In Seattle, hundreds of young people gather once a week for a traditional choral compline service by candlelight. They listen with awe and prayerfulness to the beauty of Gregorian chant, as they find God in shared worship. Many of them will never become members of the regular Sunday parish, but mission is alive as they gather for liturgy and community. Churches are finding energy and power through new ways of forming community and inviting people into the experience of God in Christ. Amidst the real threat of stagnation and death for so many of our parishes, this resurrection may be surprising to some. Renewed communities, directly or indirectly, have discovered the liveliness of postmodernism and its teachings for churches desiring to reinvigorate mission in their midst. We can learn from them and their worship practices, and the possibility they hold for all of our parishes.
Ah, postmodernism! To many, it is beginning to seem like a fad, and perhaps stimulating resistance as a result. Nonetheless, we have found the current discussion of postmodernism to be a practical help toward the mission work at our parishes. We are not scholars; we are parish priests looking for helpful tools and enlivening visions for our work. Practical texts on postmodernism now beginning to enter the book market by Leonard Sweet, Marva Dawn, and Brian McLaren (to name a few), as well as invigorating and controversial web communities like theooze and re:generation, have helped us move forward in growing mission in our congregations. Whether you believe postmodernism is a fad, a marketing ploy or a generational mirage; whether you believe the church is being “re-formed” or is already dead and rising from the ashes, the context in which we do church has made an important transition.
Critics and adherents agree that postmodernism resists concise definition, althoughwe are describing a western philosophical movement which affects the large number of US Americans, Canadians, Australians and Europeans. It becomes even more difficult, however, to discuss the pressures of postmodernism in other places–and even amongst certain populations of these countries–because of the mixed pressures of indigenous philosophical movements, postcolonialism and the Americanization-ofeverything. Instead,wewill try to describe the postmodern experience and restrict our discussion to how it influences the people in our local communities.
In Pasadena, a large parish has found their mission growing through their invitation to committed parish social justice. The programs are diverse, and their call to serious commitment from their membership is intense. They are doing powerful work in their neighborhood and throughout the church.
The postmodern experience should not surprise us, emerging as it does from recent western history. For many of us, the church practiceswehaveknownwere born of the enlightenment.Theenlightenment taught us that reason is authoritative and that human existence, like nature, was observable and knowable. This view held sway in the worlds of science, technology, economics, social theory, even theology. In some important ways, the enlightenment world reduced Christian faith and practice to objective analysis, reifying it to something explainable by our preconceptions.
In the late nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth, cracksemerged in this picture, giving rise to modernity. Truth, and what constitutes it, became pluriform. The power of scientific inquiry led to the revelation of all kinds of truths, not all of them compatible. Suspicion became the primary mode of investigation, and Christianity began to be one optionamongmany.Itwasawayof living that could not be sustained.Newmeansof choosing a life and embracing values were desperately needed by people who could not go back to the enlightenment but who could not sustain the relativity of modernity. Over the last century or so, postmodernism began to emerge as one answer to the quandary.
Postmodernism embraces modernity’s consequences: the collapse of a single meta-narrative. In this context, all narrative is believed to be culturally encoded; truth ismorethan factual accuracy. Therefore, postmodernism is highly skeptical of exclusive truth claims. By being sensitive to culture and social location, it values many different contexts. It places highest value on the plurality of human experience and its deepest desire is for community.
Postmodernism is increasingly the cultural context in which we in the West all live. That is not to say the enlightenment and modernism have ceased influencing us; they certainly do. But postmodernism is the new context–breaking in,shaping us and demanding our thoughtful attention.
This image is, we believe, a fundamentally exciting and enlivening one.We do not therefore accept that postmodernity is a problem to be solved; it is merely the next stage in the ongoing adventure of salvation.Somewill argue thatweshould maintain the present course, simply interpreting traditional practices in meaningful terms for a new age. We disagree. In the face of substantive technological and cultural changes, God is clearly reaching out to humanity in new ways, too. When the disciples were in the boat during the storm, Jesus did not ask them to stop the boat and row back to him. Instead, he yearned for them so much that he went to them where they were, in the midst of the storm–even if it meant walking on water.
In Pennsylvania, a suburban parish is engaging mission through its exploration of technological tools in worship. Multi-media presentations, amplified music and an enthusiastic congregation make for a vision of new life and growing faith.
Mission–the sharing of the Good News of Jesus and the transformation of lives in that light–takes place in thehumanworld. We can have an endless conversation about “the Christ of culture and the Christ against culture” (citing H.Richard Neibuhr’s 1953 classic), or we could argue about what John meant when he recorded Jesus talking about the difference between being “in the world” and “of the world.” Regardless of how you understand those issues, faith is lived out nonetheless in human communities which are vibrant expressions of their cultural moment. We, you and the next-door neighbor are, to one extent or another, postmoderns. Our longings and life commitments are shaped by the world which has taught us how to speak, socialize, work and play. Mission happens in that world; or mission fails to happen in that world, if wedo not notice how people andcommunities are changing.
Unfortunately, most parishes respond primarily only to the dated challenges of the enlightenment and modernism,which are primarily struggles about truth and who has it. They are failing to respond to the shifting cultural forces surrounding us, and as a result many are struggling with mission. If, however, we seek to understand the values of postmodernism and the kinds of behaviors and lifestyles it tends to engender, we can find remarkable new resources for mission in our parishes. If we do this, we are simply seeking to understand the peoplewehave been called and sent to serve. Who are these people, and what can they teach the church about life, faith and service? What can the church learn about theGoodNews from the postmodern culture which is our new home?
In particular, what might postmodernism, as defined and described above, teach us about worship? What is postmodern worship,and what are its engaging opportunities for encouraging mission in our parishes?Weclaim onlyonegeneral principle: postmodern worship places the emphasis on the experience of the liturgy rather on its performance. In that context, postmodern worship is diverse; but regardless of its form, the focus of the liturgy is an experience of God in community rather than an explanation of God to the community.Arational non-experiential faith comes off as boring to postmoderns, who are waiting for a moving, honest, substantial experience. If you ask a postmodern Christian to choose between an experience of God or a mere description of God, the experience is preferred.
For several decades the liturgical renewal of the church has focused largely on the linguistic aspects of our worship. That work has served us remarkably well because our words must say what we mean. We wonder, however, if that work of renewal now has brought us to a new place withnewinsightsandchallenges. In the postmodern experience, the sacredness of worship is in the peoplewhoshow up for worship and what they do together. In the world, we are the primary signs of Christ’s presence; postmodern missionminded worship suggests that the same should be true in liturgy.
In Texas, a small congregation is growing mission through its intentional engagement with highly participatory worship forms grounded in ancient practices. Moving the furniture, trying new worship spaces and configurations, acquiring beautiful ethnic vestments and arts, and dancing together in worship, have all brought new life to this parish.
Some may misinterpret the transitions in postmodern worship as a shift from traditional to contemporary worship styles. This presumed polarity is seductive, but false. Postmodern worship freely utilizes those resources that best serve the mission of the community, without need to condemn or affirm one over another. Elements from a variety of worship styles often coexist.
Taking into account our focus on experience over explanation, and understanding that postmodern worship is diverse and even contradictory, we offer some touchstones. Postmodern worship is:
- Biblical, adding our stories to the great Story.
- Celebratory, even while embracing the darker side of life and the reality of human suffering.
- Incarnational and transcendent, capable of communicating both the mundane and the awesome.
- Participatory, by allowing the community to shape the liturgy as it takes place.
- Cultural, relying heavily on the beauty of art, music, literature and drama to communicate the gospel.
- Communal, as a place for the individual.
- Service-oriented, looking outward to the world and seeking for ways actively and humbly to care for the neighbor.
- Paradoxical, honoring the complexity, contradictions and constant changes in life.
- Relevant to actualhumanexperience.
- Sensorial, by involving the body and all its senses, not just the auditory.
- Experiential,encouraginghonestfeelings honestly shared with others.
- Pluralistic and diverse, celebrating the ambiguous and the belief that God is having one conversation with humanity; embracing the visions of others as potentially complementary and deepening.
- Eclectic, with an intentional connection to the wisdom of our ancient traditions and to the promise of our emerging future.
- Techno-savvy, using technology where it gives greater accessibility to the Gospel.
Above all,postmodernism reclaims Christianity as a relational religion, and Jesus– not Christianity itself–as the Savior. Therefore, no one single model represents a postmodern worship experience. The examples we have offered warn us not to take the wrong message from postmodernism: that there is one easy fix.We cannot comfort ourselves that if we get our Power Point sermon perfected, or if weinstitute that mystical ancient service, or if we start getting experimental with our liturgy, or if we make repeated pop references, or if we start outreach to the community, or if we return to the Christian basics, then our mission problem will be solved. Society is too diverse, and the solution that that vision offers is too artificial and lacking in imagination.
This mistake frequently appears in the discourse about younger generations (Generation X and the Millenials) and the church’s attempts to address their general absence from our parishes.Weoften hear that GenXers and Millenials rarely find the church a serious place to explore their spiritual curiosity becausewedo not play rock music, or because we present too hierarchical a face, or because our language is archaic and incomprehensible, or because we fail to include enough popular references in our sermons. This diagnosis missestwoimportant points: 1) all generations, including Generation X and the Millenials, are diverse and not easily lured by one simple marketing strategy; and 2) postmodern life is about all of us, not just the younger members of our shared culture.
We do agree, however, that the anthropological studies on these younger generations is vitally important to the future mission work of the church. Why? Because they represent the canary in the coal mine. Although we all are affected by postmodern values, these younger generations are more fully inculturated into them. If our parishes present a vision of faithful life which fails to take postmodern realities seriously, then these generations will see that their questions and explorations have no place, and rightfully absent themselves more quickly from our midst. When they are absent from the churches we serve–and demographically, weknowthis is generally true–thenwe have some hard work to do addressing the important issues not simply of young people, but of all of us.
Why then are the parishes we have been describing attracting somanyyoung people and other postmoderns? These parishes looked carefully at themselves, deepened and expanded the best of their ministry, and then shared the good news of who they are with those who are so deeply longing for what they are offering. They have all developed and celebrated a clear and inviting identity. Rather than relying on the Anglican “brand,” they– like St. Paul–poured the living waters of Christ into particular worship forms that reach particular people. The idea that our prayer book provides that robust identity is no longer true. Despite the value of the prayer book as our common resource and model for prayer, we are in trouble if we relyonit alone to create an identity for our parishes.
More and more, people do not go to churches simply because they ought. The age of religious obligation is waning. In a recent issue ofOPEN,twolead articleson baptism described the end of Christendom, and both insisted that liturgical reformers take this cultural shift into account. References to this current reality appear repeatedly in the serious journals of Christian theology in the West.Weare no longer entitled to people’s Sunday morning time as they go about other activities of equal value–recreation, sports, family events, work. Postmodern people seek religious experiences out of a desire for encounter with God, deepened purpose and welcoming community; when this profound desire is frustrated, they move on.Aparish which meets no desire whatsoever (except for the need of the increasingly few who still go to church out of obligation) will most likely find its membership shrinking and its experience of mission dying.
Postmodernism offers, then, an important analysis of what has been going wrong for mainline American Christianity over the last decades. It is the refusal to embrace identity. It is the cowardly submission to lowest common denominatorism. It is being nothing for nobody (to turn St. Paul’s teaching on its head) out of fear of creating conflict, or of offending people we think we cannot afford to offend, or of violating some perceived Anglican sensibilities. Rather, choosing to be something means choosing not to be something else. The tension cannot be avoided. A church that wants to thrive in these times must embrace a vision and an identity which meets the deepest desires of some group within its mission field.
A new Lutheran-Episcopal church start in Kentucky chose Saint Thomas as its patron. The start was located in an area suffering from the pain of economic and community crisis. Saint Thomas touched Jesus’ wounds, and St. Thomas’ Church promised to do the same for those in its community.
How can the teachings of postmodernism help our parishes begin to embrace identity for new mission? We offer a simple technique for parishes to grow mission by studying themselves and asking: Where is there life? Where are the principles of postmodernism already showing themselves, even if in very simple and nascent forms? These questions can be applied to any area of parish life (we have helped vestries apply it to issues of parish governance), but we are focusing on its potential for renewed mission in worship.
Perhaps you are lucky enough to have a community of artists who are itching to enliven your parish’s vestment closet. Perhaps your music program is especially rich and eclectic. Perhaps you have a particularly gifted group of readers or actors. Perhaps your parish comes alive whenever the youth are invited to lead some aspect of worship. Perhaps you have seen how powerfully people have responded to icons and other visual images. Perhaps you have a variety of ethnic groups in your congregation, or there is a demonstrable interest in diverse cultural expressions.
What is present which draws people to participate in the making of liturgy together? Or, what is wonderfully sensory, or beautiful and lovely, or awesome and mysterious, even if only in a small and subtle way? Asking these questions invites parish leaders to consider what is most alive and full of potential, where an identity is waiting to be discovered and expanded, where mission truly can be developed. In those places, a parish has something for which others are looking, others who will want to be a part if given the opportunity.
When we have something for which others are looking, and we have developed our gifts so that they are robust and enticing, we cannot fail to take the next step and tell others about it. Strangers will never know what we have if we do not inform them, making it possible for them to take part easily and experiencewhatwe are offering. Whatever your evangelism strategy is, engage it and use it, oryouwill bedeveloping these liturgical visions only for those who are already in the church. This result may be engaging for the parish, but it is not bold mission.
In many ways, postmodern worship gives us the opportunity to do what the liturgical traditions have always done: create a communal experience of God in Christ furthered by stories, music, art, ritual and symbol. Postmodernism encourages us to move away from the desire to perfect our liturgical forms and instead to work toward a worship experience. The place to start is in the divine life waiting to be discovered and celebrated within our parishes, where the Good News of Jesus is unmistakably at work in the humanexperience of the peoplewhohave gathered to know and love God in community.