Last night I went to Mercy Street at Chapelwood UMC. Their mission statement is: to create a safe harbor for the hurt, the lost, the seeking so they might experience the radical grace of God. Mercy Street is an authentic community of grace that worships in a "come as you are" environment.
I once heard someone say, "This ain't your momma's church!" I guess I suffered from overly high expectations. I was expecting something different and rather wild in a "come as you are" environment. Don't get me wrong! They do a fine casual contemporary worship service. Basically, there was a lot of music and there was a message and both were high quality. I enjoyed it. But I wasn't blown away by innovation. I confess I was expecting more of an "emerging" church feel.
Emerging Worship is a way of recognizing, articulating and developing worship that seeks to be authentic to our ancient faith while being appropriate to our current context. Gatherings are designed to be experiential and spiritual/mystical. I was hoping for a little bit of mystery ...
I did love the open mike at the beginning of the service ... everyone was invited to come to a microphone to share in the celebration of life happenings ... birthdays, sobriety, healing, and answers to prayer. How dangerous ... this could last 2 minutes or 2 hours depending on the people. And I love screens, which means I can worship without having to juggle a hymnal ... I have been known to dance and raise my hands in worship now and then.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
My God My God ... send some blessings my way as I struggle
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