In preparing for a new church start, we, the community and congregation, have formed a small group to plan the first worship service. We intend to have a few different worship planning groups so that we can keep things fresh each week. We do not have a paid minister, and we’re not really sure we even want a weekly sermon. Our goal is to have an engaging gathering each week to deeply explore our own faiths; witness, experience, and help others in their faith journey; and be in true community with one another.
I am lucky enough to be on the planning team for the first worship service. One morning a couple of weeks ago, at 8:00 am, we held a conference call to discuss the plans for this gathering. At least two of us were driving, one had been taking care of a sick child, and I may be mistaken, but it sounded like the fourth was still in bed. Talk about multi-tasking! And, we had an incredible, spirit-filled, exciting conversation. There are so many possibilities! And yet, we seemed to all come to consensus on most ideas that were presented pretty quickly.
Our general plan is to not be tied to structure. We want to have an open format. We do not intend to have the same order of worship every week. Some weeks may be a guided discussion; some weeks we may have a guest speaker – either a minister, lay person, or a person of a different faith who can share some of their traditions with us; some weeks we may have silent meditation for the entire service – we are open to just about anything. Personally, I’d love to spend an hour doing yoga one Sunday morning. Possibilities abound!
Join me for my next post detailing what decisions we made about the specifics of our first gathering!
LOL! I was still in bed.
Posted by Karen Lalicker | November 23, 2011, 5:58 am