The Closet, the House and the Santuary

Jack just dropped off a copy of a 1981 essay from The Christian Century. Here are some highlights:

"The locus for prayer/worship is threefold: the closet, the house and the sanctuary. Each has its unique place within the disciplines of the faith. Each has its own limitations if allowed to stand alone. And each offers reinforcement when exercised in concert with the other two.

Picture them as forming a three-legged prayer/ worship stool. If one or two of the legs are taken away, the result is a precarious balancing act. To overemphasize or place more importance on one of them will elongate that leg. To minimize, discredit, misuse or ignore another will shorten that leg. A tilted stool does not provide a solid foundation on which to trust one’s weight."

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"Some churches have created worship teams to plan the service, as an attempt to counteract one pastor "doing unto" the congregation. But who is to say that a team of ten persons will not also "do unto" the congregation -- and even more so as they add up their creative ideas? Inviting such participation is really an attempt to rope the house and drag it into the sanctuary.

In any renewal, let the sanctuary stick to its role of the public and corporate recital of the drama of grace. Then let us find ways to train sensitive lay leaders who can enable house worship. And let us also encourage and support those persons and groups that are providing spiritual direction for solitude, seeing that their efforts are vitally linked to renewal of the total worship life of the church."

You'll find the full text here.