Senior High 1, 2010 Programs - Sunday

When I was getting into leading and planning worship services, blogs were an invaluable source of ideas and inspiration. So I resolved to keep an online record of what we did at Sumatanga in the summer. So without further delay here's part one...

Overall Theme - Faith Alive!

The theme, used by all of the summer camps, originated when a camper the previous summer couldn't articulate what faith was.

When I approached the theme, there were several things I wanted to accomplish. First, what is it that we have faith in? The idea of metanarrative has powerfully influenced me over the last few years. I don't think I grew up with a solid knowledge of what the overarching story of scripture is. Sure, I knew the basics, but I didn't see how they all fit together. Over the last few years, my faith has deepened because of learning about Jesus' Jewish background via Rob Bell, which led me to Ray Vander Laan and NT Wright. 

I don't think I'm alone in that either. We hear that God so loved the world that He gave his only Son... but what was His plan, just to forgive sins for a future diembodied evacuation? That narrative just didn't explain it all. Plus there's the whole concept of what happens when we die. I think most Christians have no real clue. I know I didn't until a few years ago. I didn't understand the promise of resurrection and new creation. Resurrection was something Jesus did to prove that He was who He said he was... right? And once we die, we go to heaven to live forever, right? I've come to see that I had it all wrong, and now that I understand it a bit better, my ears are attuned to the messages coming out of the church on the subject. Jamie knows that I have been thinking about all of this and after a recent funeral we attended, she knew exactly what I was thinking in regards to the message from the preacher who spoke. "At my funeral, I want the Resurrection proclaimed!" said I.

On a similar note, my dad and I were talking about the Methodist Church this weekend, and he said that he lost a lot of respect for the church when they dropped the songs of Albert Brumley in the most recent Hymnal (from the late 80's). Specifically, "I'll Fly Away," and "I Will Me You in the Morning." I have no idea why they were cut, but that gave me an opportunity to go into why I think that they were theologically incorrect.

The other thing I wanted to accomplish was to address doubt and questioning. Too often, we are afraid of that in the church.

Sunday - Faith Alive

Sunday's programming is pretty abbreviated, the evening is mostly icebreakers, with a session from our speaker, and then a brief introduction of the theme. 

So to introduce all of that, on Sunday night we introduced belief statements. The Shema, and the Apostle's Creeds, as well as other affirmations of faith that others have written. We carried on with those through the rest of the week.

I had several speakers talk about why faith meant to them as an intro the theme, and then for the closing, we had a creative movement that was inspired by a Rob Bell sermon.

I wanted to address the whole transactional concept of God's love. If I just do this, then God will love me. I just have to earn it.

With the gorgeous Kolapot by Amiina playing as background music, I asked the question (via text on screen): What are you doing to earn God's love?

Then I had 3 campers come up one by one and make a dramatic pause underneath the screen where some decriptive text popped up:

This is Katie: she gets good grades 
and does her chores.

This is Kyle: he hasn't missed youth group 
all year long, and is goingon a mission trip this summer.

This is Sarah: she avoids hanging out 
with the wrong crowd, and recently gave up cursing.

Above them was a stairway leading up high into the rafters with a cloth obscuring the top. They would ascend up and come down with glowstick halos.

After the third camper, the whole scene is interrupted by a set of readers who read This God, a great poem by Gerard Kelly:

Romans 8:38-39 appears on screen as Out of Egypt, Into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt From My Sandals as I Run by Sufjan Stevens plays. Then, from up atop this staircase, the God character comes down to us and hands out the halos to all of the campers.

Stay tuned... part 2 is coming in a day or two...