How was church today?

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Sermon today was on the first creation myth from Genesis and how God is in everything and all that has been created. A good sermon for Earth Day. Also had one of my favorite hymns, "Oh Beautiful Gaia." Postlude music was fun too, "Puff the Magic Dragon." Then it was out front where Rev. John did the Blessing of the bikes and bikers, sprinkling water on us all. Missed the blessing last year and had a bike crash, so hopefully this will send me forth to a safe year of cycling. Did my first 50km ride of the year today and so far so good. :)
 
Sunday was the covenanting service between myself, the Brigus-Cupids-Georgetown Pastoral Charge and East District of Newfoundland and Labrador Conference.

I invited Ministry Colleague and friend the Rev. Stephen Barbour to preach on this occasion. Stephen and I first met in St. Anthony where he was employed by Eastern Health as a Health Inspector.

Stephen shared two stories of my ministry which impressed him most and set a standard for him as he entered into ministry.

Disyrict Chair the Reverend Lisa Potter-Seasons who I first met at the Vancouver School of Theology ( she was the class ahead of mine) presided over the covenanting aspect of the service so we are stuck with one another in a tripartite covenant.

We all seem okay with that for the time being.
 
I spoke about modernizing some of the imagery we use for Christ so that we do not alienate the newer generation. Christ as shepherd is understood and loved by churchgoers; the unchurched might consider it a code to be deciphered, and they may not put the effort into deciphering. I gave a couple of examples, but focused mostly on the metaphor of Jesus as a coach. It seems to fit our hockey-crazy town at the moment. I was pleasantly surprised about how well received this message was, even though the average age of both congregations was upwards of 60! These good people long to share their faith with the younger generation, who is largely absent from the pews.
 
Kimmio said:
We sang this song (and others)...led by a singing and guitar duo. (Speaking of worms) It is another one you might say has become an "ear worm", so to speak - one that I like.

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Listening to that caliber of music....heaven!
 
Nancy said:
I spoke about modernizing some of the imagery we use for Christ so that we do not alienate the newer generation. Christ as shepherd is understood and loved by churchgoers; the unchurched might consider it a code to be deciphered, and they may not put the effort into deciphering. I gave a couple of examples, but focused mostly on the metaphor of Jesus as a coach. It seems to fit our hockey-crazy town at the moment. I was pleasantly surprised about how well received this message was, even though the average age of both congregations was upwards of 60! These good people long to share their faith with the younger generation, who is largely absent from the pews.
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Nancy, please don't take wrong what I'm going to say. It's just a reflection - my two cents, not a criticism.

While I like multiple images and metaphors to describe Christ and His relationship with us, I find that sometimes older people imagine younger people cannot understand/relate to traditional Christianity. I wonder if that is really the case. There is now a big trend in Brazil where youngster are seeking very liturgical congregations. I think we feel a sense of continuity flowing like a river, to use a Nadia Bolz-Weber image, since Christ and the Early Church and the Fathers, through the Reformers until hit us. The same rituals, the same words - meanings and interpretations can differ and change, but the same words and liturgy remain - that's powerful, in my opinion.
 
Love the feedback GiancarloZ. I agree in a way with what you are saying...If there are young people in church here they are in the congregations of the more fundamentalist congregations. But, I feel that leaves a lot of young people out of the equation, because, I for one, would not have attended such a church. My message yesterday pointed out how powerful, meaningful, comfortable the older images are for many of us...However, we might want to consider: Are these same images actually a barrier to others?
 
Giancarlo, I don't that it's 'age' as much as culture and region. Sheep and shepherds are not familiar items at all to Canadians. It's not even common livestock here. More likely to be goats, lol.

So to move the image of Christ from unknown "shepherd" to supportive coach, or attentive caretaker, are ways to make it meaningful to people where they are today.
 
Nancy said:
Love the feedback GiancarloZ. I agree in a way with what you are saying...If there are young people in church here they are in the congregations of the more fundamentalist congregations. But, I feel that leaves a lot of young people out of the equation, because, I for one, would not have attended such a church. My message yesterday pointed out how powerful, meaningful, comfortable the older images are for many of us...However, we might want to consider: Are these same images actually a barrier to others?
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I think a way of knowing this is simply to ask. I think new imagery is powerful and challenging even for the ones who love the traditional ones - but are the old/traditional ones not functional for younger/unchurched people? Maybe reach them and ask them could be a good way to decide a direction.
 
BetteTheRed said:
Giancarlo, I don't that it's 'age' as much as culture and region. Sheep and shepherds are not familiar items at all to Canadians. It's not even common livestock here. More likely to be goats, lol.

So to move the image of Christ from unknown "shepherd" to supportive coach, or attentive caretaker, are ways to make it meaningful to people where they are today.
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I agree to a certain level - in urban parts of Brazil, people probably never seen livestock or a shepherd, too. But then they've seen in movies, television, they've read about it, and also the pastor/priest can explain during the sermon - which most do in my church, for example.

My point is that we shouldn't undervalue the capacity of understanding of others before asking or knowing directly from them. Maybe they are/would be comfortable with the traditional forms and we don't know. Maybe we are in need of more challenging imagery than they are.

(Again, I reassure I come in peace :) English is not my native language so I'm always afraid of sounding harsh or rude when I'm not)
 
GiancarloZ said:
I agree to a certain level - in urban parts of Brazil, people probably never seen livestock or a shepherd, too. But then they've seen in movies, television, they've read about it, and also the pastor/priest can explain during the sermon - which most do in my church, for example.

My point is that we shouldn't undervalue the capacity of understanding of others before asking or knowing directly from them. Maybe they are/would be comfortable with the traditional forms and we don't know. Maybe we are in need of more challenging imagery than they are.

(Again, I reassure I come in peace :) English is not my native language so I'm always afraid of sounding harsh or rude when I'm not)
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Don't worry about it. I have a great facility with English, and I like to argue, usually in a fairly impersonal way, and it often comes out as harsh/rude or both. I'm actually almost agreeable in real life.
 
Nancy said:
Listening to that caliber of music....heaven!
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This is the band who wrote it, but our musicians are really this good, and play music outside of church, in bands, etc. too. Not yesterday (was just a duet singing and guitars) but we have a violinist, a stand up base player, pianist, drummer, flute player....and everyone sings beautifully. I unfortunately, don't sing beautifully...but I really appreciate the calibre of the music. We've had people walk in off the street, because they wanted to check out the music.
 
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I preach about once a month as we share worship with another congregation. I preached on 1 John 16-24 with a title, To Love Enough, and theme (to love enough to be close enough to God to have enough power to do incredible things). While the services we share are as good as I have experienced most anywhere, the congregations feel a bit stuck to me, and the message I have pushed most in my time here is the necessity for members to invite people they know to share in their church life. I have 2 months left as supply coordinating minister and 2 sermons left to preach. The new minister seems to be a great match for the congregation, willing to think outside of the box, and eager to find ways to grow the church, and I am determined to provide the best start that I can for her. I got a few hugs of thanks for how the message was especially helpful for them in their lives. My message also included my understanding of God as a quantum God.
 
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