TED TALK 4: Brook Warner – Church and the Place of Social Media

Brook suggested that social media is scratching an itch in the 21^st century, and the itch is essentially the desire for authenticity, community and active engagement. People want businesses or institutions to be transparent and personable, we want to move away from staunch individualism and join in bigger stories and causes (seen in the Kony campaign) and we want to participate in making a difference and not just being spectators.

Social media is here to stay. The question then becomes: how do we engage with it well? Brook said that he believes that the Holy Spirit is tickling (yes, tickling… I know…) people to crave authenticity, community, collaboration and participation in something bigger than ourselves. But no one is doing the social media thing well, and the church is playing catch up. Brook ended by challenging us with the question: what does it look like for church to lead this movement of engaging well in the world of social media?

Feedback

People were highly engaged with what Brook presented and were pleased that there was some good understanding of it and deep thinking about the subject that hasn't really been tackled in church.

In terms of ideas and suggestions for engaging well in social media, people suggested that all church events should aim to be made visible to everybody in and outside the church and all of it needs to point to real authenticity and community in church in real life. There was a strong emphasis on not letting it replace any part of vital community life.

There was, however, a fair bit of disagreement with the underlying assumptions of the presentation. There were a few groups of people that argued that social media doesn’t actually scratch an authenticity itch, it just gives the illusion of doing so. People still have the option of creating personas online, putting their best side forward and so authenticity is simply not a requirement in the online world. These people pointed out that the reason they were at this discussion night was because of friends asking them to come, not because of an online invitation.

The question still remains: how do we engage well online? And could it be argued that the itch has been created by social media in order to scratch it in its own way? How do we live out the gospel faithfully online?

TED TALK 3: Jill Rice – The Church Meeting

Jill essentially argued that church meetings have become unnecessarily predictable, formulaic and programmatic. She suggested that meeting have become too religious and can easily become a club or spectator sport, but the real measure of a community isn’t what you get out of it, but what you contribute. She drew our attention to her own personal experience of a home church she was part of, a flexible little community that was more about supporting one another and enjoying company than running a program.

You can’t have a church meeting/discussion night without a good anagram, and luckily Jill provided one of her own, being WORD FRED to describe the values she felt was important for when we meet together. It means:

Welcoming

Organic

Relevant

Dialogue

Friendly

Relaxed

Expression

Discussion

The point is to paint a picture rather than set to set out a linear meeting that is clearly building towards an end, all meant to promote participation and a strong sense of ownership among everyone there.

Jill’s final challenge was that church meetings should have something to say about people’s vocations, their jobs, rather than seeing them as a means to get by. She argued for a strong undercurrent of connectivity between all of life instead of a sacred/secular divide that confuses many people and leads to an impression that the ‘real’ work of the kingdom is found within church programs.

 Feedback

Some people said they would like more shared meals and intergenerational events, and there was a strong message coming through of wanting to move into stuff that was less programmatic when meeting together. People said they would like to see more acknowledgement that every Christian is in full time ministry wherever they are, and would like to hear more about what it means for the gospel to shape our industry areas.

A few groups did mention that this is particularly hard to foster in a big community like ours and so we would have to get really deliberate and creative with informal gatherings and places to enjoy community with each other in different settings. There was also a concern that with too much informality over meals we would need to make sure it didn’t descend into the trivial and we need to remain intentional about discussions together.

TED TALK 1: Grant Harris - Community Worship Beyond Singing Songs

Grant was our first speaker and was asked to present a perspective on a subject that perhaps receives the most complaints and criticism in all of church life. People like to have music the way they like it. But Grant challenged us to think beyond a consumer mentality, arguing that it isn’t all about singing songs led by a music team, and the concept of ‘worship’ should be expanded.

So what could it look like to do community worship differently? Well, Grant suggested that it can be seen as a curated experience, a multi-sensory event that invites everyone not to simply consume, but to participate. Worship could look like multi-media installations that are multi-sensory, incorporating participation across the community, eclecticism, simplicity and space, leaving no room for prima donnas, is experiential perhaps using visual architecture or the use of ancient liturgy with reflective chanting, labyrinths, a Gothic prayer chapel, poetry, or installations of fine art, the use of film and theatre that allows worshipers to create and observe the art of self-expression. All of this is valid and worthy and should be embraced within a modern evangelical church such as Windsor Park.

But the point is that this has to be a community driven idea. There is no way that those in leadership roles can do this all by themselves and so Grant ended with a challenge to the creative asking them to step up. He also challenged us to embrace true community by engaging in worship that perhaps doesn’t suit us, because we meet to bless each other.

Feedback 

It seems from the feedback that most people were pretty positive about this in our church. Some even suggested getting rid of the stage altogether due to what it says about who the focus is! People acknowledged that it would be hard work and would take more planning to curate services well in light of what the content is. Some would like to respond to pieces of music more, rather than just singing songs, and others suggested we could do collective fasting and spiritual retreats.

Most of this is already done at church, but the overarching message was that we need people to step up. It is a call to creatives in the community to get busy.

One strong question brought up by a few of the groups was “what about the non creatives?” How do we worship as a community together in other ways like service? Is it a trap that church has fallen into that worship is seen as a creative event?