Emergent Devotions?
This morning I had an opportunity to lead devotions in the staffroom. I wanted to do something very different. So I took ABBA's "Take a Chance on me", printed the text, added scriptural references to backup the sentimentso the song and then asked my colleagues to imagine Christ singing the song to them. I have attached the text to this entry in PDF format.
Mixed reactions, mostly favourable, persuaded me that it had gone reasonably well. Of course only time will tell whether or not the devotion will bear any fruit. However, even the school chaplain/priest said that it was indeed fresh - and orthodox in its sentiment. I was hoping that everyone would think of the message of Christ's love whenever they heard the song. In fact, many ABBA songs lend themselves to a spiritual message. Your feelings on this kind of liturgical experiment?
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Take a chance on M1.pdf | 174.25 KB |
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mashing up world and worship
Hi Carl
We have been experimenting with this sort of thing, with sometimes disasterous results too - see the conversation "Christian Karaoke" , in which mentioned at some point how I attempt to get worshippers dancing to REM's "Loosing my religion". The spirit was erm... "quenched" I believe is the right term? D'Oh and Hallelujah. Still, love that mandolin line.
Browse to our small (pre)community's alternative liturgies - they are a bit scattered throughout that blog, but at least it is some record of an experiment.
Alternative liturgies
Dear Nic
Thank you for the references. More feedback today suggests that the use of the ABBA song was so way out and unexpected that it simply jolted people into a new sense of awareness. One person suggested that she would probably listen to secular music intent on "hearing" a message. I myself happened to listen to ABBA's "SOS" this morning. Oh dear oh dear oh dear ; )
Regards
Carl
ABBA for Jesus
Carl,
I find that using contemporary (well, with ABBA that's debatable ;) ) music rather than churchy music often helps people become present. I think it's a great idea.
Nic,
I think part of the "quenching" was related to facilitation. In another time and place it'd be a great song to use.
Envoy
where were you when I lost my religion?
Envoy - when I needed a facilitator, you must have been on ambassadorial duty.
BTW don't knock ABBA they get 3 mentions in the Bible. Not many other groups have had such prophetic PR.
Biblical PR
That's true, and to think there's a dodgy Christian group who say there's no mention of musical instruments n stuff in the NT.
Envoy
"secular" music and worship
A really great song I've used effectively in devotions is Seal's "Love's Divine".
I did a U2charist (Eucharist done completely to the music of U2 - check out the following link for details http://www.sarahlaughed.net/u2charist/) not so long ago at our evening service (in a "traditional" Methodist Church). Received mainly positive response although a few totally freaked out.
""""""""""""""Secular""""""""""""
Yeah Seal is all soul. I have used "Crazy" in a sacred space, ooh I love it "We're never gonna survive, unless we get a little crazy, unless we get a little bi-ig."
So you use a bain word: secular. Comments/questions:
- Secular as used by the church is a false category, separating the sacred and the profane. Discuss.
- It commonly means "worldly", and is contrasted with "the church", "the Kingdom", or "eternal". Is this dualism helpful?
- The word actually implies "of an age", a time-bound period. So we might actually say "Jesus will return and set up a Secular Kingdom, for 1000 years.". Erm, discuss while I run home and get my Strongs Concordance ...
"secular"
I specifically put "secular" in inverted commas because I don't actually find the term at all helpful. It seems that people still use this dualism though.
A "smashing" idea
I preached a sermon not too long ago using the lyrics of Smashing Pumpkins ("Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage") as one of the primary texts (alongside the Bible of course). Have also used Roger Waters ("What God wants, God gets") and Bjork ("It's not/ meant to be/ a struggle, a strife/ undo, undo").
And of course, then there is the use of film clips - like the paper bag scene in American Beauty I used once. My basic approach is: If we can't speak the gospel in the language of popular culture then how is anyone under the age of 30, or for that matter 40 (or 50!?) going to understand it!
To put it in perspective though, I came across this hilarious spoof article on larknews.com:
Sermon overwhelmed by film clips
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Pastor John Taylor, 43, once a winsome and compelling preacher, has lately embraced film clips as a way to illustrate his sermon points. Last week his sermon was finally overwhelmed by them.
"He used fourteen clips, totaling 33 minutes of a 35-minute sermon," says one observer. "I forgot he was even on the platform."
Taylor’s speaking portions consisted mostly of short introductions of scenes.
"It was all, ‘Have a look at this clip. Now have a look at this one,’" says one man. "I felt like I should have brought popcorn."
The selections included such disparate fare as The Simpsons Movie, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Atonement, Juno and Live Free or Die Hard. Many found the point inscrutable.
"I think the common thread was loyalty or friendship or something," says one woman. "I believe there was a message in there somewhere but I’m still trying to figure out what it was."
Taylor insists that film clips offer "unparalleled emotional impact and common language." He used to write sermons with emotional variation — humor, poignancy, personal examples and exhortation. Now film clips perform those functions for him. He likes to start with a humorous scene, segue into a more serious one, then build his argument using clips from a variety of movies. He usually ends with an emotionally impacting scene, such as one from Titanic, intended to leave the congregation deeply moved. When the lights go up he simply says, "Let’s pray."
Taylor, who enjoys reading Variety to see what movies he might use as spiritual illustrations, has already planned his preaching schedule through 2012 based on future DVD releases.
"Spiderman 4 comes out in 2010," he says. "That should make for a great Sunday."
Of all the people in the church, the youth are the most supportive of the new direction.
"It’s Sermon Mash-up every Sunday," says one young man. "It’s awesome." •
But whether that puts you in good or bad company, Carl, you will have to be the judge!
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