Advent, worship, creeds and the Church of God

There hasn't been much time for blogging in recent weeks, but in coming days I want to share some reflections that I have been having concerning "worship" in the Church of God.

 

This past Sunday marked the beginning of Advent. My suspicion is that few Church of God congregations noted this start to the church calendar, apart from the lighting of an advent candle or using some materials to begin promotion of the Christ's Birthday Observance offering.

 

Not that this should be surprising. The heritage and theology of the Church of God does not reflect a "high church" orientation to worship, with its lectionary and more elaborate rituals. If anything, we have resisted these forms of church, perceiving them as far removed from the simplicity of New Testament church life and more a product of Babylon.

 

I'm not convinced that adopting more formal worship and the lectionary are necessarily the best things for us to do, but I am concerned that in our rejection of these practices we have left a vacuum in helping our people understand and experience the story of Jesus and the Gospel. Let me explain.

 

As a pastor I am increasingly concerned that our churches are generally doing a poor job of providing our people with a comprehensive framework of faith. Sure we claim to be delivering sound biblical preaching, and we provide our members with Sunday School classes, bible studies and various resources. But, what is missing is an over-arching strategy that draws these components together into a coherent whole. Our congregations are exposed to the fine details of the Bible and doctrine, but typically these elements are fragmented and rarely brought together so that people see the "big picture" of Scripture.

 

Historically, the Christian church developed a number of effective tools to keep this larger view of the Gospel story before people. The church calendar and the lectionary is an excellent example. Every year, the congregation journeyed through the story and teachings of Jesus following a set pattern of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Passion, Easter, and Pentecost. Christians very quickly fell into this rhythm, and were very much aware of the message of Scripture even before wide-spread literacy or Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. Everything that took place in the church building centered on this dramatic retelling of the story, including various worship rituals and even the stained-glass windows.

 

The Protestant Reformation was quick to point out the emptiness of some of these traditions. Sure, many Roman Catholics were simply going through the motions and were being misled by a church that had increasingly separated itself from the authority of Scripture. While some reformers continued to embrace many of these traditions, the recitation of creeds increasingly were seen as the best way to ensure that the congregants were getting the big picture. There was a movement away from engaging people with the story of Scripture, and towards a more rational understanding of its teachings.

 

The Church of God has resisted the formality of both rituals and creeds. But, in doing so, I believe that we have failed to find effective ways to bring a more wholistic understanding of our faith to our people.

 

Again, I don't believe that we should just blindly adopt these former practices of the Christian church, as is becoming the trend in some segments of today's church. But, we must begin by addressing the issue, and then honestly searching for appropriate ways to tell the story of Jesus in an on-going manner, with cultural relevance, and bringing a simple and coherent whole to the understanding and application of the Gospel.

 

I'd love to hear your comments on this, and to hear how you may be dealing with this in your congregation.