A constant discussion at the leadership table at Connexus Church is how to engage Christians and people with no church background during the same service.

Musically, it’s tricky.  We have a fantastic music team.  Andy Walker, our director of music, has done an unbelievable job of crafting what I think is one of the best church music environments in Canada. (Yep, I’m biased, but you should hear our team.)

The tension is Christians always want to sing more music.  People who grew up out of the church generally want less. Where else in the culture, after all, do you sing out loud in public?  People with little church background generally love great music, they just don’t want to be asked to stand for 30 minutes to participate in songs they don’t know to sing lyrics they don’t yet believe with their friends standing next to them.  That’s why we rarely do more than 3 participatory songs in a service.

We ask: how do you bridge the gap? I had the chance to see U2 last month in Toronto and watched Bono do something powerful. It was a huge life-highlight for me.  Broke down and cried a few times, actually.

He blended transcendence, imminence and a universal message masterfully together in a way that drew 63,000 people at the Rogers Center in Toronto together. And he did it much better than I’ve seen in most churches.

I wonder if there’s a blueprint in that for those of us who are committed to doing church in a way that constantly includes new friends.

That’s what I’m blogging about this week. 

In the meantime, anyone else at the U2 concert?  What did you see or learn?