Thanks to all those who have contributed to this Blog so far. Hopefully there will be many more comments as people get the hang of it!
Last Sunday we explored the meaning of our liturgy (our order of service) and I asked the question: is it boring doing the same thing every week? My answer to that question is that its only boring if we are boring. Everything that gives rhythm to our life - the sun rising and setting, the routine of sleeping, waking, working and eating - are all potentially boring if our life has no meaning.
I think we should see liturgy in this way. It's not entertainment for us, it is an offering of praise and thanksgiving to God by the gathered people of God. If we see our purpose in life as giving glory to God by living life to the full and seeking to be in God's presence always then we will look forward with excitement and anticipation to the experience of praise and worship with others.
What does our Sunday liturgy mean to you? Are there ways it could be improved?
I like the Liturgy but sometimes lose concentration because of the repetition each week. I don't like the rewording of some Hymns but they do make me sit up and take more notice of what I am singing. Is it possible to have variety in the wording of various parts of the Liturgy.
ReplyDeleteMary Wright
I have read this quite a few times and it is a tough one to answer. I find the familiarity of the service each week comforting. I would find constant change distracting from the reason I am at church. I would be concentrating on "getting it right" rather than spending time with God. When the major changes happened to the Australian Prayer book, i found that difficult, and still do sometimes, with the change to the Lords Prayer and such kind of not what I grey up with. As for ways to improve the liturgy, i don't know, i like it the way it is. I do like the little things our parish does that make it different, but still the same = ie kids take the church etc..Same service, but done a little differently. but I do like the comfort of knowing what to expect each week. It makes that time feel safe.
ReplyDeleteAlan
I like it both ways! I like to know what to expect in church (like Alan) as I'm a 'routine' type of person. I do believe that searching deeper into the words and the focus on God is a good discipline, yet extremely hard to do because you're so 'used' to the same words each week. Just like meditation!
ReplyDeleteBut I also do believe that things should change where they need to and make it more relevant for today. Going back to my previous post on the last topic of 'Let's Get Started', if we want the church to keep going we need not only children, but young people in general (as well as the older people to keep the wisdom and life experience going). I believe that in the next 50 years or so, church may not look the same as it does today, yet still following the same Christ. Just look at how churches are evolving online (like us with our blog) - not to say that church is going to be completely online, there should still be some human contact as that is important - church may be partly a web-based activity and numbers in pews may not relevant. The aim of church is not to get 'numbers', but to turn people to Christ and assist them in following Him.
I believe that we have a great liturgy with other variants included. What I mean by that is that we have a great 'ordinary Sunday' service along with Pentecost, Christmas, Easter, Lent and Advent, but also with Kids Take The Church, Whiteman Park services, combined services, and even the odd dramatic skit instead of the sermon. I found it an incredible experience when some people came as guest speakers and some of our parish speak about how they came to Christ and their journey of faith in place of the sermon sometimes.
What can we improve? As we need to for our parish needs! From the survey Jill carried out for us, we've learnt there's a lot of highly life-experienced people and families. I believe that our liturgy should be relevant to these people, especially in Christian growth, but maybe we should look at the niches that aren't catered for and work on ways we could 'target' them that may appeal to them to attend church and learn more about God. I believe that young adults group (being one) is a great idea (as an example) and I believe Stuart has been and is doing a great job in that area of mission and ministry.
-Stanley Dunwell, St Mary's
I'm really glad that Stuart has had this series of sermons. I have heard comments from people like " Oh, I didn't know that! And I've been in the church for 50 years!"
ReplyDeleteConnecting us to what we do and why we do it is so important. It changes things for us, it makes us sit up and take notice. And, it can change our view of the church and, indeed our relationship with God.
Mary, I hear what you are saying, thanks for your comments, we need to hear from everyone. I'm not going to go into a deeply theological (or gender) argument here (thank goodness you all say) but what I will say is that some of the language is no longer used like 'thee and thy'. A lot of people don't understand these words and other concepts like " branch of Jesse's stem". There are arguments around that say that we should continue to sing the 'old' hymns as they were written. To this I say, yes in some ways that is true as the tempo and the words no longer match, however, if that was the argument, we'd still be singing in Latin and not know what we were singing at all. Some of the old hymns are lovely and most of the songs that we use in worship are between 20 and 500 years old. Our theological thinking, our world views and our understanding of Spirituality have all changed over this time.
We have a tradition in the Anglican Church and that is a sense of connecting with our past, through our buildings, our hymns and as we have learnt over the past few weeks, through our liturgy. This makes us strong. Just about everything that could be tried has been tried - even Rock Masses at the Cathedral, sleepovers in the Cathedral. At the moment, there are Parishes within this Diocese ( in the Perth to Kalgoorlie area) that are trying some really radical stuff. Some of this stuff I have experienced and have turned my nose up at, as I am such a traditionalist. One Parish, plays around with where Communion will be in the service- very first was radical and uncomfortable for me. But then that started to raise questions in me - why did it make me feel so uncomfortable?
-Jill
This posting comes straight on the back of "Back to Church Sunday" which the Parish was a part of yesaterday. It was so wonderful to see so many Parishoners respond to this movement by brining family and friends, some lapsed Anglicans, some who had never been in Church before, along to the service.
ReplyDeleteSomething happeneded in that service. In all the chaos, noise and busyness, peple were actually 'touched' by the Holy Spirit. I tried to take a 'step back' from the service and just observe those around me. I saw several peple with tears in their eyes. Was it the liturgy? Was it the apology? Or, was it being back in the community of the faithful where they feel they belong? Who knows. The important thing is that these peple have had an experience, an encounter with the power of the Holy. Praise God!!! If wasn't for all of you inviting people along, these people would have never had this chance, never known what was possible. You all gave people the opportunity for that to happen and God did the rest. So well done. This is what mission is all about. It's a simple task really, sowing the seeds and, like the sower, standing back and seeing what happens. For those whose friends and relatives said 'no thank you', again, the seed is sown and we have know idea what may come of it in the future. Pray for them, constantly. Encourage them, gently. Love them no matter what.
-Jill
I think the liturgy is beautiful. It seems like the right thing at All Saints to be immersed in the beauty of God in the quiet way the liturgy unfolds each week. I feel honoured to be welcomed and blessed each week by the way the liturgy lays a path for us to meet with God and each other.
ReplyDeleteThe liturgy for me has been a relief. Stuart mentioned in the sermon about the liturgy being a means for us to stay with God rather than get lost in ego or our own agenda. So thankyou God.
I know for myself that being bored is a state of mind and that being with God is my grace wherever I am. I am greatful to be surrounded by people who know the love of God in their life and to have the opportunity each week to meet together in His holy name.
Kate Drown - All Saints