Change or Challege - It's all about the attitude

Today we tried a few new things in our worship service at St. Andrew.

(Gasp! New things?!!! In a Lutheran church?!!!)

We projected our worship service up above the cross on the front wall of our sanctuary and eliminated the bulletin. (Our bulletin is printed in its entirety…we do not use hymnals. Visitors have thanked us profusely for this consideration.) The choir led a few gathering songs and our choice of music leaned more toward the contemporary. The choir sang its anthem from a different spot in a different formation.

We handed out a survey and asked for a response to how people felt about the new style and format.

The service itself was not altogether different. We added two gathering hymns. Otherwise, worshippers experienced the same order of worship featuring our normal Lutheran order of worship.

The survey responses that were turned in, so far, were generally favorable…especially to do something like this once in a while, but not every Sunday. There were a lot of good comments about the logistics of the video presentation, in particular the size/placement of the projection and words and some people having difficulty viewing from the front without getting a pain in the neck.

Lutherans are often labeled the “singing Christians.” For all that many people don’t sing up, or sing out, they do prefer to see their music notes. Even if they can’t read music, being able to watch the dots go up or down helps them anticipate where the music is going. But for others, this didn’t seem to be a problem.

There were a lot of good comments that our Worship and Music team can now look at for how we might like to progress. Truthfully, many of these comments confirmed what we already know from previous surveys of new worship trials.

Unnfortunately, I know of a least two people who were extremely put off by what we attempted to do today; and yet, they did not fill out a survey. How can the Worship and Music team balance out those grumblings if we don’t have concrete comments/suggestions for what was unsettling or displeasing? How many people do those two represent? How many others were displeased and did not comment. Hopefully, those responses will filter in over the next two weeks but I am guessing maybe not.

Interestingly, the parents of two children in attendance (two separate families) commented that their children were really engaged in worship today and found it fun.

Lutherans have a lot of jokes to the tune of “change being a four-letter word.” It generally doesn’t sit well with life-long Lutherans.  But, St. Andrew is a mutt of a congregation, gathering people from all walks of life, backgrounds and religious upbringing. We are NOT all life-long Lutherans.

Being the church of the 21st century means being open to CHANGE, while still holding on to the values and traditions that define us. The CHALLENGE is in finding a way to do it well while respecting all viewpoints.

I believe St. Andrew is capable of navigating that path. It’s all a matter of attitude.

Has your church tried new worship formats? How were they received? How did you make changes and transitions?

http://www.elcaandy.org/