Awake

Community worship as an orchestra????

current sanctuary...lots o' services...too many...one community...many strangers. worshipping together happens only 2 or 3 times a year.

new sanctuary...how do our values determine our design? how do we creatively provide structure to our vision? we long to be a community of priests...we long to see each one use her and his spiritual gifts...we long to not only sing and listen, but pray and eat and drink and dance and draw and paint and kneel and a bunch of other things that we have never even thought of as a community yet (cuz we're a little behind...or maybe we're right where the Spirit wants us...we're finding out...)

so....we need a flexible space. but a sacred space. not a alabaster box decorated with many fake ficuses but a place set apart...a place to focus on the Creator, the Savior, the Son of God, the Christ, the Redeemer.

so Jesus...he says he's the Head of the Body. and his apostle Paul says that there's one Body and many parts. so I was thinking about our space...about what our space says about who's who in the Body...about how our space enables or disables us, guides us or denies us from moving physically and spiritually closer to Jesus.

and i thought to myself: an orchestra.

what if we, that means everyone present at a time of community worship...lead worshippers, the choir, the people, the person(s) teaching the Word, the people serving (communion, offering, whatever) were seated kinda like an orchestra is seated.

we're leaning toward a flat floor space with some stadium seating in the back. what if the choir was in the back seats, like they would be at the Schnizter or Benaroya, what if the musicians were seated accordingly, what if the people were seated around a center, facing each other.

what if we started Reading, and the Readers were seated together. and the singers were gathered together. and the artists were gathered together. and what if there was Joy and Encouragement and Strength displayed in worship before God?

what if Listening started to happen as the parts of the Body learned to Tune. what if after we learned how to Tune, by listening to others near us with similar Gifts, we then learned to worship together in mixed and diverse arrangements, free to move about. not just sitting somewhere because i'm imprisoned by cultural proximity values and i've sat in the general area for the past 5 years, but chosing a seat strategically and wisely, with discernment and boldness.

where God do you want me to minister to your Body at this moment? where do you want me to minister to Your Heart? where do you want me?

moving about a physical space as a metaphor.

making connections.

learning to warm hearts, not pews.

learning to engage and act, not politely listen and endure.

i have a drawing of this in my head...maybe when i finally get it down on paper, it won't pan out. but for now...i offer it up.

(if you were able to meander with me down this little stream of consciousness, i salute you...i'm not sure if this will make sense to anyone but me...)