This week we are thinking about the Transformed Church, and the Bible Readings are:
Matthew 17 vs 1 - 8
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
1 Peter 2 vs 9 - 10
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1PE 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people;
once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
All readings are from the NRSV and copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches, USA
OK, I’ll break the habit of a lifetime (well the last six weeks), and I will actually base the Blog on one of the Bible readings. I love the story of the Transfiguration, it is a glorious story that once you get beyond the imagery actually tells you so much about the way that the world really is. Let me just list a few points to begin with:
- It highlights how God is revealed through the person of Jesus Christ, and the law and the prophets. This reminds me that I need to spend time with my Bible.
- It shows that the disciples had no idea what was going on. I like this – it is where I live most of my life, and the fact that Jesus’ constant companions had missed something as obvious as who he was makes me realise that there is hope for me yet.
- In Peter’s reply it shows that his immediate response is to try to bring it all back down to a level that he understands. Whether this be, as some suggest, by constructing tabernacles because many people of the time believed that after the Son of Man had come, the children of Israel would all live in tents again, or whether this was just the babbling of a confused man trying to be practical, who cares. Peter has no idea what he is saying, but he feels that he needs to do something – great, I make this mistake as well.
- It all happens on a Mountain Top. We all need Mountain Top experiences of God to affirm us in our faith from time to time. If you don’t go there, then you start to run dry. I need to be reminded of this – it is not all about me and what I do.
- And so on . . .
But there is another point, a point that goes back to why we are asking “Which Way?” and why we are wrestling with what the buildings are that we need to support us in the project that we are undertaking, and it is to ask the question, why did Jesus glow?
And the answer goes back to Moses, and what happened when Moses went up Mount Sinai to speak to God. For when he came down, he glowed – he glowed because he had been in the place where God was and is. On the Mountain Top, in the Transfiguration, the veil between Heaven and Earth became so thin, that the disciples who were looking on caught a glimpse of the big picture – and the world became dazzling white – it glowed. Surely, this must be our hope and our dream for our new building. That through all the activities that happen within it, whether they be worship, or community based activities, that those who are gathered are given a glimpse of heaven – a glimpse of the world as God see’s it, and that they will glow, maybe not literally, but through having a new found joy in their hearts that affirms who they are before God, and that they matter, just like the disciples. The disciples understood all that they saw, through the characters of Jesus Christ, Moses and Elijah; but what those three characters represented was a world view that was very different from the predominant view that was around them, and through gazing upon that different world view, they saw a different set of values and understandings, and these revealed a glimpse of heaven – God’s world view.
And to the disciples, just that glimpse was life changing. Surely this must be our primary goal for what we going to do. That it be a place that gives those who enter a glimpse of heaven, a glimpse of a different way of viewing the world, a glimpse that will change them forever, as they meet with the risen Christ who comes to them, and who tells them not to be afraid, because he is with them.
And just in case you think that I am being a bit too ethereal in laying this out in this way, then answer me this; what are we doing in church every Sunday morning, if it is not adding our praises to the worship that goes on around the throne of God, and not spending time listening for God to speak to us?
On March the 7th we will Catch the Vision, and in a full day we will try to hear what God is saying to us. Please be there and be part of the journey that is only just beginning, as we gaze upon the Mountain top, and through reflecting upon Jesus Christ, the law and the prophets, we will attempt to see what God is saying to us, and catch a vision that will change us all, forever.
In our groups on Wednesday and Thursday there were five questions to stimulate the discussion, based on the bible readings quoted at the start – these have been re-produced by permission of the publisher:
1. In the light of our exploration over the last five weeks, what is our dream for our worship space? How can it be re-arranged to speak more clearly of the glory of God, of our life together, and of our concern for those outside?
2. In particular, how should the liturgical foci of font, ambo and altar be so arranged as to do justice to who we are and what we have to offer? What is the liturgical sequence that is best for us?
3. How urgent a priority for us is the re-ordering of our worship space and building?
4. What are the obstacles to the implementation of a re-ordering scheme?
5. How can we best share “good news” about the formative process of re-ordering and liturgical renewal?
Taken from “Re-pitching the tent – Third Edition, by Richard Giles ©2004 Canterbury Press, an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. Used by permission.
Ian's blog reminded me of one of Rob Bell's nooma films - YOU. He comments in this film about the fact that at the time of Jesus, many people worshipped many gods, many had some kind of 'saviour' and many of the god's had risen from the dead. So what makes Christianity so different? The early church described themselves as the body of Christ. They advocated that we should create a new and better world by acts of generosity and kindness. They believed that in their loving, compassionate, generous and peace-loving communities, Jesus was present in a way that went beyond words. They invited people to join with them, eat with them, celebrate with them and suffer with them and then asked: do you think Jesus is here? They believed that a church was a living, breathing display of a whole new world that God was bringing about right here, right now. Rob goes on to say that some people have something going on inside them that is so powerful, so tangible that you can't help but ask them questions. You're dying to know why they are the way they are - you want them to explain the reason for the hope within them. When you are with people like this, you have a sense that in some way you've been with Jesus AND THAT IS CHURCH - this group of people that by their compassion, generosity, grace that they extend to others, you find yourself believing when you're around them that God hasn't given up on the world - there is hope!
ReplyDeleteMay our new church bring together the passion of the early church, the usefulness of what we can do in our area today and hope for the future!
The Following article appeared in the New Statesman in June 2007 it was written by Rev Sylvester Deigh who is joining the Leigh and Hindley Circuit in September.
ReplyDeleteIt really put into context for me where we came from and how we should look to our future
Ways of worship
Posted by Sylvester Deigh - 14 June 2007 12:11
In Sylvester Deigh's final article he explains the method to Methodism
It has been said that the Methodist Church was born in song. This is largely due to the influence of Charles Wesley. He was John Wesley’s brother who, having had a similar spiritual experience to his brother, joined him in the work of the early Methodist movement as a gifted poet who wrote many thousands of hymns.
The singing of hymns was a means of communicating the gospel and teaching the faith to new converts – many of whom could not read. This has given the Methodist Church a rich heritage in our worship by singing and music. For many Methodists, our hymn book is also our prayer book – an aid to personal prayer and devotion.
Alongside this strong tradition of singing, sits an equally strong tradition of preaching. John Wesley appointed fellow travelling preachers - who were the predecessors of today’s ordained Methodist ministers - to follow in his footsteps and travel the length and breadth of Britain preaching the gospel.
Working with these travelling preachers are local preachers - lay men and women trained by the church to lead acts of worship and to preach the gospel. As a result worship is always varied and often exciting.
Methodist ministers are ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament which reflects our origins and Wesley’s emphasis on preaching the word. The Methodist Church recognises two Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. Sacrements are solemn acts of worship that were established by Jesus Christ in order to bring grace to God’s people.
For Methodists baptism marks entry into the ‘one holy catholic and apostolic church’, of which the Methodist Church is a part. Through Baptism God shows His love for all people, displayed supremely in the self-giving of Jesus Christ. The act of baptism demonstrates all that Christ has won for us through his death and resurrection, and makes plain that before and without any response on our part Christ died for us.
Baptism is offered to both adults and young people and is a means of grace.
Holy Communion, or the Lords Supper as it is sometimes called, is the church’s central act of Christian worship in which, as Christians, we share together at the Lord's table. This sacrament comes out of the last meal and act of fellowship that Christ had with his disciples before he was betrayed and crucified. As Christ sat at table with them he blessed the bread and passed it to his disciples instructing them to break bread in this way whenever they meet together in remembrance of him.
After supper he did the same with the cup of wine, blessing it and passing it on to his disciples in a similar manner to that of the bread. As Christians we celebrate the Lord's Supper as a way of remembering Christ’s great act of sacrifice, his love for all the world and his saving grace.
John Wesley taught that Holy Communion was a ‘saving ordinance’ – meaning that we can meet with Christ and be saved by him through faith in him as we receive the bread and wine.
Article Continued
ReplyDeleteThese two sacraments are echoed in what we refer to as ‘the Four Alls’.
These are statements of belief that talk about the saving act of Jesus Christ and summarise Wesley’s teaching.
They are:
1. All need to be saved – The Bible tells us that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) - Sin is a deep-seated self-seeking from which no-one is immune and from which all need ‘saving’.
2. All can be saved - We can be saved from the consequences of our sin through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. This is the Gospel ('good news') for everyone - "God sent the Son into the world... that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:16-17) All we have to do is to accept Jesus Christ into our lives.
3. All can know themselves saved - through the promises in scripture and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can have the assurance that we have been saved. This is the certainty of faith that John Wesley searched for and found as he declared, “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
4. All may be completely saved - there can be no limits on what God can do in our lives, as we are continually becoming more perfect in our love for God and for our fellow humans.
These ‘Four Alls’ are at the centre of Methodist belief and practices and at the heart of Wesley’s vision that Methodism was raised up by God to spread Scriptural Holiness throughout the Land.
Personally I am a Methodist because of my belief in the saving grace of Jesus Christ as taught by John Wesley; the exciting dimensions of worship within the life of the church and because of the practical nature of faith exemplified by John Wesley and held onto by the Methodist church today.
Wesley always encouraged his followers to go not only to those who needed them, but to those who need them the most – regardless of status, regardless of race. Wesley’s understanding of the gospel was of a holistic gospel, caring for body, mind and spirit – believing nothing and no-one is beyond God’s care and concern.
The Transformed Church by Thursday House Group
ReplyDelete1. What is our dream for our worship space?
We want it to convey atmosphere and an attitude of holiness.
Can it be both a community centre and maintain Holiness? We think Yes. We make holiness.
The Church shouldn’t be locked so people can go in at any time.
We must try and empathise with the first step of someone coming new to church – remove any intimidation. – building shouldn’t be foreign to people in our community
Should be a Sanctuary area distinct from secular activities for tranquillity / prayer and /worship.- Chorley Old Road was given as an example – but feeling that this example might be shutting God out. Worship areas needs section acoustically separated but visually integrated (for children etc.
Bolton Road – focal point. If we have a moveable focal point, that should always be on display (cross) then we could have any layout of the worship space we desired (could there be a cross in every room of the building to show God’s presence in all we do)? We need a focal point to show God is present through all activities. Separate room suggests God is only there for special occasions – but quiet prayer room considered positive- place for tranquillity but not to be shut away.
Glory of God – How do we bring it in? Windows – visual of nature. Choice of warm welcoming colours –‘Glory Colours’.
Display concern for others – we need to do that. By invitations and by being welcoming. We need to work in partnership with agencies so we can offer more to the community. We need to meet the requirements of all ages. There needs to be space for learning, for uniformed organisations. If we are giving people space they should be able to own that space for themselves
We need to cater for our growing elderly population, young people, families etc but with a limited amount of money how do we define priorities – flexibility is the name of the game. It must be a building that is inviting for the whole community.
Thursday House Group continued
ReplyDelete2. How should the liturgical foci be so arranges as to do justice to who we are and what we have to offer?
Liturgical foci should be moveable tying in with flexible space.
Key Furniture – cross, lectern & communion table
Little Lever identified as an example of moveable space. How many people are we building to accommodate – St. Andrews, Bromley Cross?? Usage of a partition for larger/ smaller space as required.
Warning – How much do we compromise with the partners we work with? ( Church Name?)
Discussion about different denominations sharing the same worship space. Same aims/mission but different worship times. Example of Chris and Anne’s church in Filey – denominations have separate worship but joint coffee times.
The Pentecostal Church has stage, lights, sound system, coffee bar, men’s residential weekends – great at serving its community, has brought people to the faith. Do we need to be learning from them? We should but be different and make up our own style.
We may need period of training and development – how professional do we want to be?
Thurdsay House Group Final Comments
ReplyDelete3.How urgent a priority for us is the re-ordering of our worship space and building?
Music/ sound system is required to support our worship. Organ and praise band.
It is not just the building, it’s the people, the atmosphere that makes it.
Acoustics need to be right.
4.What are the obstacles to the implementation of a re-ordering scheme?
Time, money. Need to make most of time now to try new service formats ready for the future. People may be obstacles – difficulty agreeing what we are actually going to do. The people and the community are most important.
5.How can we best share ‘good news’ about the formative process of re-ordering and liturgical renewal?
Public questionnaire raises the profile of our existence. Web site address publicised in local venues to help people know about us. Promote work for the community & wider world this shows our support for others & fundraising.
St Peter’s, Halliwell – old building modernised but 2 different times of service and styles for the community needs.
What should our identity be? How are we known? – Would like to be known for compassion, youth activities, welcome and support., making the community a better place. A church that is known as a radiating church.
Exodus – journey from slavery to worship in the Temple. Need to watch we don’t become too attached to the building and neglect the relationships.