Disturbing Worship

How can worship become a catalyst for justice, racial equity, inclusion and peacemaking in our world today?

Our world feels broken. Injustice, racism, greed, fear, hatred, exclusion and despair are everywhere. We may come to worship hungry for honesty, longing for lament, desperate for hope, aching for justice.  But too often, our gatherings are disconnected and self-centered, embedded in cultural assumptions that deny, rather than affirm the God who stands with the “least of these.”  Why is this?  And how can we begin to make a difference?  These are the questions we need to be asking if we’re interested in worship renewal.

This workshop grew out of a course Gary Rand began developing for McCormick Theological Seminary and Christian Theological Seminary. It’s a great starting place for churches that want to reimagine their worship and begin to make real change. In it we will look at how we can revitalize and empower our worship by disrupting the strategies, metaphors and expectations we bring to the experience.

Disturbing Worship can be done as a 1-2 hour workshop or it can also be brought to your group as the framework for a full weekend retreat. In which case, we would take a deeper dive into each of the topics mentioned   -  and can offer several in-depth sessions, like those outlined in other workshops listed here.