From the Guardian in London- (the little one must be a charismatic)
An important religious event took place over Easter – in Liverpool. (I've been away on holiday, so I'm afraid my response is a bit tardy.) A group of trendy Christians called Dream, who are linked to the Church of England, created an alternative worship event in a big shopping centre. There were about fifty people spread out in the shopping centre – at the signal they took off their shoes, like Moses in the presence of God, and congregated on a bit of grass, where they said a prayer, let off a balloon, and formed the shape of a cross – some bystanders joined in. They call it "guerilla worship".
This might sound like the trivial stunt of a few oddball God-botherers to you – I beg to differ. I think it the most significant bit of Christian culture I've come across in years. It's one of the first "alternative church" initiatives that has made me feel positive about this vague movement.
"Alternative church" has been talked of for a decade or so. It mainly means little groups of young-ish Christians, almost entirely Anglicans, who want to worship more creatively, who feel that all official worship is offputting. (The leading lights tend to be liberal evangelicals, often called "post-evangelicals".) They incorporate bits of youth culture, especially the overlap between the ambient side of the 90s rave scene and new age spirituality. In other words, they favour soft trancey music and arty video shows. And they also invent new rituals, often linked to social justice and green issues. The deeply ambiguous mother of this movement was the "Anglican cult" of the mid 1990s – the Nine O'Clock Service, which put on rave-style services. Because this went wrong (the priest in charge developed cult-leader tendencies), there is a certain caution built into the alternative church movement. "Let's not get carried away", many of its leaders seem to be warning.
The rest-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/apr/20/religion-christianity
1 comment:
No, you were right the first time: it's a stunt. Nothing else.
Nothing to see here.
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