While I'm on medical leave, I thought it would be fun and educational to take the opportunity to see what some other churches in Rochester are like. What is the church scene around here? What are other churches doing? What is the special niche of my churches, and what do we offer compared to what other churches off? Also, what are these other churches doing that is working or not working, and how can I use this knowledge to help my churches be the best they can be?
(Does doing this count as work? If so, don't tell my dean...)
This began today. Michael and I attended a church I had heard about shortly after moving here, a fairly new church in the South Wedge called Artisan Church. It's a merger of two mission starts, and I believe they came together in 2005 or so. A couple people had told me about it, and looking at their website, it seemed something worth looking into. I decided to go "under cover" - I wanted to be treated as just some young couple coming in off the street, so I could get the full effect of how they would treat a visitor. (Michael let the cat out of the bag though - "They want us to come back, and I don't want them to think they did something wrong!" He's so nice.)
First impression: the building did not look like a church - more like a doctor's office. No cross in sight, at least on the outside. Just inside the door was a very friendly and welcoming man who introduced himself and helped us make name tags, so people would know who we are. (This guy even checked in with us again later, saying, "I didn't have a chance to talk to you before. Do you live in the area?") They had coffee and goodies already out (coffee hour, it seems, happened more before worship than after), so we got some and stood around. I checked out their bulletin boards (one of my favorite things to do in different churches... dork), which I thought were very nice, neat, and said very clearly who they are. There was some artistic flair, though I don't think they embraced their name, "artisan," quite as fully as I expected. I'd be interested to learn how that name came about. We looked around at the people gathered - the vast majority were in their 20s and 30s. In fact, it was the opposite ratio of most mainline churches, where there are a few token young couples or families, and mostly middle aged or older folks. Here, I don't think there was anyone over 60, and almost everyone had a kid or two sitting with or near them. The result was a buzzing energy, and a relaxed atmosphere. After a while, a middle aged couple came up to us an enthusiastically started a conversation with us, and we chatted until it was time to go into worship. (The kids remained in worship for the opening songs, and then went off during the sermon and readings to Sunday School.)
You can tell a lot about a church and their values by their worship space. Unfortunately, they are in the midst of some construction, so we didn't get the full effect, but enough. First thing I noticed was that there was a worship band on a stage that was across the front and center of the worship space, with a screen above them. The room was small, or snug, or cozy - in a good way. I felt like I was a part of a congregation. Next thing I noticed: no prominent cross, or any symbol of Christ - even the pastor was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and nothing that set him apart visually as the community's designated symbol of Christ, and he was a part of the worship band. The set up in front of the stage was aesthetically pleasing to me - a small table serving as an altar with bread and wine, several pillar candles, flowers, and a small cross, and two other tables to either side, covered in burlap and some rustic candle holders. Aside from the band being front and center and the lack of any explicit Christian symbols, the feel of the sanctuary was very comfortable for me. I liked it.
The music was led by talented people and was very well done... if it were a performance and I were only listening. Harmonies were great, voices and instrument tones were lovely, balance was good, music was eclectic in style (folk, rock, blues) and emotionally moving, texts were theologically sound. But even as a musician, I had a hard time joining in the singing. I only knew one of the songs, and with the exception of one other song, I never felt comfortable singing any of the others. The harmonies were so solid that I had a hard time finding the melody. I looked around and there were several others not singing (though many were), and I couldn't really hear anyone but those who were miked. It felt more like a performance than congregational singing.
The liturgy was at once familiar and disjointed. It followed the basic ordo I'm familiar with - gathering, word, meal, sending - but it was randomly out of my familiar order. Like, a couple songs, then the creed. Another song, and the passing of the peace. Another song and the prayers. Michael and I kept looking at each other like, "Wait, now?" but we went with it. (We noticed a lot of people during the passing of the peace just introduced themselves instead of passing peace, so there were a couple people who said, "Hi, I'm ____" and we accidentally responded, "And also with you.") When it came time for the sermon, the pastor began by telling the context of the day's biblical story, then reading the text (manna in the desert). Then some more context, then the Gospel text (feeding the 5000 from John). Then he showed their relationship, their place in a sweeping, continuing biblical narrative, then he talked about how they speak to us today. It was very conversational and heartfelt/thoughtful, though not particularly dynamic - its delivery fit the casual mood of the rest of the service. He finished the sermon by making a move from the feeding of the 5000 to the Passover meal Jesus shared with his disciples later (but remember, we were in John, and the Last Supper in John is actually a foot-washing - oops!), during which time he included the Words of Institution. Just the bread part.
Then he invited us forward to communion - open table, come if you want, don't if you don't want sort of deal. That bit in the sermon was the consecration. I was surprised to see no one get up to serve communion, and in fact the pastor went back to play in the band. We watched for a minute to see what was happening, and saw people were just going up when they wanted, taking some bread, dipping it in the wine, and returning to their seats. Michael said, "Let's try." I had a hard time. I kept waiting for something more to happen, but when it was clear that this was how communion works in this community, we went ahead and went up. Broke off a piece of bread for myself, dipped it in the wine for myself, crossed myself, and returned to my seat. For me, it was totally unsatisfying. I felt no sense of communion, no connection with the pastor or anyone, no sense that Jesus was giving this gift to me. There was no "given for you." It was taken for me. I was taking that morsel of grace for myself, didn't need anyone to do it for me. I tried to look normal back at my seat, but Michael noticed the contortions my face was making involuntarily. It wasn't like I'd done something wrong; it was more like I'd done nothing at all. Grabbed a piece of wine-soaked cracker and was on my way. Didn't feel especially holy, and didn't at all feel like communion. (I told Michael later that I almost made him give it to me, so at least I wouldn't feel so self-sufficient, but decided against it, trying to avoid standing out too much, though I'm sure it would have been fine.) I will say that the prayer team was available during this time, so there was the possibility of that sort of communion.
After communion, we sang a song. Then someone got up and said it was time for offering. There was a note on the screen saying that visitors need not feel obligated to participate in this portion of the service, but we at Artisan understand giving as an act of worship. I know this was meant to be gracious for visitors, but I actually felt the opposite. I said under my breath to no one in particular, "Well, I'm here to worship, aren't I?" and I grabbed my purse and quickly scratched out a check. I think the collector was surprised by that. While the offering was happening, they made some announcements, and then said, "Okay, good bye! Go in peace!" Michael and I looked at each other again - the end? Sure enough, people were getting up to go. Felt abrupt!
Overall, it wasn't a bad experience. The people were friendly, the atmosphere pleasant, the leadership talented. The sermon kept my attention, even though neither of us really got much out of it. I really liked the prayers - the pastor led them right before the readings/sermon, asking people to voice their own needs or joys, and the people responded. The prayer team wrote down the requests (there was also a box in the back) and these requests will be prayed about all week. I liked the context that the pastor gave for the readings, and this is something I would like to find a way to do as well. It was much more effective than just reading four readings from four different books of the Bible all in a row, and helped people to understand more of the biblical story. I liked the energy and the people we met. If I weren't a pastor elsewhere, I might return and/or participate in some of their non-Sunday programs just to get to know some more of the people, since they were all in my age bracket. Overall, despite my complaining, it seems that they are doing some good work over at Artisan Church, and that God is working among them in some good ways.
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