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Observation 9
Church Nine Observation Report
2nd October 2005
This observation was not ideal from the outset, in that despite having asked to view regular Sunday worship (the worship that happens most often - not a special service or a family service) the team arrived to find that they were about to observe Harvest Festival. The pattern for worship was therefore different to usual, in that there was no Sunday School and the young people were present for the entire service. That said, the observation provided interesting insights.
The minister led the service throughout.
The music was lead by organ / clavinova and the choir. The (unrobed) choir sat in the raised area at the front of the church and included one young person - a nine-year-old girl (and a baby in the arms of its mother, hence the one non-participating mark for the choir on my observations record sheet). At this service all the hymns came from Mission Praise, with the exception of the first song which was provided on a separate sheet. Though the congregation was provided with the relevant printed material, all the words were shown on the OHP screen at the front of the church as well. Noticeable, and highly commendable, was the unobtrusive way the cables for the Over Head Projector and clavinova were neatly laid and taped - a welcome contrast to the jumble of wires the congregation must negotiate in many other churches employing modern technology.
There was instrumental music instead of congregational singing during the offertory and communion - this worked well. The choir sang two anthems, the first a unison gradual and the second a SATB final blessing.
There was a fairly high level of sung participation amongst the young people. The worship was inclusive throughout, making extensive and creative use of PowerPoint alongside the traditional elements of Harvest such as the presentation of food gifts at the altar and the singing of traditional harvest hymns. During one song (Give Me Oil in My Lamp) the young people were offered percussion instruments to play and even the teenagers present took part with great gusto. This was the kind of service my son would have loved and for the first time during my time researching I felt sorry that I had left him with my mother at our home church.
The work with young people at Church Nine is under constant review and development. There are small numbers in regular attendance (twelve on the books, with between four and six young people in attendance most Sundays) but the 'bring-a-friend' initiative has helped the numbers grow. One Sunday School leader told me that the young people there have said that they do not particularly enjoy singing, so singing does not feature regularly in the Sunday School programme. The young people have been consulted as to their worship preferences and moves have been made to accommodate them accordingly. The second Sunday of the month is the service dedicated to this. At this service a number of young people (using recorder, clarinet, flute, vocals) join the adults (guitars, electric bass, piano) in leading the music. The repertoire then is distinctly modern, using material from Lighthouse or Junior Praise. The Lighthouse songs are deliberately used as they are recognised as being familiar to the young people. This reinforces once again the influence that Lighthouse has over the young people in this area, particularly over their body of song.
In this service Church Nine has demonstrated that it is possible to have worship that is inclusive and meaningful to all ages, gracefully embracing both traditional and modern elements. All the research team were very impressed.
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