Two Difficult Questions, Part 1

On Monday afternoon I received an email from a church member who has become someone I can rely on to be inquisitive and thoughtful regarding just about everything - especially on spiritual matters. He read this article from Saturday's newspaper, recalled Romans 12:2, and posed two very interesting questions. Questions that I have wrestled with for the last few days and have just now been able to gain some clarity on.

Here is an excerpt from his email:

Toward the end he describes how "contemporary" services have been important in reaching out to the new generation, and how churches that don't reach out, can lose their vitality. This reminds me of two things. First, how we have experimented with this new format earlier this Spring. Second, how Grant Street UMC has died, apparently of "old age."

He continues with his first question:

By experimenting with contemporary worship, are we trying to conform to the world, and leaving behind our faithful Christian transformation?

Here is my answer:
No, contemporary worship is not "conforming to the world" in my understanding. I believe contemporary worship has the potential to provide a life-transforming experience for countless people who cannot (or have not) connect(ed) musically with organ, choirs, and hymns. It provides an on-ramp for non-Christians to find commonality between their life and the life that Christ offers them (and us).

Also, establishing a contemporary worship experience does not necessitate leaving behind "faithful Christian transformation" because it allows new people (and perhaps some current people) an opportunity to connect with God and have God transform their life in a way that we are not currently offering.

Now, as a pastor of a multi-generational congregation, I understand that a contemporary worship experience would not meet the needs of all of the people whom we are trying to reach with our Sunday morning worship experience. If University were to offer a contemporary worship experience, then we would need to keep the best of our current worship experience - thus moving to two worship experiences on Sunday mornings. This endeavor provides its own challenges, but that's for another post.

I'll end my answer with this...offering a contemporary worship experience is not a panacea - it will not cure all that ails us as a congregation. There is much work to be done on other fronts as well, but I was not asked about those fronts in this email.

Here is the second question:

Or by refusing to utilize contemporary worship, are we trying to conform to a world that is dying, and refusing to let ourselves be transformed by Christian growth?

I'll post my answer tomorrow!