An outsider might have noticed this church service was not typical after God’s microphone stopped working.That’s right.

Only a moment before, God’s voice had boomed clear and deep to the audience gathered at Vermilion Place on  Hazel Street , just behind the Java Hut on Vermilion.

But a glitch kept Him silent in the middle of a dramatic reading.

“I guess I have to get the microphone closer to the stage,” quipped God, being played by Danville First Presbyterian church member Rick Welchans.

The audience, there for the church’s monthly “blended” style of worship service, enjoyed the exchange.

And that’s pretty typical for this church, which for the past three years has gone out of its way to provide worship that not only inspires parishioners to reach heavenly goals, but gives them options on how they worship.

“The Word can be understood in a variety of ways by a variety of different people,” Welchans said following the reading.

New direction

The change in worship styles didn’t come by accident.

According to Welchans, about five years ago during an interim pastorship the congregation as a group decided it needed to reexamine its mission and outreach to the community.

“We had a guy come in called the ‘church doctor,’” Welchans recalled. “He came up with recommendations on how to make the church progress.”

Two of the recommendations included adding “contemporary” elements to the normal services at the church, and to reach out to people who wouldn’t normally come to a church setting by having services at another location.

There was some resistance among a few more traditional-leaning parishioners, but Welchans said that was more than offset by overwhelming interest by others.

“We had some people who were very interested in a more contemporary service,” he said. “We said, ‘What can we do that’s not like everybody else does, and still be appropriate?’” he said.

And the Adventures in Worship group was born.

“We know some people feel intimidated by the formal feel of a church,” said member Bob Iverson.

“This is about as informal and fun as you can get,” he said, pointing to more than 20 people enjoying a live contemporary-Christian performance on a warm fall night, all relaxing on the patio of Vermilion Place and drinking tea. The church has been holding services there for about three years.

God first

But don’t be fooled. Fun is not the bottom line here.

Scripture and a lesson on prayer were shared in the dramatic presentation by Welchans and church member Tobi Peck.

And the performer, David Howie, a Christian recording artist based in

Champaign, followed the skit with a long list of religious-themed songs. “We’re serious when we have to be,” said Pastor Jimmy Hopper. “But if you stay too serious and too traditional, people lose interest and God is not going to speak to them.”

“It simply gets the message across in another fashion,” Welchans said.Though different styles of music are featured at the Java site — from jazz to choir — “It’s always accompanied by a message,” Iverson added.

The drama

It’s not just off-site worship that has a twist at First Presbyterian.Even Sunday services usually incorporate some kind of dramatic element, worked out in advance to supplement Hopper’s and co-pastor and wife Katy Hopper’s weekly message.“It’s a partnership,” she said. “Spiritual authority is not invested in one person. Christ is the head of the household.”Katy Hopper said the Adventures in Worship group has centered most of its activities on providing dramatic readings in the style ofnews reports or old-time radio shows. She said the group has been wonderful to work with as they come up with concepts that play on popular themes. One recent skit was centered around the movie, “Pirates of the
Caribbean.” “We do a lot of creative things,” she said. “The group just fleshes it out and runs with an idea. It’s a worship team. They don’t want to sit back and watch worship, they want to do worship.”Jimmy Hopper said both he and his wife were raised in “traditional” Presbyterian households, but started learning the value of reaching out in other ways after seeing how successful that tactic was in keeping interest high. Katy was already working in clown ministries before the two arrived in

Danville.

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