Silence in church

I have been prompted by a few people in my church to think once again about the purpose of music in church, as part of our worship expression. Having grown up in the Salvation Army music has always been a part of my worship tradition/experience. Whether brass, coral singing and congregational sing of songs (all ages) it has seemed that music is central to drawing people closer to God in times of worship.

But is music that important to worship? Does the style matter? Of course it doesn't but the reality is that there is always music in the church so how we use it must be right. My experience has taught me that it is easy to be in a music groups in a church and have no understanding of worship or faith. So often the music (or the musical group) becomes more important than the focus of the worship. The style is irrelevant, although I recognise that people connect with different styles for different reasons, because it is the purpose that should drive the people taking part in the music. Playing your part with your heart and mind focused on Jesus, no matter how small, is what is required to best serve those you are leading.

My questions to anyone involved in music group(s) in church would be; If there was no music group(s) would you still be part of the church? If there was pure silence, could you still worship?

If the music becomes more important then I would rather we stay silent.

Matt

This is your life

I was leaving my coaching session of the Beacon Under 13's carrying two footballs when one of the lads asked for one of them. I said "no", and so he asked why. My reply was along the lines of: "it was dark, there were cars around and that I was about to put them in my car." He then added but "I want one." I replied once again to his question with "sometime we don't always get what we want and we have to do things we don't want to." Smart, so I thought. He then said "I only wanted the ball not your life story!"

This young lads comment has kept coming back to me in the last week because I think it has a lot to teach us about how the church relates it faith, beliefs and values to those around us. I think we have something people want even if they don't realise it. Something that is good, precious and liberating. My relationship with God is what sustains me, drives me and empowers me to be the person I am and will be. I highly recommend it!

I recognise that the church has finds itself in a difficult cultural climate, where people have become sceptical about religion, organised groups and also the church. It is not easy being a Christian but that's the point, it not supposed to be. My belief is that people want to share their life stories with others (christian or not), people want to be in community with one another but have forgotten how.

The church needs to rediscover its confidence in telling it's stories, and then get out of its buildings and share them.

Matt

It is a lot safer in here

Have been reading a book called "Breakout" recently (Thanks James and Amy) . It the story of St Andrews, Chorleywood transitioning their church into Mission Shaped Communities with a central resourcing church. It has been really helpful for me in thinking about the life of Aspley SA but also in my thinking about the Salvation Army at large. One quote caught my eye: "This (today's) culture tends to keep the army in the barracks, and of course if the army is in the barracks the enemy has got the rest of the world" (Stibbe and Williams,2008 :Page 211).

It pretty obvious what is coming but it is something that has been bugging me a lot recently. How do engage with our community outside our church buildings? How do we move from maintenance to mission? How do we do church that makes sense to different groups of people of all ages? How do we make Christians confident in their faith enough to share it in the normal everyday?

I don't have many if any answers but I do know that the "come to us" model of church is no longer effective. We can't continue to wait for people to turn up on a Sunday, Alpha or Special services. We (the church) have to make the more out into our communities, in the reality of life. The problem is we feel safe in the barracks, protected by those we know and reassured by the familiar. yet, whilst we sit in our barracks we allow those people to continue to get lost, to miss out on the joy of being in a relationship with Jesus. It doesn't matter what model we use whether its cells, MSC, Alpha or planting (to name just a few), all I know is that we need to be creative and we need for it to make sense in our local communities first and foremost.

Still thinking this through but know that God wants more from his church, lets breakout and see what happens.

Matt

Run Forest........

I have got a place in the Virgin London Marathon 2010 and last week I went for my first full session at the gym on my workout to build up my stamina. I ached a little the day after but not too badly.

I began my work out OK and the moved on to the cross trainer, which is like running with ski poles in your hands and not lifting your feet up. There are two directions: forwards and backwards. After about 7 mins I realised I had been running backwards. No wonder it was hard work and feeling a little weird. My mind was thinking forward but my body was going backwards. Once I changed directions and got into my stride It felt much better. When I went to the gym on Sunday I made sure I was going the right way.

You can probably see where this is heading. As the church we may think we are going in the right direction but it seems hard work. If that is the case then we need to stop what we are doing and refocus our methods. It is easy to plough head on for a long time with taking looking back to see where we have been, where we have gone wrong and we we need to do differently. God doesn't want his church to work hard, I believe he wants his church to work smart.

26.3 miles is a long way so I had better make sure I train and run smart.

Matt

I can't get no satisfaction!!!

Do not worry I am not going to break into song! At the East Midlands Youth gathering in Grantham (25/10/09), Andy Whitehouse challenged us about our attitude to our churches to "not to become satisfied with what we have." An interesting thought that I felt was worth a blog.

On one level I disagree with him. Dis-satisfaction can lead to discontent which could in turn lead to a destruction of hope. This may sound extreme but I have seen many Christians get dis-satisfied and move on. Also there is a danger you can drag others down with you which will be damaging for a church community.

On the other hand Andy is right, if we become satisfied with our churches we will simple seek to maintain our churches rather than see that they are places of purpose and mission. I believe that God needs a church that is willing to question itself, be willing to be honest enough to see what is going on around us and change if necessary. Being dis-satisfied as a church should bread hope and mission because we are willing to evaluate our effectiveness and purpose.

I prayer I will never be satisfied with which ever church I find myself apart of but only because I want God to have the glory not because It doesn't suit my style or needs.

Matt