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KTM: "I disagree that the "point" of church is "The Service." But perhaps that is for a different discussion all together."
So here it is: What is the point of going to church? Who decides?
So here it is: What is the point of going to church? Who decides?
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Detroit
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Re: Church Point
Mon, May 7, 2007 - 5:27 AMChurches sure put a lot of effort into hiring a pastor/reverend/priest/whatever, and on the ritual and content of the service, for it NOT to be "the point"!
I joined this tribe when I was seeking spiritual community and was checking out a few different traditions -- "shopping" as it were. I have a lot of respect for the Unitarian Universalism as I understand it: its concern for social justice, its non-dogmatic, broad scope of spiritual traditions, the cool people I've known who are UU. In the end I affiliated with the Quakers, because their emphasis is on direct experience (What canst *thou* say?) and silent worship. In short, I concluded that any sort of service is not the point at all, for me.
Incidentally, kids join Meeting for Worship for the first 15-20 minutes, and then they go off to Sunday ("first day") school. So they get a taste of the silence and stillness and "corporate worship" that is part of the tradition, but they aren't asked to do so for an excruciatingly long period. Parents with fussy little ones usher them out of the room out of respect for the experience of the others. Me, I go to the early meeting where there are no children. -
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Re: Church Point
Mon, May 7, 2007 - 7:31 PMChurches also put a lot of effort into stewardship, social justice, pastoral care, outreach, community service, small group ministry etc.
For me the service is one aspect of of my experience of church. For me the "point" of church on a personal level is for me to become the best person I can - to live into the image of God in which I was created - and that God is Love. In a larger understanding, the point of church is to save lives, literally and metaphorically - it is a place to find community, support, understanding, affirmation, and a place to to grow and stretch and deepen our faith (in whatever it is we have faith in). It is a place to be challenged. And a place to remind me to live life intentionally with compassion and love. And yes, the Sunday service is part of this, but it is not all of it for me.
Also, as someone studying for the ministry the question of "who decides" is a big one for me. As a minister I imagine that I would have some input into the "point" of the life of the congregation that I would serve. The model I am most interested in is that of a Congregation which creates a clearly articulated mission, which they revisit every few years. Also the congregation would create together and revisit a covenant every year. this would be about how they want to be together and how they want to live out their mission in the congregation and in the lager world.
I think it's important for congregation to offer a diverse selection of ways for people to engage. My experience in some UU congregations since I moved out of the Youth/Young Adult world, is that many Sunday services do not speak to me at all. In fact what keeps me involved with the church comes from the way I worshiped as a youth. The way that I was in a saving community in my teens and early twenties. I stayed involved with church through religious education and social justice work, even when I wasn't going to Sunday services.
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Re: Church Point
Mon, May 7, 2007 - 6:10 PMSo here it is: What is the point of going to church? Who decides?
For me the point of going to church is to hear the sermons. The co-ministers at my church and virtually everyone they get in to do guest sermons does and excellent job of presenting a variety of topics with a refreshing perspective that gets me thinking of and looking at things in a whole new way. I also get a sense of being surrounded by a community of like minded accepting individuals that I don't feel I have in many other places. That's the point for me but I think the point will be different for everyone in this tribe. Like UUism itself, the point is left to the individual to decide upon. -
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Re: Church Point
Mon, May 7, 2007 - 7:06 PMI agree that the point is different. My husband, for instance, goes to see friends.
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Re: Church Point
Mon, May 7, 2007 - 7:58 PM<<That's the point for me but I think the point will be different for everyone in this tribe>>
Nicely put. And for many people, the point will vary as they go through life and their priorities change.
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Re: Church Point
Sat, May 12, 2007 - 5:28 AMThe point of church, for me, is the whole Sunday service. Most services the music, readings, and sermon are organized around a specific theme. I particularly like when our minister does his "occasional sermon series." Because he takes a broad topic (seven deadly sins, bad "pop" theologies, etc...) and gives each one the treatment it deserves.
For a variety of reasons (personal, geographical, financial, and time [temporal?]) I'm not as involved with the life of the church as I might like. Friends, social activism, and programming just doesn't draw me the way it used to.
