‘Closer to God’ – a journey in worship

August 2010 update

Firstly many thanks to all those who so willingly gave of their time and themselves to share their experience of worship at Christ Church in our Worship Survey. And in particular to those who came to take part in the feedback and reflection evening on 1st July and the quiet afternoon on 4th July. They were both very special occasions, as we began to explore how we might deepen our worship – how we respond to God’s love; through our music, our teaching our prayer and liturgy and through our community and service.

As a church we now need to spend time in conversation, reflection and prayer as we seek to discern the areas of our worship, we sense that we should be giving attention to. To help our thoughts, it may be helpful to spend time looking at the answers in the Worship Survey. I appreciate that the spreadsheet might seem intimidating, but in that case why not look at the responses to individual questions, which are recorded on the smaller boards which are dotted around the church. If you are still confused, then don’t give up, but have a word with me or Chris.

This is a journey that all of us are part of, and which is at least as important as the Christ Church Centre project. So please can we make this a priority in our prayers and our conversations particularly over the next few weeks as we seek God’s will in moving this journey forward.

Finally, consider what the following may have in common;

Fellowship and support, the enthusiasm of leaders, variety, being in the company of Gods people, teaching, praying for each other, a place of restoring, the AV screen, people are missed when they are not there, the new building for the community, family nights, church is more fun – chocolate fountains, welcome for young families, non-judgmental, the sense of ideas and possibilities, home groups and prayer groups, no pressure to participate but opportunities for service, not too big, a sense of family, kidzone, spirit led bible based faith, individuals living their faith, momentum in loving God and our neighbour.

They are all aspects of our life and worship at Christ Church that people have said they appreciate. Thank God that He is blessing us in so many different ways, and pray that as a Church we may love and appreciate our God, each other and His world even more wholeheartedly.

Jes

Introduction to Closer to GodAs members of the Christ Church family will already know, we are starting a journey to develop our worship. The journey is entitled Closer to God. It is

about the some important questions, ‘how can worship truly inspire and transform our lives?’. How can it be something anyone can relate to in their own way? By ‘worship’ we mean everything to do with how we, as individuals and a congregation, relate to God.

In the first part of this journey our little team, Brenda, Fiona, Jan and myself, is out and about, visiting homes of Christ Church people. We are asking about experiences of worship in the past and up to the present. We would also like to discuss hopes and dreams for the future at Christ Church. We think this will help Chris and the PCC discern where God may be leading us in the future.

To help us do this, I have put together some questions.

1, Can you tell us about your best experience in church (anywhere)? What made it so memorable? What was your role?

2, If it is different from the first question, can you tell us about your best experience in Christ Church. What made that memorable, and what was your role?

3, What do you appreciate about the worship at Christ Church. If you are able to, please share your best experiences on the following;
• Types of service
• Musical worship
• Preaching and teaching
• Liturgy

4, What do you most value about our life at Christ Church? What, for you, makes it special?

5, If you could make three wishes for our worship at Christ Church, what would they be? Can you imagine what the church would look like as these wishes come true?

We are very grateful to the many members of our family who have already shared this part of our journey with their frank and helpful experiences. We are keen that as many of us as possible will have the opportunity of contributing so if we have not yet spoken to you, please do contact a member of the team.

We hope that you will really enjoy contributing to this part of our exciting journey to draw us Closer to God.

I will be feeding back results of this consultation on Thursday 1st July at 7.30 at the Christ Church Centre.

Jes