Make a New Normal

Entrance

Entrance - Day 1 - Deconstruct Church

How do we enter into church? The building, the people, the concept…
How do we come in? Do we walk…stroll…shimmy?
Do we slink in and sit in the back? Stride to the front? Get lost in the middle?
Do we seek out the familiar pew in the familiar space?
Is it the same community of our childhood? Of our parents?
Is it different? New? New to you?

It is funny that “church” means so many different things to people and yet we use the word “church” as if the other person knows what we mean. Go to church we say. Go.

Entrance - Day 1 - Deconstruct Church

In my tradition, we come in and often take our place, kneel in silence, and pray. This, of course isn’t mandated. People often come in casually and talk quietly. Sometimes they gather elsewhere and talk before worship begins. Often where we serve the donuts and coffee afterward.

 

And then the group we call the altar party comes in. A procession. And the congregation stands for the cross as it is brought into the worship space we call a nave. And we “process” in a line toward the front behind the cross. Always, it seems, to music. Usually the “processional hymn” we call it. But not always. Then we come to the front and from there, we will begin.

Maybe your tradition doesn’t have a formal entrance. Maybe the pastor walks out onto stage from the side. Or maybe it is someone else, a music leader or song leader who leads the congregation in singing three or four praise songs. And when s/he is done, the pastor makes his entrance.

How we enter says a great deal about our self-importance, it seems. Humble or grand? Do we demand to be noticed or hope to just slip in, arriving to our space in the midst of other activity?

And what does the entrance tell us about what is going to happen? Are we trying to maintain our individuality, our isolation while in public or are we gathering, being noticed and recognized? Are we preparing ourselves for intimacy?

Ask yourself these questions:

How do you enter worship? How does your congregation’s worship begin? Do they match?

What do you want to communicate about yourself and your faith?

What do you hope your congregation communicates?

What are your emotions, priorities, hopes?

What do you bring with you? What concerns and needs are on your shoulders? What could your church do about them? What would make it easier to shed your burdens? Or share the joy you feel?

What would it be to make you more comfortable and more powerful? More hopeful and more loved?

When you walk in, who are you expecting to be when you walk out?

 

[This is Day 1 of How to start deconstructing church. The next in the series is “Music“. To start from the beginning, read the introduction here.]

4 responses

  1. […] we think about how we enter our buildings specifically, we must also hold in tension that bigger entrance we are speaking to: that we are […]

  2. I enter worship when I walk into our rented space, because I have to set up, by myself or with others, our ‘worship space’. This is often a frazzling time for me as I try to set up electronics (projector / computer connections, screen, speakers, Internet connections, online broadcast prep), while also welcoming worshippers (and fret about how few/many we’re going to have today!) and ‘catch up’ with them. The worship begins when I take a deep breath, take a second to ‘center’, make sure the online broadcast has started, and say ‘Good morning’. Sometimes I have invited the congregation to join in a moment of silence with me. Perhaps I should do that more often.

    When our members and guests enter the space, I want to help them gain the sense that they are entering into community where all can speak, sing, think, and meditate on things which are of ultimate importance. In turn, I hope they catch on to and in turn communicate a sense of community, that they want to be there, and that they want to enter that ‘holy conversation’, and that they can invite others to be part of it.

    I carry a great amount of angst with me (Are people confortable? Have I done everything I can to help create that sense of community?). I believe the emotions, priorities, and hopes I have named are part of my role as presider and preacher in my faith community.

    We’re averaging 6-10 people a Sunday (there are a lot of reasons for that). More people would be nice, so that we could carry the idea that we are a ‘going concern’. Yes, I know that we have life in our community as it is, but it feels like we’re hanging on by our fingernails sometimes – a little more security would feel good.

    1. Wow! What a great response! Thank you!

      I love the way you describe that sense of responsibility but also that sense of knowing that this a time of gathering and centering. One of the practices we did at a previous church was to begin with blessings and prayer concerns. This would give people the chance to bring forward what was on their hearts before we began as an offering to GOD. It was a really meaningful thing for me and some in that community.

      I also hear that sense of pressure and concern in you: that in preparing for the needs of your congregation, you are carrying burden. I can totally relate to that. How are you served by that tension? Does it help you engage with the deep need of your people? Does it inhibit your own worshipful praise?

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