1. Growth- when I began, we had between 30-50 in attendance each week, and now we average over 100! We are also seeing more and more young adults, which has been a huge goal!
2. New music- thanks to some open mindedness and experience with more "modern" praise songs, the band has developed an entirely new music library, and it's always growing. We've also added some wonderful musicians who donate their time and talents every week to the band. What a blessing!
3. More family friendliness- this service now has about twice as many children than our traditional worship! We've made this service more informal, a family friendly atmosphere, and a chance for children's church after the children's time.
4. More lay driven leadership opportunities- getting people involved is a goal of mine for this service. We have more lay people reading scripture, words of reflection, and now doing the children's sermon once a month for this worship service. People want to be involved and help lead, so why not give them the opportunity?
5. Use of film and media- not every week, but a lot of the time, this service benefits from an audio/visual worship aid, whether it's a film clip, a musical devotion, or other images.
6. Special music- this congregation likes to experience the many musical talents of our worship team- so we are always encouraged to have solos or other special music as part of our worship service. We also have a few "secular" songs that we've adapted to make it a praise song. Examples are: "Let it Be," and "Some Kind of Wonderful." We are working on some more. These really get the congregation going.
7. Freedom for movement- it's taken a long time, but people in this service are gradually getting more comfortable using their bodies in worship. I always encourage them to dance or lift their hands, and although I still get some blank stares, there are some who are feeling better about letting go and really worshiping God through song and letting their bodies worship as well.
8. A sense of church family- fostering relationships is part of what it's all about. We've started to recognize birthdays, anniversaries, and other special celebrations as part of the beginning of worship that we can celebrate together as a church family. This still needs some work, too, since some are too shy to speak up!
9. Prayer- this service is covered in prayer- we could always use more, of course, but I ask our prayer team to pray for this service each week. The band always prays together before we lead worship. This has made a big difference.
10. A sense of openness- and finally, this congregation seems ready for anything. When I first came to Memorial, this group was timid and without direction, and now they seem open to whatever comes their way as part of this worship service. As long as we keep fostering ways to experience God, they are ready.
Things I'd like to continue to work on:
-Space- we are growing like crazy, and our sanctuary is perhaps too "traditional" for what this worship service needs. I'd like to find a way to make the space more communal, but this probably entails moving the service to another location all together.
-Comfort level- my comfort level, the congregation's comfort level- there are still many who are not comfortable being in this type of worship service- this might take some time and patience.
-Welcoming and inviting more young adults- enough said!
-Fostering community- getting better, but always needs work
-Team building on our praise team- we are gelling more and more, but there are the occasional ego flair ups- we sometimes need to feel the love and balance each other out!
Overall, this has been an amazing ride of improvement, growth, and God's grace.
Oh, how far we've come!!
1 comment:
That is so awesome! It's been fun to "follow" along since you were appointed nearly three years ago.
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