mistakes we made, things we did right, and what we need to do next time

these are random thoughts and i invite your comments...

things we did right:
  1. the message was well communicated through the sermon/teaching, videos, liturgy, and prayer stations
  2. people really appreciated the spontaneity of the questions david asked
  3. the water loop cd was effective even if we didn't have fountains or the like
  4. the lighting looked good, i think (even though it caused the sound system to buzz)
  5. chair arrangement seemed to work really well
  6. what else?
things we did wrong:
  1. there were not enough people there to help set up / tear down. in fact, for the most part it was four of us
  2. we didn't publicize enough
  3. too many songs in a row that were unfamiliar (or not all that easy to catch on)
  4. the scripture wasn't read aloud (yikes)
  5. the liturgy wasn't ready in the computer and therefore there was no read prayer from the congregation
  6. we should include more silence in the gathering
  7. didn't have enough prayer in the gathering
  8. words on screen sometimes didn't match what we were singing
  9. no email list / guest book
  10. what else?
things to do next time
  1. i think we should meet twice between now and then
  2. at the first meeting we should go over these things (wrong, right, what's next), and figure out the theme (we can do that here too)
  3. at the second meeting we should have the basics of the sermon pretty much done (videos, topics, etc.) so that the team can come up with ideas for the stations, projected images, videos, etc.
  4. we should then figure out if there is anything we need for the prayer stations
  5. concise order of worship at the next gathering for team members
  6. let's engage the senses better next time--especially sight and smell.
  7. what else?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had to chuckle at the Font song...old hymn new way! But what got me is a discussion I had with someone this week about how new music is so "I" focused and Font was covered up with it! :) I think we can always tweak and personally I like anything said, sung or prayed to be on the screen because hearing and seeing helps me personally get it. Also, more time to "pause and reflect" or "now we will have silent meditation" is what I need in a world so FULL of noise! The scripture was "shared" through the liturgy and maybe I am making an assumption but I think most the people there were probably not to outside the Church....which will be my mantra question "in what ways will we continue to reach out to the target audience we've defined? 18-35 'unchurched' ????" --betsy

Eric Coomer said...

Yeah, that's ironic isn't it. We were very intentional about not doing me, myself, and I songs. The Well theme, God Believes in You, and Mighty River all had no mention of those three...so the ironic thing is that the old hymn did with, "teach ME some melodious sonnet and tune MY heart to sing thy praise, and praise the mount I'M fixed upon it." Pretty funny. I think some in the emergent movement would get rid of the vertical (straight to God) songs and I think that's dangerous. I mean, look at Taize. Most Taize songs are vertical songs because they are all sung prayers.

I definitely think we need some silence in the gathering. And I totally agree that the words to anything said need to be on the screen! Excellent points. - Eric

Eric Coomer said...

A huge mistake I made was forgetting to record the worship service. That stinks because I was going to post the sermon on the website and some of the music, particularly The Well song we wrote for the gathering.

Anonymous said...

i think that there should be a time in the service specifically for going to the stations and praying and meditating.

Rachel