Reflections on a Church Service

We all went to church yesterday at the church that Jonathan and Maria attend here in Anderson. Parkview Church of the Nazarene is a small congregation (around 125) with a great big heart. They have embraced Maria over the years she has attended and, now, have embraced Jonathan as he has become a regular part of their congregation. Yesterday was my first experience there and I wanted to share some things about their service.
1. They were extremely participative. The choir song (which was thrilling) was a song of testimony for the choir. They had raised hands, intense emotion on their faces, and joy in their voices as they witnessed to the glorious power of God. They went through a time of prayer at the altar about 3/4 of the way through the service. Again, it was participative. People prayed together out loud, there was an intensity and ferver in their verbal expressions of prayer, many partipated (the altars were full), and one man rededicated his life to Christ after being away from the church (he had come to church that Sunday only at the request of his Mother for Mother's Day).
I believe that all true worship is participative not observational. The Church always gets into dangerous territory when it reduces worship to an observational event. When we come to church to watch the musicians perform and to watch the pastor preach, we are in grave danger. Worship is the one event in our entertainment laden culture that cannot become something we observe. Worship is either participatory or it is not worship.
2. The service was visually powerful. So much of what you experienced in the service was visual - from Pastor Jeff's pictoral, sermon illustrations to the visual experience of the choir's testimony. Joanie and I have often argued about the content of a worship service. She tends to focus on the words of worship (songs, lyrics, transitions) whereas I tend to see a worship service (drama, interactive exchange, setting, transitions). While neither of us is right about how and what worship is, neither of us is wrong either. Maybe that's why we make such a good team in planning a worship event.
I believe that we are the last generation that will only hear worship. With the advancement of technology and a continual bombardment in our society of visual images, preaching will continue to evolve into a much more visual experience than just an aural experience. We must learn to see a sermon as well as hear it.
3. The church was small but alive. We have become a generation of churchgoers who worship at megachurch centers. Like the Wal-Mart's and shopping malls we drive to for our everyday needs, churches have become larger and more diverse. I wonder, however, if the trend is shifting. We have been so number conscious in the church over the last four decades that larger equaled better. Now I wonder if the trend is not toward healthy churches rather than larger churches. Parkview is about half the size of Fresno First. It pales in comparison to East Side Church of God just down the street. However, it is alive, vibrant, and healthy. You don't have to be large to be healthy.
I believe that a healthy church is the most important tool in discipleship, evangelism, and ministry. Size is a matter of Holy Spirit giftedness and calling. Healthy congregations is a matter of Holy Spirit leadership and obedience. In the end, a healthy, growing congregation can do a great deal to fulfill the leading of the Holy Spirit. But before it grows, a church must become a healthy church.