What is open space?

Open Space is a way of doing worship that takes into account the worldview shift that happened around the 1960s. See the chart for a quick comparison. This kind of worship, often called Emergent or Post-Modern, operates on several principles. Click the button below to read them.  
The style of music does not matter nor does how liturgical or non-liturgical the service might be. Open Space is adaptable for worship in the park with whoever happens to walk by, in a sanctuary, with or without screens, with or without live music.  It is the word view shift that matters.  If you would like Pastor Jess to consult with your church in person or by video on how you can create this kind of service, please click the button below to contact me.  ​

Where and why did you do this?

Open Space was created with a Ministry Team at Capron Lutheran Church, in Capron, IL.  The team meetings were full of openness, creativity, and brainstorming.  This congregation nurtured Pastor Jess into a love of creative worship that involves all of the human senses, and requires very little sitting still.  At this service, everyone was involved, everyone got to participate to "help create the space together", people got to "come as you are, and be who you are."  Every week, people returned to worship with stories about how the service the week before had changed their lives that week, often in the ways they solved a problem, got along with others, or in their relationship with God.  The service involved learning Bible stories, inter-generational faith sharing, praying for one another, pastoral care, playing, laughing, learning together, and sharing our sacred meal, Communion.  (This is bread and wine, everyone was welcome, everyone helped serve. Here, there were no requirements or barriers between people and God.) 

To learn more about Open Space at Capron Lutheran Church, watch the slide show below or click the button below to read a fictional, but true to the combined experiences of the worshipers, story. 

HOw could people participate?

Message times were always interactive and involved conversation.  At any point a person could make suggestions or ask questions. The space was truly open and we created it together.  In the worship service, people also picked up Cards for Worship on their way into the worship space.  Imagine being homeless, not having taken a shower for two weeks, and wandering into a church. Imagine that you are handed an offering prayer card and asked to pray during worship, while being assured how well you read doesn't matter! If you'd like to download the Cards for Worship and adapt them for your use, you can do that here.  It saves a great deal of time to work with the people who are there in the room that day, instead of scheduling and rescheduling worship assistants. Plus, it helps the community know that worship is a collective act, and everyone takes responsibility for making it happen. (The original idea for not scheduling worship assistants and assigning jobs as people come in is from Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber.  Everything else that is similar to her stuff came authentically out of our community because this is the zeitgiest, or Spirit of the Times.)    

Are other churches doing this?

There are several churches using this model of worship.  The ones listed below are churches that have specifically used my resources as a starting place to create their own Open Space service.  This list will grow as more churches are ready to explore this worldview shift in worship.  Don't forget, I can share resources and consult over the phone, video or in person to guide a congregation through the process of making this style of worship for their context.