Having asked the youth to do some blogging about their experiences here at the youth convention of MCUSA, it seemed only reasonable that I also record some of my thoughts.
Worship this year at youth convention has been complicated for me. I have been encouraged to see diversity in our worship. I couldn’t miss the fact that there were more people of color on stage than there were white people. In fact, people of color were probably over-represented. I heard some people questioning that, but I think that perhaps we need a season where this over-representation occurs because people of color have been under-represented for so long. Perhaps we can welcome the racial diversity of our church and our events will adequately represent that diversity.
There was diversity of worship style as well. There was a worship band, loud music and hymns, congregational singing and performance, conga lines and beach balls and screams for Jesus. There was theological diversity, with calls for a lived out faith, a recognition of pain and questioning where God is in the midst of that pain. There were also messages that God has a plan for everything; that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord; that God will not give us more than we can handle.
This year there have been numerous points where I have been deeply moved by the music and by the message in worship. But there have also been times where I have been disturbed and disappointed by what I have experienced in worship. I have been angry when the worship band could not leave us to sit in the discomfort of pain and unanswered questions but had to pump us back to a frenzy. I have been concerned by glimpses of a prosperity gospel, giving a false sense of security to our youth. I have wished for a more robust sense of expectation for our youth, calling them to costly discipleship and not just “Jesus is our friend” excitement.
So am I leaving Kansas City upset about worship? NO! Our church is diverse, our theology is diverse, our worship style preferences are diverse. I celebrate that! Those things that concerned me provided opportunity to talk with our youth to explore how we might understand differently. We were able to engage with what was happening in worship and we developed a deeper faith. I saw our youth be excited about their growing faith, knwing that how Park View worships is not how the whole church worships. How we interpret scripture is not how everyone else does. But we all worship God and we all follow Jesus. As John Valenzuela, our speaker on Saturday night said, our “why” is bigger than our “what”. We are more powerful in our witness, not because we all believe exactly the same or worship exactly the same, but because we all gather around Jesus.
Thanks be to God!
Worship this year at youth convention has been complicated for me. I have been encouraged to see diversity in our worship. I couldn’t miss the fact that there were more people of color on stage than there were white people. In fact, people of color were probably over-represented. I heard some people questioning that, but I think that perhaps we need a season where this over-representation occurs because people of color have been under-represented for so long. Perhaps we can welcome the racial diversity of our church and our events will adequately represent that diversity.
There was diversity of worship style as well. There was a worship band, loud music and hymns, congregational singing and performance, conga lines and beach balls and screams for Jesus. There was theological diversity, with calls for a lived out faith, a recognition of pain and questioning where God is in the midst of that pain. There were also messages that God has a plan for everything; that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord; that God will not give us more than we can handle.
This year there have been numerous points where I have been deeply moved by the music and by the message in worship. But there have also been times where I have been disturbed and disappointed by what I have experienced in worship. I have been angry when the worship band could not leave us to sit in the discomfort of pain and unanswered questions but had to pump us back to a frenzy. I have been concerned by glimpses of a prosperity gospel, giving a false sense of security to our youth. I have wished for a more robust sense of expectation for our youth, calling them to costly discipleship and not just “Jesus is our friend” excitement.
So am I leaving Kansas City upset about worship? NO! Our church is diverse, our theology is diverse, our worship style preferences are diverse. I celebrate that! Those things that concerned me provided opportunity to talk with our youth to explore how we might understand differently. We were able to engage with what was happening in worship and we developed a deeper faith. I saw our youth be excited about their growing faith, knwing that how Park View worships is not how the whole church worships. How we interpret scripture is not how everyone else does. But we all worship God and we all follow Jesus. As John Valenzuela, our speaker on Saturday night said, our “why” is bigger than our “what”. We are more powerful in our witness, not because we all believe exactly the same or worship exactly the same, but because we all gather around Jesus.
Thanks be to God!
RSS Feed
