Despite the negative tone of my last post, Easter Sunday really was a great morning of celebration at Momentum. The energy was high, the lights were bright, and the music was loud (too loud for some, I've heard...). This was due in large part to the unveiling of the new stage, video screen, lights system, wall curtains, and tweaked sound system. It was fun to watch peoples' reactions as they entered the newly revamped space for the first time. I think many people were surprised about how much had been accomplished in a week's time, and how much of a difference those changes made in the overall feel of the room.
The music team was awesome, and it was a set that really allowed us to keep the energy and spirit of celebration high throughout the service. The pseudo-special "Christ is Risen", as the culmination of the "Easter Changes Everything" teaching was really a highlight. Even though it is a very simple song (I think there are only three chords in the whole song), its simplicity makes it very accessible to listener and performers, and it was frankly just a lot of fun to play. It was awesome to see the response of the body as in both services people were inspired to stand and sing with us in praise to the risen Christ - "He is risen, hallelujah..." Very very cool moments. Totally appropriate then as we closed out with "Salvation is Here" to cap off a morning of high-energy celebration of Jesus.
Music Team
Patrick Greer - drums
Julie Cruz - BGVs
Brad Sinclair - acoustic
Chad Johnson - electric
Glenn Smith - bass
Me - keys, lead vox
Songs
"All Because of Jesus" by Steve Fee
"Happy Day" by Tim Hughes
"Til I See You" by Hillsong United
"Christ is Risen" by Jeremy Riddle
"Salvation is Here" by Hillsong United
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Easter Reflection
I always have a hard time with Easter. It's hard to program for, it's hard to execute, it's hard to deal with the dynamic of a bunch of new folks (family members, one-time visitors, etc) that we'll likley never see again, and it's hard to know how to approach it mentally and spiritually. Because we are not a tradition that follows much of the traditional Christian calendar, Palm Sunday/Easter and Christmas Eve/Christmas always feel so totally disruptive to the rhythm of teaching and forward movement we normally experience. In those traditions that do follow the Church Calendar, the year begins with Christmas celebration, and builds to a crescendo culminating at Easter, so that by the time you reach Resurrection Sunday you've been anticipating it and building towards it through 40 days of Lent, special Holy Week observations including Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday. In this context, Resurrection Sunday is truly climactic, truly a day of joyous celebration that you have looked forward to through the pains of a 40-day fast, through pre-Lenten reflection on Jesus' life and ministry, and even through Advent and Christ-tide.
In our tradition, though, we maintain a more fluid schedule for teaching and reflecting on the life of Christ. We do our best to respond to exactly what we feel our body needs to hear and be challenged on at any given point in time. We also observe the Lord's Supper every week, so every week we are remembering and reflecting on the death and resurrection of Christ. Because of this, Easter celebration has often felt forced to me. We sing loud and joyously because we know that the resurrection was something truly significant, and we teach, once again, about how significant the resurrection was...but somehow there's a disconnect, perhaps because Easter celebration really only makes sense in the context of the Church Calendar.
I'm still totally unresolved on how to rectify this situation. I've had a strong desire before to adhere more closely to the Church Calendar, to live within the rhythm of life and time that the Church has for so long in following the Calendar. Though I've never been a part of a tradition that actually does this, part of me has really desired this for a long time. Recently, though, I've really questioned the validity and value of this, because there doesn't seem to be any biblical record of the early Church following this sort of a tradition. Because we are stuck somewhere in the middle, in observing certain parts of the Calendar but not others, we miss the value in it entirely. Maybe we should do all or nothing. Perhaps we would do best to either fully buy into that tradition, or do away with it entirely and establish our own rhythm of learning, growing, and moving forward as the body. Any thoughts? Anyone feel similarly about Easter?
In our tradition, though, we maintain a more fluid schedule for teaching and reflecting on the life of Christ. We do our best to respond to exactly what we feel our body needs to hear and be challenged on at any given point in time. We also observe the Lord's Supper every week, so every week we are remembering and reflecting on the death and resurrection of Christ. Because of this, Easter celebration has often felt forced to me. We sing loud and joyously because we know that the resurrection was something truly significant, and we teach, once again, about how significant the resurrection was...but somehow there's a disconnect, perhaps because Easter celebration really only makes sense in the context of the Church Calendar.
I'm still totally unresolved on how to rectify this situation. I've had a strong desire before to adhere more closely to the Church Calendar, to live within the rhythm of life and time that the Church has for so long in following the Calendar. Though I've never been a part of a tradition that actually does this, part of me has really desired this for a long time. Recently, though, I've really questioned the validity and value of this, because there doesn't seem to be any biblical record of the early Church following this sort of a tradition. Because we are stuck somewhere in the middle, in observing certain parts of the Calendar but not others, we miss the value in it entirely. Maybe we should do all or nothing. Perhaps we would do best to either fully buy into that tradition, or do away with it entirely and establish our own rhythm of learning, growing, and moving forward as the body. Any thoughts? Anyone feel similarly about Easter?
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