I hadn't realized how important praise and worship music is to me until I was standing there fighting the tears.
The church we attend is a very small Mennonite church. When I say very small, I mean that regular attendance equals less than 100 people each Sunday and there are only a handful of teens in the youth group. Please don't think I'm complaining. I like it this way. I've been to mega-churches many times, and it's just not my cup of tea. Give me a little chapel with a nice blend of children and old ladies, regular carry-ins, a pastor who knows my name, and I'll be a happy church-goer.
We chose this church after a very long search for several reasons. First, my good friend Linda invited us and made us feel very welcome. Second, the youth group is small, so even though there are only three homelearning families, we're majority. Third, the people are very friendly and made us feel welcome right from the start.
We stayed for several reasons, too. I'm a pacifist. I'm pro-life across the board. I believe that our energy is better spent on serving others than fighting others. I believe that Jesus was a pacifist. I believe that He called us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. After all, when Jesus was being led to his death and Peter chopped off the ear of the high priest's servant, Jesus stopped the fighting, picked up the ear and healed His attacker. The lessons I hear on Sunday morning encourage me in this path. It's not an easy one, especially in the Christian community where pro-Bush bumper-stickers dot many of the vehicles of my fellow homelearners. The Mennonite church espouses the sanctity of all life, and the importance of stewardship of our environment, and the servitude we're called to give to all the world.
We also stayed because we have been continually made to feel welcomed. We've been included in everything from youth group functions to soup suppers to the vote for the new pastor.
And that's what this Sunday entailed.
One of the biggest challenges about staying at this church is that it's a body in transition. While we came in after the big scuffle, apparently the church was divided over what direction they should take. Cling tightly to Mennonite traditions or venture into more contemporary ways? Reach out to the community to draw in more members or adhere to a cliquish mentality? Stay with traditional hymns or enter into contemporary praise and worship? From what I know, the previous pastor wanted to venture, reach out, enter in to the contemporary. Eventually, because there was so much division, he left his position and an interim pastor was assigned.
Now, our pastoral candidates are a young couple, under 30, who would serve as both pastor (the husband) and assistant pastor (the wife), he fulfilling 75% of the pastoral duties, she filling the remaining 25%.
I don't know if it was necessarily because this Sunday was the voting Sunday (they call it "affirmation," but it's basically a vote), or if it just happened to fall this way, but a group of students from Bluffton University presented our Sunday service.
Wow.
The contemporary praise and worship was something I knew I'd been missing, but I hadn't realized how much. I hadn't realized that I'd really been held back, worshiping in a service where no one raises their hands, no one claps--either in praise or as applause for either God or the musicians, no one seems to be filled with JOY when they worship. Instead, it seems that worship is planned and regimented, that there is a focus on singing in parts instead of singing with the heart.
But seeing those Bluffton students sing, seeing them lift their hands, the joy on their faces, the beauty of their voices. Oh! My soul was thirsty for that! And I could barely control the tears.
I know that there are some in the congregation who don't prefer that type of worship. But for me, it was a balm. I do hope we can incorporate more of it, because I'm not sure how long I can continue being a part of a church that holds back so much in their worship time.
When the votes came in, there was 100% agreement on the new pastors. I do look forward to seeing where they'll take us, finding if they'll breathe new and exciting life into this body of believers.
I know that this body and soul really needs it.
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