Tag Archives: Emergent Church

It Doesn’t Matter What You Wear…

05 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by in Current Events, Life, Music, Pop, Pop Culture, Religion

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Photo from People.com

I just read an article on People Magazine’s website that Britney Spears wore thigh high boots and a tight dress as she went to church on Sunday morning.  Her hair wasn’t perfectly pulled-back into a ponytail, and so the article described her style as “messy.”

Could this be another reason why Millenials shy away from church?

Now, the article never notes that the church was judgmental that Spears was wearing this outfit.  But through the media, a stereotype was reinforced: the Sunday church outfit.

Why can’t people wear tight dresses and thigh-high boots to worship?  Or shorts and tank tops?  Do we want the person to come to God the way God has made her or him?  Shouldn’t authentic expression be a part of the way we connect with God?

I wonder if we could get more people into church if we encouraged them to dress the same way they would to go to the movies, the grocery store or the club?

Haven’t we figured out that next generations are more laid-back in their approach to etiquette?  Instead of calling a pastor Reverend Smith like they would in the mid 20th century, we now call her Pastor Jane.  Instead of calling one’s mom Mrs. Smith, we call her Miss Jane.  Instead of wearing a suit and tie to church or work, more people are wearing khakis or jeans.  We TTYL and BRB instead of talking to you later and being right back.  Why does alternative expression have to be a bad thing – whether it’s within the church or in the communities?  Expression has been evolving for centuries, and God’s been in each of those style evolutions.

As churches, we should be evolving as the world evolves and encouraging each person to come as they are instead of covering them in shame.  Otherwise, God and the rest of the world will be leaving churches far, far behind.

Churches in the Tomb

24 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Current Events, Life, Pop, Religion

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Completely void of light. Darkness envelops us. There is no way to our old lives, but we can’t find our way to resurrection…

I wonder if many of our churches are stuck in the tomb. Holy Saturday won’t end and we continue to wake up each day as if resurrection will never come to fruition.

We can no longer go back to the way we used to do things. Sure, our former ways of living was enjoyable, familiar and gave us great strength. But the church is like the pre-death Jesus: it will never come again. Have we taken the time to grieve for our old ways? Do we actually believe there is new life and that new life means completely letting our old lives go?

Rolling back the stone to the entrance to the tomb and grasping resurrection takes courage. It’s allowing ourselves to give the past to yesterday and take very little with us into the future. In dying and exiting the tomb, we are setting aside the hard-heartedness that comes with loss and walking into the sunlight with faith.

Life rarely thrives in damp, shadowy caves. Many plants need sunlight to flourish. Likewise, leaving behind the tomb for the lighted resurrection world will give our churches a chance to grow.

What will we leave behind in the tomb as a church (individual congregation, denomination and Mainline Protestantism) in order for us to spring up in the bright beams of resurrection? How can living into resurrection create a spirit of thriving?

A crafty resurrection

18 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in Pop, Pop Culture

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Everything old is new again.

Yesterday, I perused the artwork at the semiannual Crafty Supermarket event in Cincinnati.  This is not your grandmother’s craft show.  Prints of all sorts, edgy drawings, fabric art and a variety of photographs filled the halls of the show.  The pieces that greatly resonated with me were the antique and retro items turned into useful modern-day wearable crafts.

What happens when a number of pieces from your favorite childhood board game or collectors cards go missing?  The remaining pieces become the next generation of crafts.  Those items which seem like trash is no longer rubbish.  The broken typewriter key has been attached to a ring.  The spare lego is made into a tie clip.  A crystal from a chandelier is now hanging from a pendant.  A card from the Uno or Clue game is the new cover of a mini notebook.

Life isn’t over for the pop piece of yesteryear.  Whether New Kids on the Block or Alf filled your eighties dreams, those memories still linger in new form.  And as the memories remain, how can we see ourselves as old pieces being renewed and given resurrection?

  • This is rebirth

The refurbished item did not find its demise in the bottom of a recycle bin, on a mound at the dump or in a bin at the yard sale.  Even if the card or broken item found its way to the trash, someone had faith in this piece for something greater and yanked it out of the garbage.

Likewise, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes or a retro greeting card being pulled out of the recycle bin, we are invited to rebirth.  There is new life in us.  Even when we are “slightly used” or broken, God calls us out of brokenness into new life.

  • Finding new life means finding new abilities

The beautiful typewriter key that is now adhered to my ring filled its duty imprinting commas on sheets of paper.  During its time as a key, the comma dutifully brought sense to sentences and pause to thoughts. After the typewriter ceased to work and lost relevance in our culture, one person had faith that this key would add flavor to a piece of jewelry.

Losing a job or an ability doesn’t mean the end for us.  It often forces us in a new direction.  No longer are we significant to our society in a way that we are used to.  But we have other God-given gifts to contribute.  We have other ways God is calling us to use these gifts in our world.  We may no longer be as significant to one segment of our society, but we haven’t lost our splendor to our culture as a whole.

  • We can take what works from the past and make it part of the future

A typewriter has little function in our society nowadays.  So do cassette tapes.  But can we take what still works from these items and carry them along into our future.  The typewriter keys looks amazing in a ring setting or as part of a magnet.  I’ve thought about transforming cassette tape cases as credit card or business card holders.  We may not need them in their original function, but we can take a piece of the past with us into the future.

Memories are still part of who we are.  Often we keep to much of the past in our homes and in our churches.  Our lives become cluttered with things that no longer work in the present.  I wonder if we can use the lesson of the typewriter key ring in transforming our churches.  For instance, what if the pews were removed from the sanctuary but were given the opportunity to live as seating in the fellowship hall?  Or what if the pews could be repositioned in the sanctuary to add dimension to worship?  What if we sang the words of older hymns to new tunes or singing newer words to older tunes?

Yes, all of these “crafty” ideas include change.  However, the past is honored in a way in which the future can relate.  I may not need a typewriter or type fast while using one, but having the key on a piece of jewelry reminds me of yesterday’s writers.  Through the wearing of this key, I honor the fingers that typed many words and the passion of former essayists, playwrights and authors.

What broken item in your house can you modify into a stylish new accessory?  What is something older in your church that can be reformed and used to transform worship?