Are Anglicans Seeker Sensitive, Mega, or What?
Willow Creek church pioneered the Seeker Sensitive church model in the 1980s. The basic idea, at least theoretically, is one that all Christians share. First, we want to understand the needs of our community and seek to connect with them. Second, and ultimately, we want to speak the language of our communities when communicating. No one can disagree with that goal. We welcome all non-Christians who are called to know and worship God through Jesus Christ.
Where Anglicans Differ
Where we differ from the Seeker Sensitive movement lies in the felt needs or expectations of non-Christians govern Christian worship. For us, Christian worship is for Christians to worship God. It is shaped by the Bible, the Christian worshiping tradition found in our Book of Common Prayer, and the Holy Spirit’s presence.
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We unabashedly don’t craft our worship services to be similar to concerts, discussion groups, or self-help seminars. True, these things are great in their own right. However, we expect that unbelievers will find our worship to be different than other experiences in their lives. What we often think we want or need is quite different than what God tells us we want or need. We believe that the Christian worshiping tradition calls us to go deeper through the gospel. It calls us to learn, grow, and challenge the blind spots of our contemporary day and age.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:6-7
Add in the New without Sacrificing the Old
However, we believe that we can follow classic Christian worship patterns but still be friendly, welcoming, and intelligible, like Seeker Sensitive churches. Our liturgy is (usually) in contemporary English, and our music forms blend today’s music with music from other ages in Christian history. We believe that we should preach the Gospel in ways that bridge the gospel into everyday life. A church can be friendly, accessible, and relevant while remaining committed to worshiping God in biblical and traditional ways. We also believe that the mystery of liturgical, sacramental worship has an attractive dynamic that is relevant today.
Anglican Parish, Your Parish
The Anglican model is a neighborhood parish model. We commit to focusing our church on the surrounding community. If we grow too large, and if many folks are driving in from a particular outside community, we will usually work toward planting another church rather than building a succession of larger and larger buildings. That said, the definition of a “large” church will vary from place to place, and frequently, a larger building is needed.
Mega Church, Mega Problems
Despite the great blessings of many of our mega sister churches, we can see the downside of becoming that large in terms of relationships and in removing people from their communities. They close themselves to newcomers, those small churches, and they cherish being “just us” and doing things “the way we’ve always done them.” There can be a fear of growing larger and transitioning into new ways of relating and serving together. They may as well hang up a sign that says, “No longer accepting new members!”
We hope and pray that many of these new folks are new Christians or “re-churched” Christians, along with others whom God calls to us. We do want to grow in numbers, both in attendance and finances. Like the mega churches, we want to reach thousands, though we do this through church planting in various areas rather than one centralized location. We strongly commit to establishing a church that lasts for many generations beyond our own. We want parishes large enough to support this goal but small enough to enable deeper relationships and intentionally connect with the neighborhood.
Photo by Andy Bridge on Unsplash
Introducing Anglican Antiquities
The Anglican Antiquities line of publications at Anglican Compass seeks to reintroduce works of devotion and theology across churchmanship and time to eager readers.
Review Roundup: Deep Anglicanism
While not without criticism, our reviewers found McDermott’s volume to be both accessible and deep. It brings the richness of Anglicanism’s deep history, including its ancient pre-Reformation roots, to bear on our beliefs and practices.
