Disclaimer: this is my vision for the church and does not necessarily reflect the views of anyone else in my family or small group.
I understand why churches went the seeker sensitive direction. I know the purpose in being more culturally relevant and all that. The music became contemporary (although the style is still about ten years behind) and the message became more like an Oprah or Dr. Phil show with some proof texting (little or no regard for the context of scripture).
I actually enjoyed this shift (not the proof texting part) having grown up in traditional church settings. In this new model we were freed from hymnals, choir robes and condemnation. But even with the welcomed changes, the novelty began to wear off over time. The worship allowed for praise and celebration but rarely, if ever, made room for pain or grief of any kind. Worship is always in a musical form and so people have not been taught to associate the sacred with any other art forms. This is a sin in itself because it has limited how we are guided to God. I believe all artistic forms were created in order to bring us into sacred space.
The seeker sensitive direction was implemented so people would not feel uncomfortable. The hope was that they would have such a positive experience that they would want to come back. That intent left us with a religious group of people minus the spiritual practices. That left no room for those of us who waited before each communion to see if there was any opportunity for people to reconcile with each other before taking the elements. My personal desire for such moments is not spiritually motivated as much as just wanting to experience the deep psychological and emotional affect that the practice of forgiveness could have on a community. I would even welcome small moments of silence to think if I had offended anyone (no doubt, I had) with encouragement to plan when and how I was going to made amends. Yes, this is very uncomfortable but placing the focus on healing and restoration is the basis of community building.
A church or community that practices their faith is not Church Lite. This is for those who want something more than what happens on a Sunday morning. These are not people who need a sermon. These are people who can dialogue and teach each other. They need a “guide on the side” and not the “sage on the stage.” These are people who can handle questioning and know you can’t program spirituality. They can hang in there with people who don’t believe exactly as they do because it doesn’t threaten their faith.
Planning and implementation of a gathering of people seeking spirituality and not religion would take work and the actual gathering would probably happen once a month. Meeting once a month would be enough because these people have their own spiritual practices that keep bringing them back to the Center. They would welcome accountability and have found ways to be held accountable to others through their family or a small group. They prefer to spend their time in actual service in the community or to their own family depending on their circumstances. Some may choose to serve on a Church Lite Sunday morning because both types of gatherings are needed.
I know changes were made with the hope of bringing people into the church. But as many of us began to deconstruct and reconstruct our faith and truly make it our own, we have moved beyond Sunday morning. Church Lite has a revolving door and there are vast numbers of us moving through it.
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5 comments:
One thought that comes to my mind: a core value many people share is the right to have options. House church is an option for those who have outgrown Sunday morning, traditional, institutional church. Another common core value is the priority of individual preference. "If I just am not getting my needs met here, I will go explore other options or maybe even construct my own thing." This value holds in many areas of life, including participation in faith community.
I'm o.k. with that. I desire people with a bent toward living a faithful life to be nurtured, to be challenged, to grow and not be stuck. But, I think there is an important aspect of spiritual growth that takes place when a person is committed to a faith community that at times just pisses them off. I feel it is a little too easy in our society, that when things get really rough in relationships, to walk away. I have to be on guard myself of wanderlust and longing for the greener pastures when it comes to "career" or vocation.
I don't know. How do you draw the line between truly moving on in life to another stage, or just cutting and running because it just "isn't working any more"?
In response to Kevin's thoughts about wander lust...I get a very restless feeling when it's time for me to move on. I usually fight it for a long time but eventually realize that it's God's way of asking me to move on. I usually don't realize why He's asked me to move on until later. Each time this has happened, there is a clear reason and really cool things happen. Our last move enabled us to connect with this small group. Bob and I had been praying about being connected with a local group of believers. I believe it's all in the way you leave. Leaving doesn't have to mean terminating relationships. Kelly B
I understand the consumer mentality. I was a member of a Methodist church for ten years and saw people come and go for a wide variety of reasons. There were times such as when the founding pastor was discovered in an adulterous relationship, or a person on staff being arrested, and spending freezes that I stayed through. I think I'm talking about two questions here: Can I put my time, gifts, money into the mission and vision of the community? Am I getting closer to living out what I believe? I think we have to use questions like that to discern our move. It isn't about personal preferences but it is about being authentic with yourself and others. The discernment to dig in your heels and stay or shake the dust from your sandals and move on is tough. Both are right choices if you're asking the right questions.
I'm mostly responding to Kevin's comment - not in a challenging way, just using it as a springboard for some ideas I've held for a long time. I grew up in the Southern Baptist denomination/abomination/tradition. After almost 20 years of ignoring church, I found myself back in settings that talked about things like Advent and Lent as if they were the most important things since sliced bread. Not having grown up with those as focal points, I did not have nostalgia or tradition to fuel my interest or connection. So I found myself very confused over all the attention these calender periods were receiving.
I tried to "live" into these periods without much success. I found it strange that we would take up such large amounts of the year (10 to 12 weeks) mining these events (Christmas and Easter) for yet one more point of personal relevance. Perhaps I've recently realized why these and other "traditional" elements of church cause me to struggle and become disinterested. My return to faith and hope was driven by a pull toward the future rather than a push from the past. So a faith experience that tries to mine ancient stories and traditions often seems irrelevant to me. My understanding of "how things work" is driven mostly by discoveries of the last 50 years that had no connection to the ancient or near term traditions. So it is extremely difficult to wear that "traditional" suit - it is a foreign experience. If I had a dream for "church", it would be a place where no one has to feel out of place or that they also have to "wear that suit" or enter a foreign culture in order to be in the community. And I believe even the modern church for the most part feels like a foreign culture to those outside its walls.
I have had problems in the past and still now with the seeker church thing, from what I am hearing lately though, it seems like there is growing # of peopel who see problems with it as well. My pastor just recently made some comments regarding not going in that direction anymore, I was encouraged.
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