Lattes, Candles, and Ukuleles Are Not Exactly Missional
Many churches have moved from traditional worship practices into more contemporary ones. Along the way, some embrace innovations that they call “missional” forms of worship. I have been personally blessed by such developments. A few examples include movie reviews intermingled with worship songs, candles and prayers stations accompanied by Taizé-style music, casual worship at tables while drinking lattes and cappuccinos, reintroducing more ancient liturgies, and conversational sermons that engage the congregation in dialogue.
These have stretched my understanding of worship. Instead of just seeking to please God, these styles suggest that it’s also okay to look for worship methods that are pleasing to people.
Some might argue that this is an inappropriate goal for Christian worship—that pleasing God should be the only goal. I think the contextual nature of worship as shown throughout the Bible suggests otherwise. The external forms of worship are often shifting to accommodate the changing needs and contexts of people. Worshiping God can remain in focus even if the style changes. I am grateful to live among people who share this belief.
There’s a limit, however, as to what can be accomplished by unleashing innovation in weekly worship gatherings. Namely, these changes are not exactly missional, in the more traditional sense of that word. Why? These practices are limited to the internal life of the gathered church, not the external witness of the scattered church.
To be clear, I am not against worship gatherings. Nor am I against innovations that enliven and enrich one’s experience. Meeting the needs of existing church-goers is a real challenge, and churches do well to be sensitive to these.
Yet these changes to the Sunday morning assembly are not exactly missional. These changes are good for many people INSIDE a church, but they do little to move the needle on reaching folks OUTSIDE a church. It’s like the old adage about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic: things may look nicer, but the ship is still going down.
To make matters worse, each reconfiguration becomes a bridge too far for some members. While churches invest their time and energy—even depleting their numbers in the process—to import what they deem to be “missional” practices onto the sinking ship, they aren’t actually engaging in mission to the 70% who are non-church-goers. You might be able to borrow church-goers from elsewhere or reconnect with the recently unchurched. But non-church-goers are not likely to walk through the doors of your church no matter what changes you make to the worship template.
If you believe that your primary aim is to get people to attend Sunday morning services, then I understand the never-ending attempts to “get it right” by introducing practices you think will be more attractive. I believe this to be a frustratingly lost cause, doomed to fail.
There is good news, though. This innovative spirit can be utilized outwardly if you extend it a bit further. It requires you to reconsider what it means to “be church” and to extend Christian community among non-church-goers.
Instead of aiming to get non-church-goers to attend your existing worship gatherings, what if you sought to form community with non-church-goers on neutral ground or in so-called “third spaces”? Your goal would be to form communities of people learning about Jesus. Worship in these settings might initially be quite modest or even innocuous. Rather than five acts of worship, you might have meditation and prayer. Rather than a praise band with a sermon, you might listen to a song or a psalm together and talk about its meaning for your lives.
Instead of worship on your turf and on your terms as the path to joining a Christian community, this approach starts with community as a precursor to worship. Think of the example of Jesus. He did not start a worship service and then create a team of disciples based on who showed up. Jesus created a community and then found ways to worship together.
The missional call is not doing what you already do at a better or more creative level. It’s joining people where they are, bringing the love of Jesus with you, and allowing the Spirit of God to form Christian community. Churches need to keep doing church for church-goers. But they also need new ways of being church for new people. That approach is exactly the missional move that churches need to envision and boldly empower.
