What could we hold onto ?

This question is posed to us - a church community in the middle of the coronovirus lockdown.

What might we hold onto from the experience of the last 9 weeks or so ?

I think that is such a big question.  For me the bigger question that it leads to is

How can we learn from both the inherited church, and the emerging 'new ways of being church' to enable us to be a church fit for a post Christendom world ?

But for now, I'll focus on what have I learned from lockdown, especially with regard to worship.

So - for the last two weeks, our 'zoom church' has been like this:

Short 'hellos' and a prayer

* Brief reading of and introduction to one of the Bible passages for the day. (Usually, but not always the Gospel).

This has been done in a way that is accessible to all ages from pre-schoolers up.  E.G Godly Play.

* Some open questions to think about what might emerge from the introduction.

* Break out groups of 4/5 people.  This for me has been great, because I have 'met' people who I have known a little bit before, but got to know them much better through these small zoom groups.

* Come back together for some prayers.

* Close and further chat over coffee etc.

I would like to hold on to this much simpler approach to worship.  I like the way it has given us something to reflect on, rather than a sermon with a possibly complicated train of thought.

It's very 'word light' in the sense that we don't have a lot of the quite wordy prayers and responses typical of Anglican worship.  This is good for inclusivity.  Some prayers that we all can learn off by heart would be good to give structure and stability.  (But not too many, or prayers that are too long)

I like the way that it invites everyone to contribute.  This makes it more empowering and engaging.

Maybe there are some principles to draw that can be adapted back in a church setting.  In fact this is something we were beginning to experiment with before lockdown, with the time to break up in the middle of the service to respond to the opening introduction in a variety of ways. 

The drawback is that it's harder to be a bystander, which can be quite threatening/challenging, so there should always be the option of using this time for personal reflection.

What could be different

Today's question  - What could be different about church ?

I came across a verse today in psalm 68 - I'm reading the New Revised Standard Version

verse 9:

Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;
you restored your heritage when it languished;

I'm taking God's heritage here as the Church of God.  And in this country and in so many secular, Post Christendon societies, the Church of God has lost its edge. 

So the hope held out here is that God will restore the Church.

Rain in abundance: this reminds us that this restoration will be a work of God.  We do not send the rain, this is not something that we can control.

You showered abroad: I realise that translations vary enormously, but the word that came to me today through this phrase was another hope - that God's renewal would be widespread.

In the latter half of the 20th century, there was a widespread renewal in worship, with greater openness to the work of the Holy Spirit.

What I am praying for is a greater openness now to the Holy Spirit breaking down the walls of the church to spread God's goodness and grace.

There's a story in the Gospel about the woman who brought a jar of precious perfume to Jesus - she broke it open and poured it over Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

What I pray for is for the world to filled with the gracious works of the Holy Spirit through God's church.  Of course those works of love and grace are not absent now, but we long for more. 

The Scribes Mark 2:6-12

Mark 2:6-12

‘The Scribes and the Pharisees’ will appear more and more as Mark’s Gospel continues.  But this is their first appearance, and it’s the first sign of conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders.  We had a hint in an earlier incident, when the people in the synangogue comment that Jesus is not like the scribes (the scribes were the acknowledged experts in the religious law).

In this exchange, the scribes object to Jesus telling a paralysed man that his sins are forgiven.  (Only God can forgive sin)  Jesus responds by healing the man, as if to say - ‘You want to know if I have authority to forgive sin, well yes I do!’

The scribes thought that they knew what religion was all about.  Thier job was to know the scriptures and to interpret them.  But for them it had become a set of rules to follow rather than a relationship to grow in. When religion has become just a set of rules or rituals, rather than a relationship, then we have lost it. 

It happens in all areas of life, not just religion. And some people stick to rules not just for themselves, but so that they can control others. But it is especially dangerous when people use God, or rules about religion, to exercise control over others.