St John's Hillingdon (near Heathrow airport) has operated Rolling Worship for 4 1/2 year now. This article is copied from their website.
It's fascinating to see how much they have in common with us (though until we began Rolling Worship we had no links at all). Like us, they are wrestling with "a fallible institution with a frustratingly inflexible building." And there are parallels between the team they send out fortnightly to run something at a local garden centre, and our involvement with the Boot Sale Project.
If you can see other parallels or things to learn, do leave a comment!
Back in January 2007, our ancient parish church officially laid to rest existing Sunday service structures and adopted a new identity. "Come when you can, Go when you like" has been our strapline ever since.
It seemed many people looking to the church were prevented from seeing Jesus, hindered by unnecessary obstacles. Embarrassment about arriving late from football practice; ‘churchy’ behaviour; juggling church with family commitments... Actually, these were issues for 'insiders' too. Desiring to relate ‘sacred’ to ‘secular’, to connect Sundays to ‘the rest of life’, our culture had already shifted to being more ‘user-friendly’.
Changing the ‘packaging’ literally incorporated flexibility so newcomers can engage at their own pace. Three congregations: the early morning (traditional), mid-morning (middle of the road) and late morning ('alternative'), now overlap more, via breakfast, coffee and lunch. Ten consecutive half-hour slots allow for varying degrees of participation. More than thirty people take turns leading from the front, via teams, one of which meets each week to prepare. Themes and readings are presented in different ways to suit different congregations over the course of each Sunday.
We believe that we cannot love one another by just staring at the back of each others' heads. Real 'church' happens in the engagements between people, over planning, and in the many opportunities to interact on Sunday and beyond. What goes on ‘at the front’ aims to facilitate this. Liturgical liberties are taken; for visitors used to church, comings and goings might seem unsettling and chaotic. But others speak gladly (and with relief) about finding relevance and 'reality' in the relaxed atmosphere. We laugh a lot.
Church, the theory goes, is not here to keep church going, but to equip us as Christians to work with God in the world. The question is often asked, would God prefer more hymn-singing and ‘feelgood’, or want us to go away and engage in loving our families and others? When we encourage people NOT come every week, we are not always taken seriously, but a fortnightly gathering has been happening in the local garden centre on Sunday mornings for a few years now, sharing with people who prefer 'neutral' territory.
'Open Church', all week, has 'no strings'. Various groups use our medieval building on weekdays, with no pressure to be part of church. We recognise that God is involved whenever people come together.
We’re a diverse lot. We continue to evolve, and struggle to stay ‘fresh’ in the practicalities of being a fallible institution with a frustratingly inflexible building. Numbers have remained fairly constant, in a relatively mobile demographic, despite a largely elderly membership. Giving people much more choice in how and when they worship, has brought a significant increase in active participation and sense of belonging.
It's fascinating to see how much they have in common with us (though until we began Rolling Worship we had no links at all). Like us, they are wrestling with "a fallible institution with a frustratingly inflexible building." And there are parallels between the team they send out fortnightly to run something at a local garden centre, and our involvement with the Boot Sale Project.
If you can see other parallels or things to learn, do leave a comment!
Back in January 2007, our ancient parish church officially laid to rest existing Sunday service structures and adopted a new identity. "Come when you can, Go when you like" has been our strapline ever since.
It seemed many people looking to the church were prevented from seeing Jesus, hindered by unnecessary obstacles. Embarrassment about arriving late from football practice; ‘churchy’ behaviour; juggling church with family commitments... Actually, these were issues for 'insiders' too. Desiring to relate ‘sacred’ to ‘secular’, to connect Sundays to ‘the rest of life’, our culture had already shifted to being more ‘user-friendly’.
Changing the ‘packaging’ literally incorporated flexibility so newcomers can engage at their own pace. Three congregations: the early morning (traditional), mid-morning (middle of the road) and late morning ('alternative'), now overlap more, via breakfast, coffee and lunch. Ten consecutive half-hour slots allow for varying degrees of participation. More than thirty people take turns leading from the front, via teams, one of which meets each week to prepare. Themes and readings are presented in different ways to suit different congregations over the course of each Sunday.
We believe that we cannot love one another by just staring at the back of each others' heads. Real 'church' happens in the engagements between people, over planning, and in the many opportunities to interact on Sunday and beyond. What goes on ‘at the front’ aims to facilitate this. Liturgical liberties are taken; for visitors used to church, comings and goings might seem unsettling and chaotic. But others speak gladly (and with relief) about finding relevance and 'reality' in the relaxed atmosphere. We laugh a lot.
Church, the theory goes, is not here to keep church going, but to equip us as Christians to work with God in the world. The question is often asked, would God prefer more hymn-singing and ‘feelgood’, or want us to go away and engage in loving our families and others? When we encourage people NOT come every week, we are not always taken seriously, but a fortnightly gathering has been happening in the local garden centre on Sunday mornings for a few years now, sharing with people who prefer 'neutral' territory.
'Open Church', all week, has 'no strings'. Various groups use our medieval building on weekdays, with no pressure to be part of church. We recognise that God is involved whenever people come together.
We’re a diverse lot. We continue to evolve, and struggle to stay ‘fresh’ in the practicalities of being a fallible institution with a frustratingly inflexible building. Numbers have remained fairly constant, in a relatively mobile demographic, despite a largely elderly membership. Giving people much more choice in how and when they worship, has brought a significant increase in active participation and sense of belonging.
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