Advent and Lent in a Modern Church

I am not a very traditional kind of church person. The church I lead is not formal. Most people call me by my first name, we drink coffee in our auditorium (I usually call it an auditorium rather than a sanctuary). I wear jeans, or slacks, but I never wear a tie, or a robe. Most people wear shorts when it is warm outside, and this is Florida, so that is most of the time. We have guitars and drums and I really do not like hymns, even when they are played on a guitar. So then people are always surprised about the role of Advent and Lent in our church (although we don't even do them in a traditional way). It's not because I dislike the pageantry or the liturgy of tradition, I am just not very formal personally.

For me, Advent and Lent are not about tradition, but about discipleship.  My doctorate degree is actually in Christian Education. So while my dissertation was about the role of biblical literacy in relationship to discipleship and transformation, I spent a lot of hours reading studying about education and learning. I am convinced that the reason things like liturgy and spiritual disciplines resurface again and again, is because they work. These practices of fasting, the lighting of candles and the keeping of church calendars, reading of prayers and so forth year after year, all reinforce what we believe with doing, smelling, and seeing, and sharing. It is the shared practice, and the sight, sound, doing combination that burns these things deep into our minds and evoke emotional responses within us. Nothing in modern education has been able to replace these simple practices.

The intent of Advent and Lent at the Vineyard isn't about time honored traditions, it isn't about being avant-garde or trendy, it is about repurposing and reinvigorating things that really work, so that they do not become routine and empty but instead create a great experience that deeply imbeds our hearts and our minds with truth.

As we make our way into this Advent season, my prayer is that you will use the tools of this great tradition to make room for Christ and the message of peace to those who know and do his good will.