The current order of the modern church service is linear
- announcements
- music
- offertory
- sermon
- insert whatever
--- all in a straight chronological line. Everyone is experiencing the same thing, together, simultaneously.
The postmodern mind is different. Think of a teenager listening to his iPod, doing homework and watching TRL [MTV's Total Request Live] all at the same time. This mindset can multitask, and in fact, would prefer to multitask. We live in an overstimulated age and a one-track mind can be boring.
While the Seacoast church service is mainly linear, there is a portion that isn't. During a portion of the service, a person can choose to do one, none, some or all of the following:
1. Participate in congregational singing.
2. Move to a station to receive Communion.
3. Move to a station to make an offering.
4. Move to a station and pray with leadership.
5. Move to a station, say a prayer and light a candle as a symbol of that prayer.
6. Move to a station, write a prayer concern [sin, healing, etc.] on a piece of paper and nail it to a cross.
Here's how the current service order looks:
>5 minute countdown video.
>2 upbeat worship songs.
>welcome, announcements.
>sermon.
>3-4 songs or hymns, during which you may participate in any or all of the 6 options above.
>benediction
Church. It's not just for sitting anymore. See pics of the Seacoast Greenville stations.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/worshipideas/sets/
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1 comment:
I love the Seacoast model of worship. To capture the post-modern soul of our young adults we must design a worship experience that speaks to them. We have lost a few generations because the Church was not willing to change to meet the spiritual needs of those generations. 80% of young adults who were "raised in church" no longer attend church. Why? We have become irrelevant to them. We no longer speak their language and we cannot connect them with God. I truly believe that they want to know and experience God in a personal way but they have given up on the church as the means to get there. When we are willing to let go of traditions that keep us from reaching people then we will be ready to try new expressions of worship and experience God on a whole new level.
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