Yesterday, the annual World Busking Festival began in Christchurch. Wonderful!
I have long been connecting busking with Christianity, particularly with worship: the connecting of the fixed ‘set pieces’ with the particular context, and so on… With the busking festival in Christchurch being more than a quarter of a century old, like Christianity, it is increasingly ‘institutionalised’. It isn’t simply on the street – it has fixed venues, organisation, …
The ‘on the street’ period of Christianity lasted for some time; and then it transitioned to a more ‘institutionalised’ version.
So here… for the 27th year of the World Buskers Festival, titled Bread & Circus, is my reflection.
Busking provides helpful reflection for worship – especially for worship leaders.
I have reflected on busking becoming more “established”. If that interests you, look back to that post.
Let me remind people of the dynamics of busking:
- Gather a crowd – from individuals and small groups to a united audience (and get it to grow)
- Get the crowd to participate (clapping; call and response – there are standard ways of doing this that regular busking crowds know, and those who are new soon pick up from the regulars)
- Go through your fixed routine, adapting it to the context, and to the reaction of the people
- Send the people away satisfied and transformed (oh yes – get some of their money)
If you want to explore this model further, here are some previous posts:
Buskers – a model for leading worship
Busking & Liturgy
Buskers Lead Worship
