Church life in the Non Mainstream
NZ Baptist editor Duncan Pardon talked to Mark Pierson about
non-mainstream or alternative worship, and how it works in practice…
A few Sundays ago Mark Pierson picked up his church newsletter and read about nine new programmes his church was starting up. Mark didn’t know about most of them. None had sought his approval. While this may be cause for alarm for many Baptist pastors, Mark is relaxed. He says it’s an example of the Cityside philosophy in action.
He doesn’t want to offer Cityside up as a model of alternative church but sees it as a single example of how a non-mainstream church may look when compared with the more traditional model. ‘What differentiates us is not so much what we do, but why we do it’, says Mark.
Participation is one of the foundational values for Cityside. Anyone in the congregation can start any programme or project at any time. ‘Anyone can shape our life significantly without having to convince any hierarchy.’
For example, the nine new programmes in the newsletter were being started by individuals and small groups of Citysiders who thought something was needed in their life together, so they got together to discuss ideas of interest to them and then advertised them to the church. ‘We allow that and encourage it to happen. The core of Cityside is our Sunday service. Other programmes come and go, sink or swim, start and stop according to demand or desire. The Sunday service is the only programme we are long-term committed to, and that is constantly evolving as the needs of the worshipping community change.’
Even the Sunday service has an element of the unpredictable. Elements that make up the services such as prayer of confession, call to worship, prayers for others, are rostered three months ahead, but those on the roster are free to do what they like. No-one checks up beforehand to see what they are going to do. No predetermined theme ties it all together. ‘Yes, it’s risky. But we’ve never been let down. No-one has ever abused the privilege. We don’t mind stuff we have to wrestle with, or that some of us might disagree with. This approach extends to other programmes at Cityside. If someone starts a home group, for example, but no-one likes how it operates, then they won’t come along — so it becomes a self-selecting process. I don’t have final authority on anything. The church doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to all Citysiders. It exists only for them — to sustain them in their following of Christ in the world.‘
However, there is a flip side to this congregational freedom. ’Along with participation goes tying authority with responsibility -something churches often haven’t been very good at. If you take on a responsibility at Cityside, you have full authority within that realm.‘
Mark defines non-mainstreamers as people who want to grow communities of faith with more open-ended structures, and who have a different ethos from those who attend the traditional church service. Non-mainstream church people, according to Mark, are often those who:
- are looking for more participation and who want a greater ability to shape the life of the group they are part of, rather than fitting into a defined slot.
- want to ask questions without being told what the answers are, who want to talk about issues and to be able to change their mind on them
- want to ’major on the major issues of faith and life rather than major on the minor issues, which institutional life easily tends towards’
- are drawn towards creativity and the arts
- want the Christian faith to connect with their day-to-day life.
‘When I talk to people about alternative worship, often they are just looking for ideas to brighten up what they already do. I call this moving the deck chairs on the Titanic. I try to encourage people to ask the deeper question: what is the church for and why do we gather at all?‘ says Mark. ’I’m committed to alternative church rather than alternative worship.‘ That means everything is up for grabs, he says. It’s not just about changing a few songs to try and attract younger people. It requires fundamental changes on the part of pastoral leaders and church leadership and congregations: ‘Most churches aren’t willing to go that far.‘
’It’s very Baptist. It’s what Baptists are about. We have always been the protesters, the reformers, those who have stood against the mainstream, the people who are strongly committed to all people having access to the structures of grace and faith.
‘I’m still part of the Baptist denomination because there is room for me, and the group of people I am part of, to shape ourselves how we like and still be part of the family. It’s not about basic theology, it’s more about organisational things. At heart, Cityside is quite conservative theologically. And so am I.’
1 This article first appeared in the New Zealand Baptist Magazine, October 2002, and is reprinted by permission of the editors.