a german friend, when asked to compare the evangelical churches in germany with the australian ones, was struck by the informality here.
he said that although he in some ways expected australian churches to be informal, for them to be so informal was a real shock.
the quest remains then to retain the helpful, the welcoming, the revering, liturgy; and to remain free from the stilted, the unhelpful, the deterring, the unthinking formulaity that has so plagued us.
i might have to well to discuss with this friend about the reasons for their formality, versus our informality - though of course informality is rarely the true case (song, welcome, announcements, bible, song, supper - sound familiar?), non-liturgical being probably more accurate.
1 comment:
I was visiting a church tonight with a friend and we were strangely suprised by how much we love structure and formalities of the sydney anglican churches we call home!
This church was cool though and definatley felt unity, loved the music, shared communion with my bros and sis in X, enjoyed the genuine and real testimonies, friendly friendly people, gospel proclaimed and loved the interpretive dance - totally thankful for this part of the body of Christ.
But I was disconcerted by informalities, that anyone at anytime could pop up and pray from their seat, thrown by people chatting while the dude up the front was speaking, felt awkward with the gaps and pauses in between stuff, distracted by people moving about constantly.
This was definitley, non-liturgical and very informal compared to Syd Ang stuff...
And laid back manner meant the meeting went for 2 hrs or so!
wonder how your german friend would have gone!
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