Worship as Spiritual Formation

This morning's weekly staff meeting focused largely on discussing the Succoth / Feast of Tabernacles worship service of this past Sunday. The comments were largely positive. In a 12 day period, everything fell together. In general, everyone liked the participatory and family nature of the service.

This afternoon I had meetings with intern Christina and Pastor Gilles of the Marais Church. It was well worth the time to find out where they both were at in the internship and to plan for the future of the intern program there.

I like the model of Solomon's Porch in Minnesota. Here are some quotes from the section "Worship as Spiritual Formation" from Doug Paggitt's "Reimaging Spiritual Formation."

We're big on words and their meanings at Solomon's Porch, so it's no small thing to us that our time together is called a worship gathering. Both elements, the worship and the gathering, hold sway here. The gatherings are about God. Because we believe God is to be the center of life and that God adds texture, taste, and depth to life, we gather to learn, experience, and share God in many of the ways Christians have for thousands of years. (p. 50)

Our intention is that Sunday night gatherings be a time when people contribute to the creation of a setting in which we are transformed, not a setting in which people come to be serviced by professionals or qualified volonteers. I like to think of it as having dinner at a friend's house where it is expected that you will help pass the serving dishes and clear the table at the end of the meal. (p. 51)