas/images/metaphors related to follow thru come to mind? our best non-sports effort had to do with following thru when swiping the mastercard, so the magnetic reader accepts the charge. the card readers at meijer are notoriously picky.

gabe & i met this morning for the first time in a long time. between starting a new state farm agency (him) and family (me), we had to put our weekly breakfasts on hold for a few months. it was clear that both of us had been missing the friendship, the sharpening, the conversation.

after catching-up, we squoze (or should that be squeezed?) in some seriousness amongst the jokes. mostly we talked about sundays vs. wednesdays. (or large gathering vs. small group, or whatever other terms one might use.) one reality of being a small church is limited human capital. there are only so many people/hours to go around. our conversation focused on how to best allocate our capital as the communities primary teachers. for me, i am excited to be moving back into ministry, getting back into the things we began last year with pathmakers. my summer hiatus dragged on as i waited for family situations to resolve (jeez, that is a crappy euphamism, but i just can’t bring myself to say it straight). well, it’s time to get back in the saddle.

church is missional community. it’s great to be a part of it!