A request, often said in a pleading tone, many pastors hear is, "Please don't change my service." The meaning, of course, is that one's comfort in worship may reside in a style to which they've grown accustomed. The request most often is heard in conjunction with the planned start of a new service (or changing an existing one) incorporating a different style of worship. The word "contemporary" (whatever that means) can send shivers up and down the spines of some worshipers.
It is not hard to figure that one out. Again, we grow accustomed to doing things in certain ways. Like many, I'm a creature of habit. I like routine. I do things certain ways. As a first-born male, that is not unusual. We first borns like routine. Getting out of our comfort zone never is easy, and can be disturbing in the sense that we may have to consider a "new normal." The church can be the same way, year after year, expecting that things generally will stay pretty much the same.
For the church, "change" is one of the most feared words. Just uttering (or writing, in this case) the word conjures all sorts of visions, most of which are disturbing. Oh no! You're going to change my worship! Oh no! You're going to change . . . fill in the blank. But, change just to change is not good, in my opinion. Change should be, I believe, a natural outgrowth of what one is doing, that is, adapting to a changing environment, culture, etc.
Marva J. Dawn, a long-time experienced church musician and theologian, in her book, Reaching Out without Dumbing Down (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; 1995) shared that - and I'll loosely paraphrase - the ability to reach the unchurched and the de-churched (a term fit for a future Pastor's Corner) comes from the church's willingness to adapt its practices, including worship, to the changing environment. One key idea, and it's in the book's title, is the need to develop worship in such a way to attract those who have avoided the church as if it were the plague. She says we can do this through maintaining the integrity of what we believe, only presenting it in new ways.
Change, then, always is about how we do this. Again, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. To continue to "do church" in the same way, a way in which we are comfortable, may not reach those to whom we feel called to reach. But, as Dr. Dawn points out, the "normal" way of the church is to expect others to adapt to our ways. To me, and to others, this is "church arrogance" at its height.
To change or not to change. Indeed, that is the question. For change to occur naturally as an outgrowth of what the church is doing through its ministries, both those it now has and those which God is calling it to, there has to be a conscientious, well-thought andplanned, and flexible structure. It requires a different way of thinking (one might say the "ethos" of the church) and a different way of envisioning life in the church. It is not something that happens overnight, nor is it something that can be "put in place" in a short time. It takes a long time, and involves much, much work. But more about this next week in the final installment of this series of Pastor's Corner. See you on the road.
Grace and peace,
Mike
September 28, 2014