Cracking debate going on at the moment on Damian Thomsons blog about contemporary church music. It's from a Catholic perspective, but hearing some of the samples posted on his site might actually make traditional Anglicans glad that they only have to sing Bowater and Kendrick in the 'its time for a modern song' slot.
In the meantime, a Bristol choir has put itself up for auction, because they're upset at changes in church life aimed at attracting newcomers. The link takes you to a news clip from the 'points West' local news bulletin last night. Worth watching. The 2nd church featured in the site, Woodlands church, has an interesting website here. What struck me most was how young most of the staff are compared to many Anglican churches. It was hard to work out what sort of church it was, as they use a traditional church building but don't seem to be part of any particular denomination or network.
The other interesting thing is that they are one church with several congregations, each with its own congregational leader, all of which meet in different places. My local is facing the issue of how do we grow beyond the limitations of a building which can only seat 80-90 people. We had, it turns out, 12 extra people on 'Back to Church Sunday', but there literally isn't room for the whole congregation in the church. Doubling up on a Sunday (or, more radically, a 2nd congregation on a different day of the week), is one of the obvious options, though it also involves extra work. There's then the question of whether you have a particular leadership team for each congregations, and how that works alongside trying to remain a single church with a single vision.
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