Sunday 17 October 2010

The bustle of worship

Wasn't sure whether to worship at the local church this morning or on the beach. So I did both. The walk along the sand blew away some cobwebs and brought freedom after the busy feel of formal worship. In Scotland, we are creating a climate in which more and more ministers are expected to rush from one service to another on Sunday mornings. I'm wondering if it is inevitable that this leads to the feeling of worship being hurried along that I experienced this morning. Is it a luxury to have some space in worship - a luxury that is sacrificed by the linking of charges and the expectation that worship will be conducted by "the minister" between the hours of 9am and, say 12:30pm?
I'm sure God roars with laughter at the notion that worship can be packaged and condensed.
But what elements are to be sacrificed in order to create space -
the space that we need in worship as a counter to the hustle of daily life?

2 comments:

  1. ...the space that goes beyond the feel of sitting in a business meeting on a Sunday c.11am...
    I was chatting to a friend yesterday about the manner in which we 'do' worship: those things that compete now for that Sunday morning slot when 20 or so years ago there were not so many options. And I don't know about you Liz, but I always come back to the basic:
    *what 'is' worship?
    *who is it we worship?
    *why do we worship - purpose?
    *[and 'who' are 'we' anyway?]
    *how do we try in some measure to achieve whatever 'it' is?

    I keep coming back to that gnawing feeling that a 59 minute 'slot' c. 11am is not the sum of it. Ahhh, darn, I feel a blog post subject coming on. You've set off the train of thought again, darn you :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looking forward to your post Nik. :)

    ReplyDelete

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