Sabbatical visits: Summit Trace, Frederick, MD

What was your first impression as you entered?

Summit Trace meets in a movie theater in a large surburban shopping center. Parking is shopping center style, which was very easy at 10 am on a Sunday morning. We made our way to the entry and were pleasantly surprised to see lots of people standing in line! As we inched forward in line, I was asked, "Are you sure this is the church?" There were no explanatory signs that we could see. As the line entered a door without pausing at the box office, we saw nobody enter any other door, the crowd was demographically as we expected, so we stayed in line. Slowly our confidence eroded... And someone finally wandered off to inquire. Ooops... We were standing in line for the special early showing of the new Star Wars film.

So we left the Star Wars line and entered the lobby. The lobby was conveniently partitioned into two: one for Star Wars, one for church. Inside we found lots of friendly people, eager to help, eager to answer my questions. They had up a number of tables for information, organization and refreshment. They used inexpensive, portable, fold up partitions to create an enclosed, safe and convenient nursery area in a corner of the lobby.

As the service began we entered the theater and found seats. The rock band was very loud near the front, but we found a comfortable volume level about half way up the rows of seats.

How long was the service?

An hour and 20 minutes.

How was the service structured?

It followed the typical Protestant, 3-part "sermon sandwich" structure:
1) about 25 minutes of music, led by a rock band, designed to set the tone for the teaching time;
2) about 45 minutes of teaching, including a short video clip to introduce the subject;
3) about 15 minutes for closure.

The service was clearly centered on the teaching: the purpose of gathering was for the "audience" (as it was called by the pastor) could hear and understand the Christian message, and then begin to believe and follow it.

Our impression was that they did not gather to worship, but that they gathered to hear a message.

What did you like best?

3 college students who visited with us answered like this:
Carey: "the 'top ten list' and the scriptures that went along with it"
Lindsey: "the scripture"
Liz: "the use of scripture"

I liked 3 things a lot:
First, I liked looking around the room and seeing so many teens and young adults. Although the congregation appears substantially smaller than the one to which I belong, it had many, many more teens and young adults.

Second, the pastor was very intentional about overcoming one of the chief limitations of the venue: theaters are designed for passive hearing and seeing, and make participation or interaction very difficult. They used several intentional methods for getting interactive participation, which were quite effective.

Third, i really liked the pastor's creative use of the audience to contribute to and participate in the sermon. Someone with a roving mic went around to people who told short stories of their experience, in response to the pastor's invitation. This was surprisingly effective and delightful.

What did you dislike?

The 3 college students answered:
Carey: "Well, it wasn't for people like me; it was for people who weren't yet Christians. There was no diversity -- it was too white."
Lindsey: "I felt it was too dumbed down. The message wasn't really about God, but about how to feel better about yourself."
Liz: "The music was terrible (that is, unsingable and unfamiliar). It didn't feel like church, it felt like a youth group. It was too shallow for me... It failed to challenge my mind or stimulate my thinking. I've been going to church for 21 years, and everything he said already knew. He gave me nothing new to aspire to or to think about. Except for the comment about worry -- that was helpful to me, and I hadn't thought about it like that before."

The theater venue made singing all but impossible. Theater technology is designed to dampen all sound except what comes through the sound system. So if the congregation was singing, I could never hear it. I felt quite alone in what should be a group experience. In a service devoid of all liturgy apart from congregational singing, this makes for a pretty terrible, empty experience. All that's left is the onstage performance. On the other hand, it is a bit unfair to criticize the worship, because clearly, worship was not their intention. This service was clearly intended not for worship of God by christians, but to encourage young adults who are not yet followers of Jesus to consider becoming Christians.

What were its greatest strengths that you'd like to import?

The focused intentionality to attract teens and young adults to Christianity, and the commitment of the voluteers to do that to the best of their ability.

If you were looking for a church, would this be it?

Obviously not... However...!

Obviously not: Summit Trace is clear about its mission: to communicate the Gospel of Jesus 1) to young adults 2) who are not yet committed Christians, and 3) who say they are turned-off by traditional settings. Since I am not part of their target group, it would not be what I would seek in a church.

However: if I had sons, daughters, or young friends who wanted nothing to do with traditional church, I would hope they'd come here. What they do is consistent with and true to their mission, as stated in their welcome literature, "Our hope is that our Sunday morning service can be a comfortable, interesting, and inviting environment for people who might be otherwise turned-off in a more traditional setting." I thought they hit those goals spectaculary.

What did you learn from this visit?

1) A number of people told me that they found it much easier to invite people to church in a theater than to a church with a traditional church building. Their enthusiasm about the venue surprised me.
2) Inexpensive partitions (cloth over fold-up frames) quickly and easily create convenient, functional areas in corners -- good for nurseries and other functions.
3) every venue has strengths and weaknesses, whether a permanent church building, a school, or a theater. There are tradeoffs, and there is no one right or best option.
4) Movie theaters are easier to use than i expected them to be, and relatively inexpensive, although more expensive than elementary school space.
5) It is imperative to rope off the rear portion of the theater unless the crowd actually fills it. Otherwise, people naturally scatter throughout the theater, so that one feels alone rather than in community. Crowding the congregation closely together would undoubtedly improve the experience of congregational singing.
6) The huge screen offers lots of creative possibilities. However, one should avoid the temptation to string out text all the way across the screen. Longer lines are very difficult to read than shorter lines.
7) You can definitely do church in a multiplex theater complex, even when the complex is showing films in other theaters. However, the logistics must be thought through carefully. Signage and out-front greeters are essential. The greeters must have tags or hats or t-shirts or something that clearly identify them as church greeters. That identification must be possible from at least 30 feet away.

Is there anything else you want to say?

1) Signage (something i harp on) is even more important than i thought.
2) Singable, familiar tunes (something else i harp on) is even more important than i thought.
3) I liked the idea that they gave a free movie ticket in exchange for a completed "new visitor" card. Since we didn't fill out cards, Liz was very disappointed to not get a free ticket. Star Wars was playing after all.

This is my opinion; I could be wrong.

The Lord be with you,

Steamed blue crabs

The fellowship committee has made some terrific plans for this summer. There’s so much fun to be had, that I’ve worked my travel schedule around so as not to miss more of them than necessary. Of all their plans, I’m not sure which will be more fun: the baseball / fireworks outing or the “St Marks steamed crab feast” coming later.

Part of the reason why the fellowship committee chose a crab feast for one of their events is that Maryland steamed blue crabs are not so much a meal as an experience – an experience to be shared with others, an experience fraught with unlimited possibilities for laughter, conversation, and story telling.

A steamed crab feast goes like this: talk, talk, whack! listen, pick, laugh, pick, taste, whack! laugh, pick, listen, pick, taste, tell a story, pick, pick taste, whack! talk…

The truth is that there is far more laughing, talking, story telling and listening than there is eating. Steamed blue crabs are messy, expensive, and mostly inedible. they make a great party, but an inefficient meal. When we’re done, we’ll throw away more shells, scales and innards than we’ll have consumed meat. it takes a lot of work to get a mouthful. But we will have told so much, listened so much, and laughed so much that we finish the feast better friends than when we began. It’s as though God created blue crabs primarily for the purpose of fellowship.

By contrast, consider the potato chip. Potato chips are cheap and easy. They are readily available, nearly ubiquitous. They can be found in any supermarket or convenience store, most gas stations and many vending machines. No fuss, no muss, no work -- but also, no health. They contain very little nutrition, and are loaded with all the things we wish we wanted to avoid. Easy to find, easy to eat. And easily eaten alone. Pop open a bag, devour the lot, toss the bag away. One may eat a bag of chips, alone in the dark. No fuss, no muss, no friends required.

It strikes me that Christian faith and spirituality are more like a crab feast than like a bag of chips. Perhaps we would prefer it to be the other way around: we’d like our faith to be easy, simple and convenient. Pop open the door to a church building, walk in, walk out, no fuss, no muss, no friends required. But true faith and spirituality are not like that. God does not offer convenient, easy faith. God invites us to become conscious, intentional followers of the One who carried a cross. True faith and spirituality takes a lot of whacking and picking. True faith takes time and effort. True faith leaves a lot of mess and waste. It’s expensive rather than cheap. It requires work, thinking, choices, and friends. Convenience is not part of the package.

But along with whacking, picking, time, effort, and mess, there is a lot of story telling, listening, and laughing in the effort to experience true faith and spirituality. And in the end we have become better friends than when we began. this is the way it should be, for the Christian faith was never about the individual, but always about the people. For God so loved the world.

One may eat a bag of chips, alone in the dark. No fuss, no muss, no friends required. But the Christian faith always was, and always will be, a fellowship meal rather than a convenient snack.

Christ our passover has been sacrificed for us.
therefore, let us keep the feast!

Wright: Future of the People of God

N.T. Wright noted that many Anglican clergy seem to have gotten their Christology from the Life of Brian. To listen to his wonderful keynote lectures from the Future of the People of God conference click here

can't wait

ok... so i just saw the trailer for the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, due in theaters dec 9.

simply put... i can't wait.

click here for the trailer. (if you have broadband, download the extra large version. even with broadband, it will take a few minutes. it's worth it.)


the Lord be with you,

Sabbatical visits: Cedar Ridge Community Church, spencerville, md

what was your first impression as you entered?

Sometimes when visiting a church, it's confusing to know where you should enter. (That was, in fact, my first impression the first time I came to St Mark’s. The question at St Marks was, "is it the architecturally obvious, ceremonial entrance that leads one to the information foyer with access to the restrooms?" The answer was, "oops, no... Now you have to exit and enter another way, or wander through the entire nave looking confused, or just tough it up and sit there.") My first impression at cedar ridge was, "ahhh... they make it easy on us." The entrance is obvious from the parking... and there were smiling greeters who both held the door open for us as we entered and welcomed us. The entry foyer offered information, a manned information booth, places to sit, and restrooms, all obvious and accessible. There were lots and lots of people, all hanging out and talking excitedly in the entry foyer, clearly demarcating the "chatty" area from the worship space, which was quiet and offered a creative invitation to reflective worship. My first impression was, "this is great... this is very well thought through and I’m happy to be here."

How long was the service?

They offered two services, 9 and 11 am. We went to the 9 am, which lasted about an hour and a half.

How was the service structured?

The service was definitely based on the two-part structure, familiar to us Episcopalians: the ministry of the word / ministry of the table. This is not to say that they used rite II, nor that the structure was obvious (my own family did not recognize it). However, it definitely corresponded to what some of us call "rite III" -- that is, intentionally or unintentionally, it corresponded exactly to "an order for celebrating the holy Eucharist" (click here) on p 400 of the Book of Common Prayer.

Brian’s sermon lasted 45 minutes. My family thought it was a fascinating discussion, but that it wasn't a real sermon. I disagreed. I thought it didn't fit their expectations about sermon structure or style, but was a terrific sermon. We all agreed that it occurred too soon in the service... that we needed some scripture readings or something to help us prepare / transition into the teaching.

Most of the worship music occurred during the communion, at which time we were invited to participate in other creative acts of worship, such as writing prayers. An abridged version of Eucharistic prayer A was offered by someone -- (a staff pastor? A lay person?), communion stations were set up around the room, and people lined up to receive bread and grape juice (in tiny, plastic, individual cups).

Following the communion were invitations to become engaged in ministry and children recited psalm 23 which they had memorized. The service ended with a blessing and dismissal.

What did you like best?

1) for me: Brian’s sermon. it was gracious and gentle, interesting, inspiring, fascinating. I loved it.
2) I equally liked the projected illustrations of the 23rd psalm that accompanied the children's recitation. I was guessing that these were done by the children themselves, but we weren't told where they came from. the illustration of "a table spread in the presence of my enemies" included the Frankenstein monster. it was hilarious.
3) their worship band was superb. neither too loud nor intrusive, they struck me as leading us, not performing for us, and were just wonderful.
4) their projection system was perfect: large, legible, but subtle. the visible focus of the gathering was the cross and communion table, not the projection screens.

What did you dislike?

1) in spite of the fact that they had great production values in their use of projection and music, their sound system for speaking was very poor. it was fuzzy. we were all quite astonished by how poor it was, and wondered why such poor quality was tolerated.
2) in spite of the fact that it had more liturgical depth than the usual non-demominational service (as mentioned above), it felt liturgically shallow and weak. it lacked the mystery and liturgical depth that I experience in catholic worship (Anglican, roman or orthodox).
3) the updating of language in traditional hymns. (I don't like it when our Episcopal hymnal does it either.) hymns are works of art. if the piece of art no longer has value for us, because culture has changed, than rather than altering the artist's work, I’d prefer we just use a different work of art.

What were its greatest strengths that you’d like to import?

Brian’s gentle, respectful, thoughtful values, the worship band, their projection system, and their intentional "make it easy on the newcomers" system for welcoming visitors.

If you were looking for a church, would this be it?

My spirituality and faith is anchored in word, liturgy, sacrament, community, and ministry. I loved their worship band, but I don't believe that music is or should be an essential (although I recognize that music may be highest value expressed my many Christians). it seemed to me that CRCC does community and ministry really, really well, but there were insufficient word, liturgy or sacrament for me to consider this as the kind of place for which I’d be seeking. you might find it sufficient, but honestly, I’d keep looking.

What did you learn from this visit?

Apart from the basic structure of word/table and technology advances in projection, worship at Cedar Ridge was nearly identical to what we were doing at Fellowship Bible Church in Texas, 20 years ago. I really expected some cutting-edge creativity, and what I felt was nostalgic familiarity. it is becoming clearer to me that the baby-boomer generation is the "hinge" generation... the transitional generation. the baby-boomers, rather than the GenXers, are the first post-modern generation. perhaps the difference is that the boomers are pomos raised in the modern world, while the GenXers are pomos raised in an emerging pomo world. there are huge differences, to be sure, but perhaps it is not that case that "...between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' Cedar Ridge is concerned about their need to become more intergenerational. I’m looking forward to experiencing their experiment in a more intergenerational service later this summer

is there anything else you want to say?


This is my opinion; I could be wrong.

The Lord be with you.

to seek out new life and new civilizations...

today officially began the sabbatical journey.

my intention includes experiencing worship in a dozen different "emergent churches," some of them two or more times, reading a couple of dozen books from or about emergent leaders and churches, and attending five seminars or conferences on the emergent movement. i hope to accomplish several things:

to clarify my sense of what is and isn't happening in the emergent movement

to sort out reality from misconception, fantasy and hype

to get a feel for how much of this is fringe and how much may be central

to undertand how mainstream churches connect to this movement

to learn something for the blessing of our own parish and my own ministry

i'll attempt to integrate all this with my other experiences of renewal over the last decades: liturgical renewal, spiritual renewal, church renewal and ministry renewal.

today i visited cedar ridge community church, home of brian maclaren. in my next post i'll give a short review of my impressions, somewhat similar to what you might expect from a "mystery worshipper" review. by the time i've visited a dozen of these, i imagine some commonalities and unique characteristics will begin to, ahem, emerge.

the lord be with you,