I’m currently in New Zealand – hence, one of the reasons for my lack of posts.
The weekend before we left Canada Ruth and I (plus our two daughters) “attended” two fairly popular “cultural” events which made me think about the latent need for communal ritual and connection which still resides within our post-Christian culture.
The first event was the Vancouver Folk Festival. This was the less significant of the two events. But nevertheless it was a very “social” gathering that brought together a thousands of people who otherwise wouldn’t have spent much time together. To be honest, we didn’t actually attend the Festival. We just sat on the Jericho beach and enjoyed the sun go down over the Vancouver mountains. From this position just outside the festival perimeter fence we were still able to hear the bands that played – most especially The Proclaimers.
The second event was the next night. A friend of ours was house-sitting in Yaletown(yuppie downtown Vancouver). She invited us over for a picnic dinner and mentioned that there seemed to be something going on in the park opposite her apartment. So we went downtown and had our picnic in the park. When we arrived there was probably 200-300 there – most of them seated on the ground on picnic blankets of chairs. And there was a huge outdoor cinema screen. It was about 7.15pm and we found out that a movie was going to be shown at 9.30pm. What kind of movie would attracted so many people hours before the start time. Surprisingly it was to be “Ghostbusters“. By 9.25pm there was probably around 1000 people. I couldn’t believe it! What would bring so many people out to watch a 20 year old movie that people could easy watch on their DVD players at home? And what would make people turn up 2 hours before the start? What would bring this diversity of of people – ages, ethnic groups, etc together? Was there some yearning for some kind of communal experience which drew all these people together? A shared emotional experience which is more than the sum of a series of individual experiences?
Years ago I guess “church” would have meet this need – diverse people coming together to experience something beyond themselves in the context of our shared humanity. But now, instead of going to church done this happens at a public park in downtown Vancouver on a Saturday night while watching “Ghostbuster”! I find this totally amazing!
[...] http://markmcconnell.ca/2009/07/30/movies-church-and-the-yearning-for-shared-experience/ [...]
Interesting post. Two observations…
(I hope I’m not being too cheeky)
I was at the folk festival. It is sort of a community, but really it is an activity of the community. A gathering where we’re brought into an aspect of the life of the larger community in which it occurs…like the plethora of other gatherings.
I do, however not that it was a community that you weren’t actually part of…come on in next time…we had fun.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/knepomuk/sets/72157621645375621/show/
I don’t think there has been a point where these things have come to replace church. They are as they always have been (more or less) community gatherings.
It sounds to me as if you have an assumption that were it not for the church, people wouldn’t gather. People will always gather. At one point the church was involved with the organization of those gatherings (in this culture), now many people organize events and their lives without as second thought to it. But, their motivation to gather is not necessarily enhanced or diminished. It exists as something separate from the church.
I agree that churches are communities and that they can be rich, fulfilling communities for many people. But, there are also many other kinds of communities with the same richness of relationships.
Cheers, Colin.
Interesting thoughts Colin! (Nice to hear your “voice”!)
In my hometown there is a new summer tradition of gathering once a week for an outdoor movie too. They stop traffic on two blocks of Main Street in the downtown, and cafes stay open late. They pick family-friendly movies and a huge chunk of the town turns out for it… it’s an opportunity for families to have fun without calling a babysitter, for adults to socialize and let their kids run around…. And one key ingredient that I think church and a few other venues supplies is that of “it’ll be here whether you are here or not.” Unless of course you’re an organizer. But I think that is part of the healing of North American culture right now – stable routine of community gatherings that are here whether you are or not…just come and enjoy. And then after a while when people feel safe, they start pitching in and helping to support those community happenings.
Ironically I realized this principle was happening for me in the church I got involved in for the last 4 years, with their 24-hour prayer and daily Mass. After a couple years of showing up whenever, feeling welcomed when I was there and missed when I wasn’t, I joined and began helping out. There’s something to this in the healing of community… curious as to what you gents think about that.
Christine (I know many…which one are you?),
If I’ve got you correct, you’re liking some of the more casual, less formal and less strictly committed formats of community gatherings and some churches?
I didn’t quite follow the comment about healing America…but my interest is piqued.
The 24hr church thing is also interesting….Are you hinting towards church communities that operate in a sort-of help-yourself model. A continually revolving door of people who fit worship/church in when their life permits or when the spirit calls? (Less structure overall) Or do I have the wrong end of the stick?
What an interesting concept. I’m gonna need some time to think this through…it raises a host of thoughts.
Colin.
Sorry Colin, it’s Christine whose kitty Zoe-under-the-Toey you graciously hosted back in 2003! Say hi to Letty for me!! BTW I’m coming up for a visit in the next few weeks.
The Zoo herself is sleeping next to me on the couch as I type. She made it to Brazil and back with me in 2005 and ever since has been enjoying herself on my sunny balcony in summer and sacked out by the fire in winter. She beat up another cat who managed to get inside our apartment once – the other cat was white and there was snowy fluff all over the place after the horrible-sounding but brief brawl. We joked that Zoe beat the stuffing out of her.
But I digress.
Regarding “healing of North American culture”… I don’t have entirely formed opinions on this, but it seems that we went through a bit of disintegration of local communities for a while in the late 80s and early 90s… at least where I lived. There was tons of moving around and the “yuppie” movement was exploding and gentrifying neighborhoods without getting to know their neighbors. More money, no community.
But then the GenXers got really hungry for community (it was such a huge topic at Regent that we called it the “c-word” because we all wanted it and talked about it… but nobody seemed to be attaining it) and started changing all that, especially when they started having kids and needing a social life – and stuff like open-air movies are classic examples of what I’ve seen. San Francisco has a long history of free, open-air community – free Opera in the Park is an annual bash, Stern Grove weekly concerts all summer, movies in several parks around the city. Redwood City (a southern suburb) has revamped its Courthouse square and they have free concerts and dancing every Sunday during good weather.
24-hour “adoration” as it’s called in the Catholic church has been around for hundreds of years, and Protestants have been keeping 24-hour prayer vigils up through the centuries as well. I love a book by an English guy called “Red Moon Rising” about the 24-7 prayer movement that started in the 90’s and the historic roots of the practice. It’s incredible and it shows how community, mission and conversion (not necessarily in that order) naturally grow out of 24-hour prayer rooms, especially permanent ones like my parish.
Church needs to have structure and routine rhythm – but an openness to people who come here and there is really good, and the 24-hour prayer room is a way for people to make connections and eventually fall into a routine of when they come, knowing the structured people will be there on a predictable basis. For example, I don’t have regular scheduled hours right now, but I frequently go during 9-11 pm to keep an older lady company who is scheduled for those hours most nights of the week. I also am extrapolating a bit from my experience of wandering in an out of the church during those prayer hours, thinking that I’d be alone in the silence, but getting to know a LOT of people over the years… by the time I decided to join the church and get structured about my attendance (ie: Mass at scheduled times and active participation in church life), I knew more people than some of the registered parishioners.
Does that make sense?
Hello…nice to hear from you again.
As I see it there was a steady erosion of community in North America since world war two. In the economic boom periods following the war, combined with the baby-boom caused a massive resettling of America. An era of immigration, and era of decentralization (gutting of the inner city and birth of the concept of automobile suburbs) meant virtually everyone was uprooted and resettled somewhere else. I think that this meant that everyone was having to re-form their notion of community. Also, the new living arrangements (spread-out single family dwellings rather than row-houses) required a re-thinking of the concept.
I think that by the 1980s when the boomers were absorbed in career and had grown-up with a weak sense of community – and institution (church). The absence of community, I think corresponds directly with a palpable growth of individualism.
And, yes, I think in response to this many people are realizing that community is missing from their lives. There are lots of efforts in the wider world, and in the church of people starting to want to re-build those notions because they feel the need for it, and also feel it is simply good for everyone’s quality of life.