From Spectators to Participants - how?

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Permalink Reply by Josh Linman on July 9, 2009 at 9:09pm

I know this is only one aspect of worship and it just kind of puts a band-aid on the problem and doesn't cure it but...enough disclaimer...here's the story:

We definitely have the same spectator/participant problem. We rarely have time in our services for more than 3 worship songs (about 12 minutes) in a set because there are so many other elements we have to get to. A few weekends ago, we were able to do a set with 4 songs - coming out to about 18 minutes worth of music. After the service our worship leaders and sound guy out in the house both mentioned independently to me that they felt more people start to engage somewhere into the 3rd worship song. They thought people were starting to leave the thoughts of life outside the sanctuary behind and start to open up and really engage and participate instead of just spectating.

We did have a good worship set (which helped a lot): Mighty to Save, Cannons, What Can I Do and I Will Rise. But mostly, I think the extra time in musical worship really aided in helping people immerse themselves in the experience and be much more open to put aside their pride and stop thinking about themselves and start worshiping God.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Pierson on July 12, 2009 at 2:53am

In my experience, what Nate is describing is almost the norm! I think the solution is relatively straight forward but it requires a significant shift in not only the way we look at worship but also what we understand worship to be about and even deeper still, why we come together as church communities. It is also determined by the design of our worship space. Maybe those questions are for another post on a different thread.

I'd want to take a bit of a different tack to what Nate is suggesting ie extending the length of singing, and suggest that a culture of participation (rather than occasional/ad hoc participation) needs to be developed. I have earned a reputation as 'the ant-excellence' guy. This is because I am ant-excellence in worship! Well, actually I'm not but I want to make the point that I am pro-participation and will take participation over excellence any Sunday. One aspect of my understanding of the church is that it is a community of people who come together in order to be sustained in their following of Jesus the Christ, in the world.

So when we come together, as the church, to worship, we need to be looking for ways that will help a wide variety of people with a wide variety of learning styles, backgrounds, experiences and intelligences to engage with the trinitarian community of God: and this with heart, soul, mind, strength - not just voice or mind. So when I curate worship I am looking for ways that will do that, or at least encourage people to move in that direction. I try to provide them with the opportunity to engage with God, heart soul mind strength. If I haven't built a culture of participation in my community, then this can never happen. Most people will not be enabled to engage with God. And I can't expect them to do so (by participation) on command or whenever I want to change the rules of the game and ask them to do something other than sing, listen, or whatever the pattern that has been established by tradition or repetition.

I am getting sidetracked constantly here because there is so much I would love to dialogue about. Back to the issue... Participation requires safety, and openendedness, practised regularly as a value and demonstrated in all that is done. When I move to building a culture of participation, people have to feel safe ie that no one will make them feel stupid. There has to be openendedness ie people have to know that there are various options/responses that are all equally valid and will be accepted. I have to be willing to accept less than excellence otherwise I am undermining what I say with what I do. I am saying, "you are welcome here, you can participate in any way you like." But I am demonstrating "Only the best get to really participate, and our answers are predetermined, and you will figure out pretty quickly whether you are in or out here."

Seventeen years ago I started a church built on participation as a value and a practice. It continues to operate on that value and practice. I believe it is absolutely possible (I would go so far as to say 'simple' to do so, but it requires re-thinking what we do in worship as well as why and how. And it requires a particular style of pastoral leadership. Its not an easy-fix.

More than enough for now.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Linman on July 13, 2009 at 12:25pm

Mark, I appreciate your view of the big picture problem. The theory behind these issues is important to understand, but practical solutions to the problem are also important - like longer song sets, more invitations from the stage to sing, clap, raise your hands. A thought for a future blog post or conversation: I'd love to hear some of the practical solutions you've encountered to help support the culture of participation. Thanks for joining the conversation.

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Permalink Reply by Nate Woodward on July 13, 2009 at 1:23pm

Mark,

I very much appreciate your response, especially when you recognize that there is a culture that needs to be cultivated. I know that takes time. I'm glad to hear that you are also wary of "excellence" as a value. I'm with you on a theoretical level. But practically, it's a question I wrestle with, because I know I am an artist, and I deeply resonate with art that is full of mystery and complexity and vibrancy. It's what I want to experience and create. Jodi-Renee Adams strikes a deep chord in me when she talks about the power of art in a recent blog post:

Art is - or rather, can be - the ministry of angels. It can speak, prophecy, confess, and lament on the behalf of souls that are sometimes fractured, sometimes disconnected, sometimes wordless with contentment and thanksgiving. How often do we settle for a counterfeit?

I guess I am frustrated when we seem to both miss the opportunity for genuinely evocative and transformative art AND miss the opportunity for participation. It seems like a lot of the stuff that we do at my church engages only half the people in participation, but also has shallow aesthetic roots. We're neither very excellent or very participatory!

Is the answer to choose one or the other? That is, go all out on the "excellence" side and create icons--I use that term broadly--through which others can see and hear and taste the divine? Or, alternatively, go all out "participation" and do everything to include and welcome the involvement of all, regardless of their skill?

You seem, Mark, to be committed to the "participation" side of it. How have you built this culture? Can you compare and contrast what you do with what you see many other worship leaders (or "curators"--I like that term) doing? Is there room for skilled artists practicing their craft in your congregation? How do they not feel that their real gifts are unappreciated?

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Permalink Reply by Mark Pierson on July 17, 2009 at 3:03pm

Nate and Josh, we have a lot of similar issue and questions. The interaction between theory and practice is always a messy space. But its in that mess that good ways forward can arise. I'd like to pick up the issue of participation on my blog. I've called it "curating worship; what does it mean?" as I think that the issues we've been taking about are actually part of a bigger picture.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Bracken on September 1, 2009 at 3:30pm

Just last weekend we played "Updates baseball"... had an announcer say, "now batting (update 1), on-deck (update 2)... and here's the pitch"... then, a volunteer from the crowd would "pitch" an imaginary update ball to our hitter, who would then read the information for the updates. But of course, in order to do all this, you need to feel like you're at a baseball game! So we encouraged heckling (heeeey batter batter batter batter...) and even had our teaching pastor start the wave. People seemed to enjoy that.

I find laughter to be an extremely visable sign of participation... we're starting a new series at Ginghamsburg called "Laughlines". Should be a lot of fun. Everybody likes to smile.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Pierson on September 1, 2009 at 4:26pm

I love this kind of interaction and participation in a worship event. It breaks down stereotypes of what is acceptable and what isn't in worship. It goes a long way toward strengthening community and to creating a safe place that people can open up to God in. I believe that people would have been much more open to engage with God after this than before. Well done. Sounds as if it worked for you even in a pretty large group Dan?

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Permalink Reply by Dan Bracken on September 2, 2009 at 8:34am

It was for a pretty large group... about 600-700ish. As odd as it sounds, the updates spot has provided us with some of the greatest opportunities for participation.

Mark Pierson said:

I love this kind of interaction and participation in a worship event. It breaks down stereotypes of what is acceptable and what isn't in worship. It goes a long way toward strengthening community and to creating a safe place that people can open up to God in. I believe that people would have been much more open to engage with God after this than before. Well done. Sounds as if it worked for you even in a pretty large group Dan?

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Permalink Reply by Mark Pierson on September 2, 2009 at 12:21pm

I love it when I hear of larger groups engaging their congregations in creative ways that aren't just happening on the stage. Too often genuine participation is seen as something that can only happen in a group of 50. "announcements" is also something that is usually seen as not worthy of any special attention. Maybe a fun video at most, a talking head at least. But sharing community information is a significant building block of community. Thanks for letting us know.

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