Ignite

A glimpse of Ignite, the alternative worship service at Second Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, PA

This service, upon my arrival at Second Presbyterian Church, was entitled Worship at the Crossroads and was only a few months old. It was started by a few members of the congregation who felt passionately we needed a more interactive and youth-led service. It occurred monthly in the youth space in the church basement and the band was entirely youth-led.

I helped steward this service in its established form for one year, working with the Senior Pastor and executive team. We began the building projects to remodel the upstairs fellowship space in spring of 2015, right before the Senior Pastor went on sabbatical for the summer. This remodel made it possible to move the service out of the basement and up the services to bi-weekly that Fall.

This video shows the service in the form it was by the time I departed from Second and reflects my thoughts on how to do family ministry. Make it a space for...

Belonging. Spirituality. Play.

This worship space made it possible for us to live into our mission of empowering the youth to lead us as they shaped liturgy, served as liturgists, and played in the band. It created a space for worship that allowed for both vertical engagement and horizontal relationship building: it was a place to belong. It allowed people to deepen their faith by utilizing the fullness of their bodies, minds, and relationships in the liturgy.

Playful Worship

While some may believe it gimmicky, we knew that the space needed to reflect the people who inhabited it so so we had bouncy ball chairs, high top tables where kids could draw while they worshiped, and confetti on Easter. There is something deeply sacred about joy and, sadly, our worship spaces have lifted up many of the other fruits of the Spirit but forsaken joy and in so doing we have asked people to leave parts of themselves at the door. When we let the young people lead us, we find parts of our God-given selves that we lost in the search for our religion.

In the words of Anne Lamott:

“Laughter is carbonated holiness”

Fun fact: during the days when we were thin staffed, this is where I learned how to run a sound board.