free flowing

i'm trying to get lots of feedback on our new service at my church. i asked a guy that i know what he thought after his first visit. he had come in about 10 minutes late to the service, so he didn't hear all the explanations or instructions.

we have kind of a free-flowing thing going, with options for how involved you want to be. that probably doesn't make sense. we've been trying to communicate that people are welcome to participate to the level they are comfortable, recognizing that people are at different stages & might want more or less participation, and also recognizing that people worship in different ways. so there are options for response at the end of the service, options to pray, to continue singing, to be creative, or even to leave.

so anyway, this guy was saying how he was a little lost and confused. he seemed like he kind of wanted to be told what to do.

and i can understand that. but.

but when i go to church a lot of times i just check out mentally. people tell you what to do, you sing, stand, sit, listen (or zone out), etc. to me i think that having choices of how to respond means i have to actually be engaged. does that cause some discomfort? maybe. will it take getting used to if you've spent all your life going to church where there's procedure all mapped out for you? definitely.

but i kind of like it. i like the idea that you are forced to be engaged. even if you get through the first portion of the meeting as a passive person, a choice is set before you to get involved at the end and actually respond in a meaningful way. that's cool. really cool.

but i guess we can work on the communication aspect of things--making sure that people know what they're choosing. and there will be times when we do more strongly directed group activities.

and another thought--how do we keep a unity within the diversity of response? there is a purpose & a benefit to having some measure of order. i don't think things have been out of control up to this point. but it would be good if we could keep a balance so that it doesn't get there.

so... interesting things to think about.