In Worship Evangelism (Zondervan, 1995), Sally Morgenthaler urged churches to view worship as exactly what postmodern seekers have been seeking—a unique experience of the presence of God. Later she founded Sacramentis.com to help them design interactive worship services especially suited to their communities. We wondered how indigenous churches can still feel like home to the growing number of people who are moving to new addresses but seeking Christian community.
You encourage congregations to create their own music and liturgies. But what elements of worship must we have in common?
Sally Morgenthaler: Planning doesn’t begin with a blank slate. We still look for prayer, interaction with Scripture, and praise and adoration. But that’s not enough. The elements need to point to a common theme—the character, person, and acts of God. In the growing diversity of worship styles, what’s at the core of worship? The “Grand Narrative.”
What does this Grand Narrative look like?
Liturgical churches historically rehearse the Grand Narrative of God—creation, fall, redemption of humanity. Many emerging ministries craft an eclectic worship mix to interact with the Grand Narrative. Like the modern art of pastiche (creating something new out of pieces on hand), they blend the arts, drama, object lessons, silence, ancient songs and choruses to give people interactive, experiential entry points into the story of God.
How can a church miss the redemption story?
Many contemporary churches use the elements to highlight a mini-theme of the week. Worship becomes a mental process of preparing for the point of the sermon, a moment when the worshiper realizes, “Ah, that’s my problem, and that’s how I’m supposed to fix it.” But there’s a real weariness with that.
There’s a huge difference between yesterday’s religious consumer and today’s developing worshiper. People desire to fit within a grander scheme for life than the pursuit of happiness. They want to find their place in the comprehensive story of God’s plan.
In our highly mobile society, how can churches help transplanted worshipers fit in?
By honoring the diversity that creates each community’s indigenous expression of the gospel. We’re not inviting new worshipers into a product we’re done creating. Instead we say, “Come help us craft this experience of God through community. We want to know who you are. Share the richness of your tradition, and help us learn about God through your experiences.”
It’s messy, relationally based, and puts the church in listening mode. It has to be done one-on-one and outside of Sunday morning. But new worshipers are new stories and gifts that fit as new pieces in the body.
A church I worked with in Washington demonstrated this by displaying 16 symbols of Good Friday, drawing on many expressions—English, Spanish, Russian— in their gym. They invited the community to walk through the gym and witness their desire to know God through a local diversity of expression.
What about congregations that aren’t as open to new expressions of worship?
The notion that worship style defines a church has to be challenged. But the primetime service is not where you begin change. Change is a process that begins on the fringe. Start with a community-embracing catalyst event on Saturday or Sunday night. The event in Washington worked because it was on a Thursday and Friday night. They didn’t commit to doing it every year, and it didn’t threaten Sunday morning. Find alternative times to do your newest things, and let change backflow into the rest of your worship services. Unless it’s a mission plant. Then you can go for broke from the beginning.
Sally Morgenthaler’s new book, The Uncharted Now, will be published by InterVarsity Press. She also contributed to Worship: Six Views (Paul Basden, ed.) to be released by Zondervan in early 2004.
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