Breaking out of our "forms"
One of the things that 2020 and the Covid-19 crisis has exposed, is that Churches are set on their "forms": their ways of working and doing things, and that breaking out of those is tricky!
My experience is with those churches who are "free churches": we are not bound by Bishops or canon law, yet we find it hard to think beyond our inherited ways. This has meant that over the years there have been battles about the "forms": the way we organised services and set things up. We had struggles over the music, the so called "worship-wars", the issues around charismatic renewal and the place of the gifts of the Spirit in our gatherings. In the 2000's along came the "emerging church" movement, which tried to approach things in new ways, leading to "fresh expressions". And things have changed. But in many ways we are still struggling to break free from a Christendom mindset (see Stuart Murray's "Post-Christendom" and "Church after Christendom" for more on that).
Then in March 2020 came a disruptive force. With good reason, governments in the UK and elsewhere issued instructions for groups, including churches not to gather. Many churches have been quick to "pivot", to go online via Zoom, YouTube, Facebook Live and other platforms. Sunday church as we had known it was interrupted, perhaps even more so than during the wars of the previous century.
Some churches have been very creative, adapting the message to the medium. Using video and online formats in fresh ways. Many, however, it seems have found it hard to let go of their old forms. Is having our full band in an empty sanctuary really the best way to lead worship on video platform? Is a 30 minute plus preach, stood at a podium the best way to speak to people?
The easing of lockdown and the question of going back to in-person gatherings has illustrated further our "stuckness" when it comes to forms. We have an opportunity to break out of our "Sunday morning" church mindset, to be creative and do things differently. Yet many are simply wanting to go back to how things were, lamenting that we can't sing and fellowship in the way we used to. Yes this is a loss, letting go is hard. But what if this is an opportunity rather than a problem? A chance to help people grow in discipleship and mission rather than simply return to being consumers of our church products? What if this is chance to return, as one writer put it, not to the old ways but the "much older ways" (see "Reclaiming God's Original Intent for the Church", by Roberts and Marshall).
To break the bounds of our Christendom legacy. To be more like the movement we see in Acts and elsewhere, rather than the institution we have become. To break the consumer mindset.
I am not suggesting this is easy, or that I have all the answers.
But what if this is a creative opportunity for churches to step up to?
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