Multiple Services

In reading this article Church within a Church by Greg Warner (Click the link to read the whole article) several things struck me....so I am just going to comment on a few in red so you know where the quote ends:

• "But multiple worship services don’t work for every church. What makes the difference?
  The one essential ingredient, according to pastors and consultants alike, is an outward focus. Churches that are committed to those outside their fellowship can muster the resources and tolerate the changes required to make multiple worship work." I find this interesting...as a church I think we need to be caring outward for sure....but I do run into problems with churches that are just about bringing in outside people. Often times it feels they just want to increase numbers. Going to church for me is a time to look upwards not outwards.

• “I don’t believe the primary purpose of worship is community with each other but to commune with God,” says Arn." I have to agree somewhat with this statement, however I do feel the importance of corporate worship is not being stressed in his statement. There's just something about coming together with a group of people knowing you are all worshiping the One and Only.

• “It sounds a little like saying … ‘We don’t want to change, but we don’t want to die,’” notes Dieter Zander. “But it is usually out of pain that a church changes. People don’t change when things are going well.”So true and so sad

After reading this article my heart was a little saddened. It somewhat made the situation sound hopeless. Is there a solution? For some it's going to a blended service and trying to give everyone a little of everything....sadly I think this ends up leaving a lot of people dissatisfied. Personally I enjoy having multiple generations in a worship service. I feel there is lots to learn from each person and it tends to be an encouragement to see all different age groups worshiping together. I think we could work towards are solution if we worked toward improving our services altogether. Making services more authentic, full of participation and deeper is something that people from all generations desire. Making a service that puts our thoughts, spirits, and hearts on the right track of having a deep, real connection with God is something all generations can relate to. Maybe we should stop trying to pick the right style of songs or the right sermon topic and focus on helping our congregations dig deeper, become more transparent and connect more than just standing and clapping every time we sing a song.