Exploring the dynamics of change in a worship setting

People are suspicious of change - with good reason. Change can end up ruining a good thing.

How do we effect positive change in worship without freaking out the congregation?

Many minister see lay worship as a useful way to try a change without having to take ownership of it, thereby allowing an experiment to take place once, but not have to invest reputation or ego in it.  The trouble with this is that a change needs to be experienced over a course of time for people to get used to it before passing judgment on it. Also, as lay people, given an opening, we over-eagerly tend to lay on too many changes all at once, thereby muddying the waters, so-to-speak, in an effort to present ALL our best ideas and hope that something will stick.

Take for example, a paperless service.
Images and the words to hymns, songs, and responsive readings are projected on a screen in the front, allowing people to lift up their heads, have their voices mingle in greater unity, and elderly and young folks people can follow along more easily. Less paper is used, visuals (artwork for example) add another element to understanding a message, the mind is engaged by more than one sense.

That's all well and good, but it takes time for people to get accustomed to this radical change in worship. People may associate the method with a different faith tradition, college lectures, commercial advertising - the visceral reaction can be negative.

The best advice we got on this was from Terry Steeden, a church friend and retired minister, who has in his professional career successfully shepherded two congregations into the use of multimedia in worship.  He advises initially using BOTH print and projection in worship, doing multimedia in a particular seasonal experience such as Advent or Lent, with a fixed time period and returning to the old way of doing things so people can first, get used to a change, but also trust that leadership is not going to make permanent change without necessary discernment.

He also strongly advises not messing with any other aspect of worship while you are trying this radically new and different style. Wise words from someone who has been a cheerful and courageous proponent of the use of new technology in modern worship.