E.P.I.C. Worship with Young People

   Few young people will resist the urge of the comfy seats in their loungeroom, the local cimema or the Pub for the promise of plastic chairs, cordial and a few zzz's in the backrow of their local church.
   Starting early with the goal of curating worship experiences that genuinely arise out culture and context can be helped by some basic ideas about how many young people might respond to an invitation to be involved in shaping just that. I'm not talking about tokenism but genuine engagement!!

A number of years ago Leonard Sweet used the acronymn EPIC:
EXPERIENTAL or an experience not just a lesson or information based time
PARTICIPATORY inviting participation in planning and facilitating what happens
But also asking 'what is the participant doing?' as you put things together
INTERCONNECTED or IMAGE DRIVEN visual and auditory experience of story and response
but also connecting life and faith
CONNECTEDNESS or promoting authentic community

There are a few more helpful concepts beyond these:
- Seeking to explore questions young people are actually asking
- moving from a Christian education model to 'presence' and reflection or shared meaning making
- juxtaposition or things alongside one another that nromally wouldn't be
- play, sensory activity, simple instruction, stations, drama, informality
- intimacy
- using data projectors as more than glorified overhead projectors
- curating spaces as well as order
- evaluation
- liturgy genuinely being 'the work of the people'

   Experimentation in worship that reflects those gathered can be testing and fun but above all asks 'what are we trying to do here that allows people/ a person respond to God and helps them live out the possibility of 'following' Jesus Christ...

   As 'Ship of Fools' mystery worshipper questionairre might remind us... did the worship remind you of Heaven or 'another place'? much like their question about the post service coffee... more soon...