This morning, Liam Cartwright has written about church worship and how it impacts upon those who have come along. He was prompted by a survey in The Times that suggests that perception in the wider populace is that going to church was the most boring activity a person can do. Leaving aside that a survey of people who by and large don’t go to church is based upon prejudice rather than experience, it raises some key points for me as a liturgist and worship leader.
Liam passionately talks about embracing breadth of tradition to lead inspiring worship in a variety of different settings. He calls for vibrancy and diversity in our worship. He’s sparked healthy debate on twitter and is inspiring people to stop leading worship they wouldn’t want to attend themselves. Prompted by one twitter interaction, I turned to my blog to talk about easter fires and plea for people to make it a spectacle. One of the defining learning experiences I had at theological college was attending a placement church where I watched on in disbelief as a disposable BBQ was cermonially lit to usher in the joy of the resurrection. A picture of me immolating myself in the church park at Holy Nativity paints a thousand words and there is a deeper issue of how the church values the leading of worship.
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