CHOICE OF GREENBELT SERVICE

Folks, you'll have seen my e-mail on this. We have a very limited amount of time in which to decide (by next weekend), and the only way to make the decision is really via a poll as already advertised. Experience shows that "reply to all" is a very unpopular way of conducting discussions, but to open out discussion here is a blog post and comments section to which you are invited to contribute with any opinions.

The text of my e-mail ran as follows:

The GB alt.worship team need our description of the service by 10th June, as this is the deadline for the advert which will go in the GB programme. Obviously 10th June is the date of the June service itself, so we need to make the choice of service for GB before that day. This is not quite what we were expecting (!), but the GB team have a lot to organise and we need to work with their requirements.

Given that last September's service was deliberately minimal following a fairly exhausting time at GB06, and "Frozen" from December 2006 was very much a winter service and involved some not-very-easy-to-transport props (an ice sculpture!)... there are probably only two practical contenders, namely "Unknowing God" from March 2007, and "FEARLOVELOVEFEAR" which will be the June 2007 service.

As to the choice between these two, I'd like to conduct a quick straw poll of those involved in creating both these services, and anyone else in Foundation who has any thoughts on the subject. Here are some relevant considerations to bear in mind:

Health and safety - Both services are Greenbelt-compatible from Health & Safety perspective.

Ease of transport to festival context - "Unknowing God" was deliberately light on props and set-up, as we created the service having the potential Greenbelt context in mind. I understand that "FEARLOVELOVEFEAR" involves the building of stations, although perhaps these may be easily transportable so that they can be set up in the venue in half an hour? I defer to the June team!

Suitability of content - Whichever service we choose would in any case be adapted for suitability to the Greenbelt context. In the case of "Unknowing God" this would involve shortening to within an hour (e.g. removing some of the opening section) and, if not softening, then at least careful handling, of some of its stronger elements. "FEARLOVELOVEFEAR" is at present a bit of an unknown quantity for most of us - which is why the team's input would be welcome, so that we're not flying blind!

Either way, a service with some hard-hitting elements should be acceptable for the GB context. In fact, it is arguably welcome in view of (i) the festival's professed aspiration to be edgy and honest (as Steve observes), and also (ii) the wish to be distinctive given the large amount of potentially quite same-y alt.worship which may be happening! As a positive example, Ikon have gained a national reputation by presenting challenging material over successive years in the GB context - so this is certainly not something to be afraid of. The important point will be how the service is introduced and pastorally handled, and we will be taking special care over this whichever option is chosen.

So - views welcome.

Tim