Graveyard Shift

It’s graveyard shift- that awkward time between lunch and about 2pm when all you want to do is lie out in the sun, when there is any, but there was a meeting last night and I asked people to pray so I’d better give feedback….
The “modern” service -otherwise known as Morgen(B)rot- has been running for one year. I think some of us were expecting it to shut down after about six months, so the very fact it’s survived and grown is something to celebrate. So we had a meeting. Lutherans really know how to live it up…
We've got a good foundation to move on from: The "Modern" service is known and accepted in the church and many of the people in the village are hearing about it and interested. Some aren't though. I'll get back to that. "Xpresso" is established as a part of this new movement and has a short but regular part in it. People are coming together, although despite repeated invitations and requests very few older people seem to be interested in creating the services. On the other hand the younger members feel safe to invite friends: they organise the service, run it, and decide what it will look like.
The question is where we go next. The traditional model of congregation in church, pastor/band/preacher etc at the front will probably be the norm for the morning services for a while yet, but there’s a fait bit of creativity and freedom developing.
On top of that, there are about four evening services a year. Hopefully these can move from the current choice of “Stand up, sit down, sing hymns” and “Stand up, sit down, sing choruses and watch a short drama” into some of the different more creative expressions of church which are emerging in different places. More openness to the Holy Spirit would be great, although that would have to be a careful step to make sure people aren’t alienated and excluded.
Personally I'd like to see more time for God to speak to us, and prayer for people afterwards. I hope to see Xpresso grow so that it can help visual artists, cartoonists, photographers, cooks, potters, jugglers and others to worship and bring their offering to God in the service with the support of their community. As to the storytelling itself, maybe we could grow beyond the 7-½ minute drama and take a bigger part in the service sometimes. Perhaps even (don’t tell anyone this) instead of the preaching. Just occasionally. I’ve not been brave enough to suggest that yet…