UPDATEDPlease visit RAsburry’s Res and my comment there for his gentle correction of something I may have overstated in the third paragraph. Thanks, Pr. Asburry! People say, “I don’t like the old hymns you sing. I like newer hymns and contemporary songs that I used to sing, or that other church sing. That’s why I don’t want to go to your church.” What’s the assumption such people make? We go to church to sing songs we like. When I sing, or hear, songs I like, I feel good and worshipful or something. When I go to church and there are hymns that I don’t like or don’t know, I feel bad, unmoved–as if I didn’t participate fully. There are many reasons to go to church, but going … Read entire article »

Some time ago I blogged about the “Reveal” survey conducted by the Ueber-mega-church Willow Creek. The results of their survey found that the “seeker-sensitive” model wasn’t working to grow disciples. Now we have this story, which describes that Willow Creek is following through, re-tooling their worship services for believers. It will be interesting to see how “deep” they make their services and how much they might still resemble pop/consumerist models of “church.” Here’s an excerpt: After modeling a seeker-sensitive approach to church growth for three decades, Willow Creek Community Church now plans to gear its weekend services toward mature believers seeking to grow in their faith. The change comes on the heels of an ongoing four-year research effort first made public late last summer in Reveal: Where Are You?, a book … Read entire article »