alternative worship...imaginational activity of the Spirit

I was having coffee Monday with my best friend Dan, talking about alternative worship that is counter-cultural, and engages. And when we were talking counter-cultural, we were also talking counter the prevailing church-ianity culture. All of us have got our own thing, for the most part, it's comfortable and it works. The pentecostal folks I'm hanging out with would never admit to having liturgy...denial, sorry you've got it. It may not be anglican liturgy, but you've got pattern, form, structure, rhythm...a works of the people. And, there is little variation from Sunday to Sunday.

In a few weeks time I'm speaking to a group of younger folks around God and creativity, maybe that's why my thoughts have wandered outside the box.  When we think of worship, how much creativity goes into it? Is creativity important? Are our imaginations stirred by the wonder of God? Does your community incorporate, and utilize the imaginations of the artists in planning worship?

In worship, in the context of community, I've always had this image of the cross that fills my mind. Our worship should be cross-dimensional, horizontal and vertical...it should engage God as much as it does the world around us.

Community art collectives would seek to embody the fecund ( or for a beautiful definition of fecundity by Nouwen, read what Paige said in the comments ) imaginational activity of the Spirit of God. They are creative, prophetic, propagandist, subversive. They explore the cultural, social, and intellectual implications of the thesis of God. They struggle to see differently, to conceive of new things. They are a place for reflection, analysis and restatement, through conversation, Bible reading, art, prayer, writing. They draw inspiration from the dramatic actions, publicity stunts, by which the prophets – including the prophet from Nazareth – confronted Israel with the prospect of judgment and restoration, failure and forgiveness, death and life. The emerging church is a place for re-imagining what it means to be a distinct, peculiar people telling its story among the nations and tribes and cultures of the world.

The ‘art collective’ analogy makes us stop and think seriously about what we want to say to the world and how we want to say it. We are attempting to articulate in public something far more dense, complex, narrative, engaging, penetrative, subversive than can be expressed through the conventional forms of Christian culture.  That is surely what Jesus was doing when he commandeered a colt and rode into Jerusalem, or overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple.

I would suggest that the Spirit of prophecy is stirring us to a creative, exuberant, multidisciplinary exploration of the calling to be a renewed humanity in Christ – awakening our collective imagination, prodding us to develop non-conventional means of communication that will achieve the largest visibility for the creator God…. With minimal effort? Perhaps not – Ezekiel spent 430 days lying next to a brick to get across the message that God would punish the house of Israel. But we recognize the limitations of our resources and trust the creative God to make up the artistic deficit.

On a side note, Dan showed me this interesting article  from CBC, " U2-charist." This is a reflection of imagative worship...it engages God, and the world around us.

Comments

[Brother Tadhg]

Ron
Great blog. I'm reminded that we're all God's poiema - God's handiwork and that God is extremely creative, and we're chips off the old block, or should be!. All called to be creative in a myriad of ways. Thanks.

Hi Ron,
Blessings.
I'm glad I'm not in your shoes.
I tend to learn much more from 'young folk' than I could ever begin to imagine to teach them anything whatsoever..

Anyway, I thought it interesting that you used the word 'fecund' since I am just now reading a book called 'Lifesigns, Intimacy, Fecundity, and Ecstasy in a Christian Perspective.' (H. Nouwen)

He says 'The word fecundity is not used often in daily conversation, but it is a word worth reclaiming, for it can put us in touch with our deepest human potential to bring forth life.'

And goes on to contrast living in the house of fear as opposed to living in the house of love.

This part caught my eye-'Whenever we trust and surrender ourselves to the God of love, fruits will grow. Fruits can only come forth from the ground of intimate love. They are not made, nor are they the result of specific human actions that can be repeated. Neither predictable nor definable, fruits are gifts to be received.'

And as an example- 'To people who are jealous, and who would like to have our joy and peace, we cannot give a formula to produce it or a method to acquire it. It is always perceived as a gift, to which the only appropriate response is gratitude.'

'Every time we experience real goodness or gentleness we know it is a gift. If we say: 'Well, she gets paid to be nice to us,' or He only says such friendly things because he wants something from us,' we can no longer receive that goodness as a gift. We grow from receiving and giving gifts.'

Oh gosh, sorry, I've got to get going to the bus... bless you Ron, love your blog...

Paige

[ron]

Hi Paige, I'm not familiar with that book by Henri Nouwen,But from what you speak here, I'll certainly search for it. I love his description of the word, so beautiful and rich...so beyond us. Maybe that's why it is not often heard.
In the " Telling the Truth Conference: A Forum on the Arts and the Worshiping Church ", at St Davids, I did a piece on the theme of " Redemption".And on it I quoted Colossians 1:15-17...and ended with " redemption really is quite imaginable...for it is the very imagination of Christ." Don't ask me why I wrote, it was what I call, one of those divine moments in which the words come from someone, and some where else. But Jesus, the Word in Genesis spoke creation into existence, and Jesus the Word made flesh steps into humanity speaking the " new creation "...fills us with the gift of his " life ", his incarnational presence to speak, and to partner with him in the new creation.
Sorry for going off on a tangent there, but we too...have this potential, this imagination beyond us, the imagination of Christ, or as you quoted Nouwen..." for it can put us in touch with our deepest human potential to bring forth life."
This place if we can learn to abide there, will bring forth such wonderfully delicious fruit in our lives...strangers will taste our lives...and see something quite unimaginable.
So lets, reclaim " fecundity ", as a reality in our daily lives.
Paige, thanks so much for dropping in and adding some beauty and wisdom to the conversation...and yah, I hope you caught the bus. Peace...Ron+

Ron,
I love how you are talking about the imagination with regards to Christ. And I say this not to spout off but to let you know that it's very reassuring to hear this from someone else because sometimes my prayers seem to spring from some otherly imagination- I'd never dare pray them in front of someone nor have I ever heard prayers like this before...

So Ron, thank you and yeah, I made it on time but I did spill my root beer on the dash of the school bus in my hurry. * smiles

[chris]

Creativity in sharing this journey of faith eh....OK Ron - let's bring it for Holy Week / Easter!
Get these "young people" fired up about new ways to related to eternal truths, and then draw the keenly creative ones in to helping us plan something.