McDowell expands its opportunities by James Jacenich • staff writer
McDOWELL - Looking for ways to expand your spiritual life? The first and third Sundays of each month, McDowell United Methodist Church offers an additional opportunity for prayer, says Chris Scott.
 | | Chris Scott leads worship at McDowell UMC. (Photo courtesy Heather Scott) |
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Scott is an ordained minister, but feels uncomfortable calling himself reverend.
He doesn't want to call the prayer meeting he heads up a service, either. "I don't want to provide a service," he said. "People need to come here not to be entertained or served, but to participate," he says.
Jesus Christ is the main reason and purpose for worship, says Scott.
Scott says while leading worship at the Presbyterian Church in McDowell when the church was looking for a new minister, the Rev. Dave Boger of McDowell UMC approached him with the idea for a new service.
The format of the gathering will change week from week. The first service, Feb. 4, had 25 worshippers from age 15 months to 93 years, including teens, couples, and families.
Worship included music and scripture readings in addition to special activities to expand one's prayer time.
Each gathering will be different. The congregation may break into groups to pray. There may be prayer stations where worshippers will do an activity centered on that day's worship. There may be guitar music, or drums, including the African djimbe. Scott may use an overhead projector to further illuminate the spiritual quest.
Scott, who has a degree in biblical studies and theology and youth ministry from Eastern Mennonite University, and is attending Eastern Mennonite Seminary, says, "It will be Biblically based and Christ-centered.
"I want to challenge folks," he says. Scott will not stand behind the lectern and preach to a half-sleeping audience.
"I'm not a shouter, I'm a stroller," he says. He likes to wander around the room and talk to people. "I always try to have the people be involved."
Juanda Holsinger says of the new worship service, "I like it. It's really informal. We broke up into groups. We could stand to sing or sit. Scott has lots of energy."
This prayer meeting doesn't take the place of traditional worship services, says Scott. "It's for people who are looking for another opportunity to worship," he says.
While not traditional, the new worship opportunity isn't exactly contemporary, either.
"How does one define ââ¬Ëcontemporary worship?'" he asks rhetorically. "I define it as a way to reflect the community we are a part of."
"The way I read scripture people would bring a scripture or a psalm to church," he says. "People would tell others at church, ââ¬ËI am wrestling with this.'"
Scott claims no special place in the church nor right to dictate religious doctrine or formulas. "I don't claim to have the lock on all insight," he says. "I am open to input from the group.
"Let's call it worship time," he says. "It is a worship experience.
"We're not about nickels and noses," he quips.
One can't buy one's way to heaven, or ride on the coattails of the ordained, he explains.
Scott may be best known as the head of LOGOS. The program ministers to around 25-30 youth and 20 adults in Highland County.
The local group is part of a larger LOGOS ministry which is in more than 1,500 churches and 20 denominations, 47 states and four countries and has more than 30,000 youth and 12,000 adults meeting weekly, according to its Web site http://www.thelogosministry.org.
The Rev. Beth Pyles of McDowell Presbyterian Church is involved in LOGOS. The Rev. Darrin Massey of the Church of God of Prophecy also participates. The group meets at the Word of Faith Church in Monterey from 3:30-7 p.m. every Wednesday.
LOGOS consists of recreation and play time, Bible study, worship and a meal.
Scott moved to Highland County several years ago and got involved with the LOGOS program when his wife, Heather, landed an art teaching position at Highland County Public Schools.
He grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country and moved to Virginia in 1985. He graduated from Eastern Mennonite High School in Harrisonburg in 1988 and Eastern Mennonite University in 1995.
Scott describes his spiritual journey and entrance into the Christian ministry, not as a calling, but as a "grasping." The child who loved to play church developed a "growing compulsion" for more involvement with the church. "I am fascinated by the body of Christ (the followers of Christ)," he says.
Scott acknowledges the imperfections of the church - his and those of others. He talks of the sins and hypocrisies of Christianity, while at the same time reveling in the "community of faith."
"It's (the church) frustrating at times," he says.
He was inspired to enter the ministry by a youth minister he met in Harrisonburg. "She was phenomenal," he says.
His grandfather played a role in his spiritual development, too. "He was spiritual," Scott says. "He was real about his faith."
Scott wandered away from a spiritual life for a while, trying to avoid the role Christ had for him.
He was working at a fast-food restaurant in Williamsburg when he realized that wasn't for him. His life got back on track and he moved to Winchester.
"We started two churches in Winchester - Grace Community Church, (part of the Church of the Brethren centered in Ashland, Ohio) and The Exchange Coffee House (whose mission was to bring people into relationship with Christ in a coffee house setting)," he says.
He was ordained while connected with The Exchange.
He married Heather White in 1994, daughter of Jim and Lorraine White of Monterey. They met through her brother while on a trip to a concert in Chicago.
They have a 15-month old daughter named Ruth. It's a family name and a Biblical name, says Scott.
He doesn't like to be considered a stay-at-home dad, though much of daily child care falls in his lap while Heather is at work.
"I work at home," he says.
"Human relationships are very vital to me," says Scott. "I believe the spirit of God is active within the people of Christ."
He speaks of taking up one's cross to follow Christ day by day. He also talks of building relationships with one's neighbors day by day.
"I want people to experience Christ, his grace and love," says Scott. "Come and experience God and be changed by the experience."
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