Worship Together

When people start talking about what makes worship special, I often think of a memorable worshipping community I was once a part of: the International Community Church in Surrey, England. The ICC was a wonderful collection of ex-patriots from many different countries, cultures and denominations. Most of the families had moved around so much, they no longer felt as if they had a home-town. Such is the life of a global nomad.

I have found that these folks are a unique group of people to join in worship because they are keenly aware of the significance of community over construction. At the time that I worshipped at the ICC, we met in a local school cafetorium every Sunday. This was not due to a pending building campaign, or even because the church had just been “planted”. The location of the International Community Church had more to do with the transient –nature of the lifestyle of its members.

Our pastor once related a conversation he had with a Brit who questioned the validity of our worship space. “How can you worship in a space that isn’t on hallowed ground?” the Brit challenged. It has been 16 years, but I can still remember our pastor’s response…

“We can worship there because it becomes hallowed ground … every week … when we meet there together with the Lord.”

It was a gift to be a part of such a unique worshipping community because we lacked focus. We were not focused on architectural worship – we had no architecture to call our own. We were not focused on national worship in any way. There were no displays of patriotic flag-flying in our international space. And we were not focused on denominations - we were displaced Lutherans, Presbyterians, Catholics, Baptists, Espiscopalians and even a couple of Pentecostals who managed to worship together.

Our lack of focus in many areas, ironically, allowed us intense focus in others…like on the truth that worship is basically about God and his people. Together. That’s the bare bones, folks. Togetherness with God. Loving it. Celebrating it. That’s it. That’s all.

And if you have that…you have Hallowed Ground. You know what they say… “where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20

Go, my friends! Get focused! Worship Together!