In the interests of full disclosure, my theology now lies in the direction of Anglican-Catholic. That though is a story for another day! My disposition to ARISE church has often been hostile and snarky. So tonight was an opportunity to see whether my feelings on this brand of pentecostalism were based on any fraction of fact.
I should make it clear that, no one has an objective view on any church so any comments that I am not objective mean little to me because you too dear reader come to your perceptions through your experiences and values too.
The scene was set. Husband and I sat in front of tonights venue, the Opera House, eating roasted chickpeas and peered at the clusters of hip looking young people. The crowd was predominantly teen to thirties. I did however see one or two people out of this demographic.
On entering a young woman said to us in a dull tone ‘Welcome to Church.’ I hold no animosity towards her, it is a thankless task saying ‘welcome’ to people you have little connection to other than you are in the same building. This is of course a church with 10,000 members spread across the country, the majority of which meet here at one of the multiple services held on a Sunday.
We chose to sit down the bottom and were asked whether we had saved seats. This is an interesting phenomena. At my small Anglican church we just roll on up and sit wherever, if someone wants space for their entourage we all shuffle down. My husband commented that the ‘saving a seat’ thing was much like eager concert attenders saving a seat for their friend. It reminded me more of school children saving a seat for their friend at lunch time.
After briefly sitting down a music video of one of ARISE’s latest songs, ‘Hey Oh’ was played. It was accompanied by cheering. The band arrived on stage as the song was playing and then we sung the same song, ‘Hey Oh’ that we had just heard. The front of the Opera House was full of jumping young people (the floor moved with the jumping – what is the Earthquake strength of this building? I pondered) , hands were waved, bright lights and stage smoke filled the auditorium.
This song was followed by a second song, then a brief interlude by what I can only guess was the ‘Worship pastor’ and then another couple of songs.
The choreography was flawless. ARISE Church run a tight ship. The worship leaders had hand signals throughout the songs to let the band know what was to go next. It was interesting to note how the lead singer had the band slowed down and repeated one line ad nauseum to transition people into a ‘worshipful mood.’ The worship pastor also interjected now and then. Quips and cliches about Presence, worship, and feeling were stated. There were subtle lighting changes, what I assume to be stage smoke and of course a camera crew who’s pictures flashed directly onto the multiple screens so as to direct the audiences point of attention or emotion.
There were many startling and jarring parts to the service
** The lack of biculturalism. Maybe I am spoilt at my Anglican church which does half of the liturgy in Te Reo and half in English… Some NZ feel and acknowledgement would have been good, the music and service itself could easily have been transplanted or be transplanted to any part of the mega-church world
** The most exasperating part of the service were the lyrics of the songs. The music was generally catchy and had the usual chord I IV V progression that is heard in pop songs. The song that I mentioned above ‘Hey Oh’ will be the feature of my next blog post.
My husband and I left just before Gillian Cameron was scheduled to speak. We had just been assured that the presence of God was in the room. This it should be mentioned though was after we were implored to seek God’s presence.
On entering the streets of Wellington I felt strangely at peace. Not because of the service, but because of the presence of God in the silence outside the doors of the Opera House. I also had an incredible longing to find the nearest Mass or my rosary and pray!
If there was one verse of scripture that stood out to me it was 1 Kings 19:12 ‘And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.’
This speaking of God in silence is often overlooked in modern worship.
The pulpit commentary explains the verse like this:
The hebrew word for silence is an onomatopoic word like our English word ‘dumb’
‘There passes before him in the mountain hollow, in the black and dark night, a procession of natural terrors-of storm, and earthquake, and fire. But none of these things move him; none speak to his soul and tell of a present God. It is the hushed voice, the awful stillness, overpowers and enchains him. He is to learn hence, first, that the Lord is a God “merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6); and secondly, that as it has been with himself, so it will be with others; the name of the Lord will be proclaimed in a voice of gentle silence’
More next time!
Rongopai- Church Culture in New Zealand 
From a post I put on Imonk “My wife and I went to a large megachurch tonight. The church is penticostal in flavour, similar to a Lakewood Church in type. We only stayed for the beginning of the time (about 40 minutes of singing/dancing). What struck me was how far the idea of triumphalism flowed through. It struck me that the place would be very very hard for anyone struggling with mental illness, or grief or terminal illness. I got very angry in their prayer. The prayer seemed to suggest that God would just heal. It was interesting also seeing the hyperspiritualism and the belief that God is only present in the worship time/church time. I couldn’t feel the presence of God at all. I was asking God if he was present, wrestling. But I couldn’t at all. I heard the whisper of God in my ear though. My wife told me that she could see when the musicians were telling the stage crew to amp up the music. It was a very surreal experience. I had the parable of the seeds and the seeds falling up on rocky ground but not being able to cope with the harder seasons in life. I prayed for the young Christians there, that they find some form of water and strong foundation.”
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