"Pew Sore"

We arrived at St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church 20 minutes early for the 11:00 am worship service this morning. It is one of the larger congregations in our tribe, averaging 2,000+ worshippers per weekend over the course of the year. But it is July and worship does well to reach half the yearly weekend average this month as residents of suburban Minneapolis take exodus flight in rather significant flocks to "the cabins up north." "Cabin," John Wilgers explained earlier today, refers less to the type of dwelling and more to the location of the dwelling, i.e. on some body of water or just "away from the city". Some of the "cabins" can have six bathrooms, several saunas and a swimming pool. I thought back to the one-roomed, no plumbing retreat setting of Washington and smiled.

We met John, Trudy & Abby Wilgers in the narthex of this wonderfully impressive facility about 20 minutes prior to the invocation of the 11:00 am service. How tremendous to see them again! Abby, who I remember as the energetic little girl who was always first up to Children's Time and eager to sit next to me, has grown up. I am not at all sure that I would have recognized her had I passed her on the street this morning, at least not on "take 1". She now stands nearly as tall as her mom and fills her time with fast-pitch softball and basketball and whatever else young ladies her age do in western Minneapolis. Neither Hank nor Charlie were with us today, but all reports are that they are very well.

John and Trudy seem quite settled, happy and 'at home' here. Outside of "tickling the ivories" (as their Pastor David called it) once a year in August, Trudy is not playing the organ...neither is John involved in the music ministry. Rather, they are feeling called to involvement in the children's ministry here and seem quite immersed in that part of the life of the congregation. I share these tidbits because I know how dear the Wilgers are to many who are following along.




Following worship (which I will return to in a moment) we went to a local country club for lunch and were surprised there by Jim and June Winters, fellow Atonemenites who were visiting "back home" in Minneapolis. June had been following the blog, learned we were in town, and decided to join us for lunch. Tremendous!

I recognized Pastor David Hoffman from the Senior Pastors' conferences. He greeted us before preaching his fourth service of the weekend and leading a liturgy which the bulletin labeled "Fiesta". It certainly possessed a Latin flavor and flair and utilized shakers and other Mexican percussion instruments. "The first two morning services are traditional...very traditional," David told me. "But most folks will come to a 9:45 am worship no matter what liturgy we're using." Barely forty minutes after "good morning" we were beginning the final hymn. Jim revealed over lunch that Pastor David's policy/practice is "no sermon longer than 13 minutes". (No Atonemenites allowed to comment or suggest!) Apparently Trudy had shared with him some of the purpose of my trip and the nature of my reconnaissance study mission because following worship he handed me a card with information about a ministry in Edina called "Upper Room," and suggested it would be well worth our time to visit. I heard the voice of the nice lady on the GPS bark out an audible, "Recalculating!" and the itinerary for the evening immediately adjusted. House of Mercy in St. Paul had been supplanted by collegial suggestion.

After a wonderful time of breaking bread, sharing conversation and life stories with the Wilgers and Winters, Carrie and I headed downtown for a quick tour around one of the nicest, cleanest inner cities I've experienced. Then it was off to Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina and a phenomenon called "Upper Room." (I encourage you to visit the link on this page.) This emergent community weekly unleashes its spacial and technical arts teams on this typically colonial sanctuary and the results are an utterly transformed space to greet the largely twenty-something crowd that descends in droves, first at 5:00 pm and again at 7:00 pm. Upon entering, visitor's eyes are immediately drawn upward to the words, "Upper Room," projected high upon the wall of the spacious narthex, and are then beckoned by candles to the entrance to the sanctuary. A black curtain was hung in such a way that it had to be pulled aside and negotiated by all who entered. It extended around the perimeter of the entire room. No lights were used in the space save those of the screens that were tastefully built into the east wall on both sides of the cross (If you are going to use screens...this is the way to do it.) and the 30-40 large candles placed on stands about the large chancel area. The musicians (three guitarists, two vocalists, a electronic keyboardist and percussionist) were situated not on the chancel but on main floor level in front of the pews. It worked.

Quite amazing was the size of July crowd that turned out. The pews were nearly filled! ...including the balcony above and behind us. I would estimate 450-500 worshippers in this first of two services scheduled for the evening. Though there were some more "mature" members present, about 90% of the community aged in their teens thru early 30's.

The liturgy and form were predictable. Music, music, music, offering & announcements, teaching and more music. This was emergent church at its most prototypical. Look up "emergent church" on Wikipedia and there is a link to a video of this service (being facetious...sort of). The announcements were primarily about missional ministries...this evening, from a young lady just returned from The Congo to pitch her effort to "Heal Africa." Remember that this is the generation that really believes it can change the world! ...and just may. The teacher/preacher tonight was visiting from Atlanta and really delivered a fine offering, and 13 minutes it wasn't!

This may have been what struck me most poignantly about Upper Room. Worship opened with nearly forty minutes of music that felt like fifteen. I thought back to the morning worship and considered... at the chronological point in the Upper Room service when the speaker was just mounting her stool to begin teaching, the tribe at St. Philip the Deacon would have been packing up to head out for lunch. And remember...this is the twenty-something crowd whose attention spans have atrophied as a result of MTV and sound bites and video games and ... so claim cultural pundits. In order to scoot up the highway and make our second evening worship engagement we slipped out of the Upper Room after the top of the hour, the teacher still in teaching position and going strong. We only know that they concluded in time to reset for the 7:00 service.

Solomon's Porch is one of the most notable, recognizable emergent ministries in the country, intentionally situated in a more needy area of the city. They have taken up shop in an older church building on 46th Street almost within sight of Interstate 35W. Though we walked in nearly 20 minutes late (encountered a few navigational and detour challenges en route) no one would have noticed our tardiness. In the middle of this large, pewless room sat a mic'd presenter offering announcements and directing children to the basement where activities had been planned for them. The remainder of those present were encouraged to stand and bring greetings to those around the room and to help themselves to food. (I noticed root bear and pasta salad and tried to image Atonemenites leaving worship to gather such fare to bring into the worship space. Think not.) There were drop down screens and projectors located on each side of a room filled with sofas and bean bags and chairs of all shapes and sizes. Nothing matched. Those present obviously reflected the demographic of the surrounding community, quite disparate from Upper Room. The band, which played expected tunes, were smaller and located in one corner of the room. Those present were by DNA hospitable. One young couple offered to "squeeze together" that I might have a seat on their sofa. Others offered food and a hand or kiss of peace.

Deciding that we were a bit pew sore from the day and needing to get some mileage behind us before calling it "a day," we again slipped out of worship a little early. Arrive late. Leave early. No one minded.

It has been a good day. Pulling in late to a little community just west of Madison, Wisconsin I have negotiated the desk clerk of the Comfort Inn down from $109 t0 $70 for a suite for the night. I suspect that this is much more reflective of her need to fill a room than my bartering skill. It's off to the pool for a late night game of pool basketball and a dip in the jacuzzi before turning in. Tomorrow is a big, big road day with much more windshield and gas pump time than I would care for...bu ample opportunity to reflect upon the diversity of God's people and the type of worship and communities that have 'emerged' from part of them.

Blessings and more blessings to you all.