This morning I was thinking about why my church does things the way we do them. I really wasn't thinking about “big picture” things like why we worship God or why we pray for each other. We're going to keep doing those things, and I'm guessing you will, too. What I was thinking about was the way in which we go about doing those.
I was concerned about having fallen into a worship format or liturgy (and let's face it, we all have them) that was predictable and prescribed. Oh, the songs change and the scripture readings are varied and the messages are different each week. But why are we doing things in this sequence and with this person from this particular place in the room? Is there a better, more effective, more dynamic, more memorable way to get from point A to point B? Do we really want to go to point B anyway? Is there a point C? If not, why not?
And we still pray for each other; or at least we say we will. This morning I was just a little fearful that we've lapsed into nodding our head at each spoken prayer request and truly intending to pray over that. But then life comes along and stuff gets in the way and well … we just forget. Is there a better way to enter into a covenant prayer relationship with each other? If there is, why aren't we doing that?
5 years ago, when our congregation was formed and our choir was organized, we decided that “choir officers,” in their traditional role, wasn't going to work for us. We determined that we'd figure out what particular jobs were really the ones that needed to be performed and we'd fill those. Then, to help make each task clear and memorable, we'd label them based on Soren Kierkegaard's famous analogy of worship and theatrical performance. (Look it up; it's brilliant!)
So, we came out with a Cast of Characters, including Producer, Director, Stage Manager, Box Office Manager, Marquee Manager, etc. This way, all the needed tasks get done, and each time we reference one of these positions, we're reminded of the analogy and why it is we're doing things the way we are. It's effective, it's memorable, and it undergirds our mission statement.
Always ask why.