Gospel Meetings

I have been thinking a bit about worship services, and if I seeded a church (which I may do, some day, in the future, maybe, possibly) what the worship services would look like. Whether this ever becomes a reality, the intellectual exercise of reflecting upon it is an intellectual practice with it's own value. It gives one a reason to reflect on ecclesiology, for instance. For some reason I keep coming back to the idea of four services, each based on one of the gospels.

People talk a lot about getting back to the early church. But in the earliest church, they didn't read from the gospels at all. And not long after that, each church used only one gospel to read from. It was that gospel that was the center of their lives. Now, I think that the church as a whole should be centered around the Bible, as a whole. But most liturgical churches have certain gospels assigned for certain years.

I imagine a church that had four services, each based on the spirit and structure of one of the gospels.

The Matthean Service would take place on Saturday afternoon, an acknowledgment of the jewishness of the gospel. It would be very traditional, as traditional as I could make it. The whole thing would be very formal. The reading of the gospel and communion as classically conceived in liturgical churches would be the center of the service. The sermon would be more of a homily. It would make the church feel like the temple, perhaps some early Jewish elements could be brought in. The liturgical calendar year would also be very important. A lot of pomp and circumstance (forgive the informality of this post, but these are very raw musings.)

The Mark Service would also be a Saturday afternoon or evening event. It would be a contemporary service, a nod to the stripped-down nature of the Markan narrative. There would still be a liturgical aspect, also a nod to Mark's Jewishness. The sermon, music, and communion would take center stage.

The Luke Service would be something totally different. It would probably be a Sunday noon event. I would like to see a pot luck dinner, which ends with a communion that would involve a larger piece of bread for each person, and a sip from a wine cup. This would acknowledge the Lukan tendency to focus on the equality of all people under Christ. There would be a place for any person or group to come up and sing a song, say a prayer, or give any reflection they like. The only formality would be the Bible readings, and perhaps the music would include some program aspect. It would remove most of any sense of a hierarchical structure, acknowledging Luke-Acts special concern for going out and reaching the Gentiles.

John would be deeply contemplative, with perhaps no music at all. There may be a meditation portion. We would break up into groups of 3-5 and communion would be passed around those smaller groups. A sermon would have to be central. But the service would end with a foot washing every Sunday, as the early Johannine communities probably did. It would probably take place Sunday morning.

Anyways, these are just kind of crazy "if Josh ran the church" ideas. But reflections upon them are appreciated.