If you ever find yourself near Worthing in West Sussex, England on a Sunday morning, drop in at the All Saints Church on Cissbury Drive. Located in a quiet, peaceful neighborhood in Findon Valley, All Saints has a wonderful mix of high church Anglican charm and "fresh expressions" of outreach and worship.
I had the privilege of attending two services, each characterized by very different elements. the high church Anglican service was Eucharistic (main focus of worship on Holy Communion). The liturgical reading of prayers and singing of hymns focused us on an organized, awesome God worthy of worship. Holy Communion and a message from John 1 on the Word becoming flesh and living among us and Holy Communion focused us on a God who came "down" from heaven to live among us. I don't get to attend many high church services so it was a treat for me. This was a beautiful, God-honoring service that fed me.
As a church planter, my ears perked up as I heard about the "fresh expression" of worship called JUMP. The Bishop of the Chichester diocese, Lindsay Urwin (the "cool bishop" according to 16 year old Ali Whiting), has stated that the Church of England will require fresh expressions of worship and outreach in order to reach out to the unchurches. Therefore, the Vicar and his family run the JUMP 4 JOY service for "kids and their grownups". JUMP stands for Joyful Unrestrained Magnificent Praise.
JUMP is a service for children. However, each child is required to "bring their grownups along". The reasons are twofold: outreach and legal considerations due to not having enough "official" adult caretakers. It works out well because on Sunday there were as many adults as children in the group of about 30. There were obvious teacher influences in the program with rapid movement from one activity to another and controlled people moving. An opening prayer, a song, a Valentine's craft (5 minutes only!), another song with kids' instruments, a participatory drama about the Good Samaritan, more songs, and a reciting of the Lord's Prayer gave the real impression of a child's church service.
I must admit that my church planter radar was on high alert as I noticed 3 things:
1) Every kid did, indeed, have at least one parent or grandparent with them.
2) ALL the parents/grandparents were interacting with their children, as well as with other children, through song (and dance!)
3) The parents all seemed to know each other and interact with each other.
Naturally, I had a few questions. Do some of the parents ever go to the adult (liturgical) service? Is it realistic to expect that those parents who come to the JUMP service will ever go to the liturgical service? These questions led to a mutually encouraging discussion with the Vicar and his wife about the different styles of worship and how important it is for the adults to move from being fed milk to being fed meat. Could the parents be taken out of the kids' service for a 5-10 minute devotional in the room next door? Could they build on their picnics and Christmas programs by starting a small group that addresses themes of parenting or marriage? The answers will come as the discussion continues among the workers at All Saints. Please pray that the Lord of the harvest would call out workers in this church.
I was encouraged and refreshed that Sunday morning at All Saints. It seems that God is doing something new in the beautiful parish of Findon Valley and I am looking forward to my next visit. Would anyone like to join me?
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