People Watching

I haven’t been on a bus for a very long time – the journeys I need to make in this rural area not having that as an option. However I do remember the way buses fill up, each person going to an empty seat unless already with someone they know. No-one attempts to sit up cosy with a stranger until it becomes necessary, and even then in the brief seconds of looking down the aisle people are consciously or not sussing out the least threatening space. The seat next to the smart commuter being preferable to the scruffy teen or the old lady with arms full of bags and liable to chat to you whether you want to or not! On the other side the early boarders will have their own space protection plans – from the bags on the chair (forcing someone to dare to speak to you before they can claim a seat) to staring out of the window in denial of what is happening inside the bus.

In churches there is that same tendency – unless already planning to sit by someone  a new arrival will head for an empty space where they don’t have to go too close to others.  This is very normal behaviour – at least for us Brits – we have a pretty large invisible ‘my space’ around us. So many churches with smaller congregations than they were built for have this scattered look when you stand and view from the front.  Even when trying to get people to gather round in a circle or the like there will be those who resist the preacher’s requests. 

Yet this morning it was different. 

The church was laid out with 4 tables surrounded by a circle of chairs, 2 either side of the aisle. This wasn’t cafe church as such but creating usable size groups for a traditional Methodist Love Feast (another Moravian idea Wesley liked and nicked). This is a space for people to share tea and cake whilst sharing stories of encouragement of God in their lives. This was the first go at this and I had no idea how it would go, given people are not being used to speaking out at church unless you are the one at the front! 

It went down well but it was the people watching as they arrived that surprised me. People were choosing to fill up the gaps around a table rather than be the first at a new table. Some who usually sit in glorious separation were cwtched up close to each other. This has intrigued me. 

Is there is something about the table that changes the dynamic?

The expectation is that of being a group, and so it is important to be included. It is a community moment, and the layout says that. But surely all corporate worship is meant to be a community event – it is why we turn up at church at the same time, isn’t it? 

Actually it is much more complicated, some arrive at church on Sunday and long for that community, others come and want to be individual and it just happens that they are in a room with others being individual too. Some of those people will have stayed away today following the information given out in advance. Those who crave community in worship loved today. 

But how to serve congregations that are so varied in how they connect to God in worship?