I can't stop thinking about our First Wednesday gathering at The Orchard last night... It was powerful.
Mike Jones and team started out with a couple of acoustic songs (jimbay, etc...) followed by Rob Bell's Nooma video, "Noise."
Following the video, we went into 30 minutes of scripture meditation and communion all done in COMPLETE SILENCE while being directed by simple words on our three screens.
One of the most powerful moments of the evening was during communion when we were all instructed (via the screens) to hold the communion wafers and snap them in half on the count of three. This sound against the backdrop of complete silence with "His body was broken for you" on the screens, created a pretty amazing experience.
This is our third time using silence for an extended period of time at a First Wednesday and each time I find myself walking away moved and motivated to spend more time in silence listening to God's voice.
I'll be making the scripture meditation media available for download here soon. Stay tuned...
dude i am borrowing that idea...done a few things close to that but the thought of the wafer breaking at the same time...wow!
Posted by: Fred | April 04, 2008 at 12:25 AM
That sounds incredible... would love to see how that could work for us too. Cheers for the ideas!
Posted by: emma | April 04, 2008 at 06:22 AM
The first time we attended a First Wednesday a couple years ago was one of the silent ones. It confirmed for me that the Orchard was where we needed to be. Thanks for not being status quo.
Posted by: Joni | April 04, 2008 at 06:23 AM
I absolutely love this idea and am going to attempt to hijack it for sure!
Posted by: Larry Boatright | April 04, 2008 at 07:19 AM
hey scott i agree myself and Angie attended first wensday and WoW all i can say i left there last night feeling soo great when we all broke the wafer in half the sound of echoing was awesome and powerful it was
Posted by: Adrian Soto | April 04, 2008 at 07:46 AM
that sounds powerful. wish I could have been there. i love the idea. we need to do that in our church sometime.
Posted by: aaron escamilla | April 04, 2008 at 09:57 AM
nice... powerful stuff, love it!
Posted by: Flav | April 04, 2008 at 01:42 PM
! Wednesday ...No that's not a typo. I was so impressed with my first, 1st Wednesday. I enjoy my solitude and many people do not understand it. The silence in a group setting was deafening....beautifully done.
Posted by: Sherry | April 06, 2008 at 01:41 PM
Wow Scott. It sounds like a powerful moment of worship. I'm so proud of you guys for leading such authentic worship.
Posted by: Pete Wilson | April 06, 2008 at 08:58 PM
Djembe. :) (Not jimbay...) Not being a turd, just letting ya know.
Posted by: Bernard Shuford | April 08, 2008 at 12:34 PM