Corey Widmer, associate pastor for outreach at Third Presbyterian Church (Richmond, VA), recently wrote about something known in his congregation as the 75% rule. He explains:
When we gather together to worship on Sundays, everyone should be happy with no more than 75% of what is happening during the worship service. Why such a strange rule? Because we realize that in our culturally diverse congregation, if you are happy and comfortable with more than 75% of what is going on, it most likely means that your personal cultural preferences are being dominantly expressed. So we’ve decided that no one cultural form will be dominant and everyone will be equally unhappy with the worship!
So What?
Congregations with one service or with multiple services all with similar styles can never satisfy the varied demands of a diverse constituency with all elements of each service nor should striving toward such be considered ideal. Determining how best to construct worship in ways that are consistent with the congregation’s identity while also being respectful of the cultural and theological diversity of those present is a challenge.
- What does worship planning look like in your congregation? Who is involved? What is the basic process? How do those outside the formal process have opportunities to share their thoughts?
- If your congregation values diversity and in doing so knows that certain elements of each service will resonate with differing constituencies, how well do you think this message is communicated to all worshipers?