| abstract |
Some call it the emerging church. Some call it a new kind of worship. Still, others call it, the seekers church. It all amounts to the need to be worshiping God.
Those who recognize there is a different kind of thinker or seeker suggest that in the world of religious philosophy and spiritual enlightenment, changing worship
practices are at odds thereby resulting in diminishing traditional church roles. Many academics ensure us that "this too shall pass" and leave the questions
presented by these new kind of thinkers about religion to ever changing tides of the time. Yet questions presented by postmodern seekers need to be addressed.
Young people hold the key to such questions but are not freely given the opportunity to express their thoughts. In the process of developing this project,
I was able to identify roadblocks and marginalizing characteristics within the traditional worship experience. I discovered various behaviors of young people
and traditional worshipers relative to religious practices. This project is an evaluation of a Worship service produced, directed, and implemented by young
people of the Middle District Baptist Association in Burgaw, North Carolina. This Association consists of a group of sixty Baptist Churches in Eastern North
Carolina. This area is but one example that has experienced the decline in new member enrollment and has decided to address the issue. I examined the various
stages young people of this Association and my home-church experienced in the process of attempting such a venture. Integrated also in this paper are suggestions
for identifying roadblocks and entertaining ministries to increase community participation in the church and combine traditional and contemporary worship.
This paper and its components will be shared with the Middle District Baptist Association in Burgaw North Carolina and may be instrumental in providing a
bridge between the traditional and the postmodern worshiper.
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