Worship in the Church of the Future

For years, I found church worship services boring, repetitious, uninspiring, and almost worthless.

The format was always the same except on the first Sunday when it was Holy Communion, which was equally unexciting. The reenactment of the Last Supper, a powerful drama, was usually boring and confusing. What was its significance? The institution has been confused for centuries.

The singing of hymns was often painful, especially with a new hymn. Often, the tune was catchy, but the theology was horrendous. “Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war” was more of a Crusader’s war chant than a rally around the church’s foundation stone, peace and justice.

No more nitpicking. Let’s look at worship in the church of the future.

It has to be dynamic and well rehearsed with the congregation involved. The story of Jesus, a Jewish peasant who changed the course of civilization, has to be high drama and presented in many different art forms: all genres of music, drama, poetry, art, a reading, dance, a walk through a labyrinth, or any other creative medium.

Singing is a must, especially popular songs (secular or religious). The act of singing gets the adrenaline going, not necessarily the words.

There are many forms of prayer, some kneeling and sitting, some standing, some walking, some silent, at times the waving of hands (like at concerts), and sometimes the reading of a powerful passage as a prayer. I found it interesting and moving when the prayer leader would have an imaginary conversation with Jesus, Saint Paul, or perhaps one of our twenty-first-century saints (for example, Pope John XXIII). People listened.

Sermons need to become more of a dialogue between the preacher and one or two other folks or the congregation. The subject does not necessarily have to be churchy. With the right people and the shared and established goal of staying positive, discussions could even happen between political parties. As a faith-based person, I look at the secular world through my faith. My politics are faith-based, as they have been all my life. In one church I attended, the pastor started the worship with a ten-minute discussion about what was on the congregation’s mind. I found it extremely powerful, especially when it continued beyond the ten minutes.

The church of the future has to be interfaith and ecumenical, so we are all exposed to the many other ways of worshipping. Not only will folks see new ways to give praise, but they also will make new friends with people of different faiths or denominations. Envision a Navajo medicine man leading the service or maybe a gay woman rabbi. This opens all sorts of new doors and opportunities and a new world vision.

Religious services of different faiths and denominations will be offered throughout the day and week.

I have presented many ideas, but the basis of this blog post is that the worship of the future church has to be creative, resourceful, open-minded, and aware of other traditions. We must not allow others to stop us from doing worship in so many different ways. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I can’t wait to go to one of these churches! How about you?

PeaceLoveJoyHopeKindness

Bil

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P.S. People often ask me provocative questions about current events, both religious and secular. I have found that some of these questions are being asked universally. I’ll be periodically alternating regular articles with one of those questions and my answer. I invite you to send me your question to bilaulenbach@yahoo.com.

 

Photo by Wisnu Widjojo on Unsplash