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New wine in old wineskins? Old wine in new wineskins?
As part of the Tuesday Moravian Lunch series, two pastors from local Moravian churches were invited to share their experiences of developing non-traditional worship experiences in their traditional congregations. The Seminary invited alumni Rev. Melissa Johnson '01from the Palmer congregation in Easton and Rev. Jennika Borger '01 from the Edgeboro congregation in Bethlehem to share their successes, trials, and motivation to do something new and different within their churches.
In both congregations the motivation to begin a contemporary service was seeded from an eagerness for church growth. Choosing when to hold the service brought an interesting discovery to the planning group at Palmer Moravian. In 2002, when the new non-traditional service was first instituted, it was held on Sunday evenings to encourage new worshipers to attend. What they soon found was that even those who claimed not to be regular church goers still associated Sunday mornings with church services. The times of the congregation’s original two morning services were then moved and the new service was added in between.
At Edgeboro, though the joint board unanimously agreed to explore the option of an “out of the box” worship service, it wasn’t until all members of the congregation had bought into the idea that there was success in developing the service. Jennika stressed that communication was key when making such changes to worship experiences. Seeing as there were already two services in the morning, every congregant was polled to see which service might be re-created to allow for a new “out of the box” service. What was born was not necessarily a totally contemporary service but, rather, a “user-friendly” experience to those not familiar with the traditional Moravian style. The worship elements were kept but have different names: the liturgy is a “dialogue with God” and hymns of praise are “songs of praise.”
At both churches the non-traditional worship experiences utilize Christian-based computer software called “MediaShout,” which allows for the projection lyrics, scripture, and text onto a screen. Both services are also less formal and encourage participants to bring their coffee to the service. At Palmer, the seating is flexible and congregants often sit around tables or in circles.
Both leaders stressed that music was a key element to the success of their non-traditional services. Musicians from the congregation serve as guitarists, keyboard players and singers. Jennika explained how a financial gift allowed Edgeboro to hire a musician to lead the group. Teenagers from the congregation are now emerging as songwriters, offering their own songs to be sung during the service. At Palmer, a similar thing is happening. Melissa reported that musicians were encouraged to play at the service, and attendees have now learned over 400 songs in the last five years.
Both pastors agreed that their new worship services are continuing to grow. Palmer’s service is held in the fellowship hall to allow for a more relaxed, intimate atmosphere, but may soon outgrow that location. Edgeboro’s service is also growing among all age groups.
The group of emerging pastors that had gathered for the program left motivated and with newfound knowledge as many begin their own ministries.
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