WorshipHelps

I was at a church the other day where they did the most extraordinary thing at the offering.  Instead of passing the plates and then bringing them up front to the doxology ("Thanks for all the stuff you give us, God!"), they passed the plates while two families came forward to bring testimony.

But here's the thing--the testimony had to do with what they did with their share of an offering that had been taken some weeks before.  Apparently as a response to a sermon on the parable of the talents, that week's offering was divided up and given _back_ to the various households of the church.  They were then instructed to use their share to invest in the Kingdom.

One family testified of their confab at which they discussed what to do with their money.  They decided to buy a sheep for someone through the Heifer Project.  But they didn't have enough money to do it.  So each of the family members did something to try to earn more.  The things were pretty typical: the teenage son mowed lawns on a Saturday, the young girl did a lemonade stand.  In the end, they augmented what they had been given and had enough for the Sheep and a few chickens, too.

File this one as a fabulous theological connection between life and liturgy.Continue reading...

For those Protestant ministers who have congregants that are squeamish about having a cross thumbed on their forehead (“Isn’t that Catholic?”), I’ve found a biblical solution acceptable to all. It isn’t the most edifying passage of scripture, but in

2 Samuel 13:19

a disgraced Tamar puts ashes on her head. Instead of thumbing the cross, try pinching some ash (that’s asH) and sifting it like rubbing two coins together over the head. Now if you want someone to know you’ve been to an Ash Wednesday service you’ll actually have to live it out.

My community has experienced the benefits of expressing our anger and confusion with God in a time of Lament.  One time of lament that we (the worship arts team) came up with was particularly meaningful.  We married two songs together and used a Psalm of Lament to structure our time.  The Psalm was 60, and the songs were "O God, Where are You Now?" W/M by Sufjan Stevens and "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," W/M by Watts/Croft.  The first song can be found on the album "Michigan."  It contains the following stanzas, rich with meaning and content:

"Oh God, where are you now? Oh God, save somehow

There's no other man who could raise the dead

So do what you can to anoint my head"Continue reading...

During this past Lenten season my congregation made space in the liturgy, just after the call to worship and before the communal prayer of confession, for testimony from members of the congregation. The tradition of offering public testimony has faded from many mainline congregations, especially those committed to liturgical worship. The Presbyterian congregation (PCUSA) I am currently serving as a temporary supply pastor is very much committed to classical forms of worship, but wanted to find a way to recover the tradition of testimony in ways consonant with that form of worship.

Here’s what we did: During Lent we focused on the ways in which Jesus violates our expectations. Each week someone from the congregation offered a reflection how God had worked unexpectedly in his or her life, on ways in which God had violated expectations about what a good life ought to be. Testimonies lasted no more than two minutes, each one beginning and ending with the phrase, “the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” We created a “Lenten Wreath” similar to an Advent Wreath, except that instead of lighting one candle each week, we extinguished one after each testimony. By Passion Sunday, the wreath was as dark as a sealed tomb.

Members shared stories about the death of a child, the pain of divorce, and the fear of rejection. In the midst of a loving, supportive congregation, we learned to be honest and vulnerable with each other.

I have always disliked serving communion in those little “shot glasses.” I’m sure there is an official name for them, but I’ve never learned it. The symbolism of rejecting a common cup in favor of individual serving sizes bothers me intensely. I’m just as bothered by the individual wafers for communion. In ordinary Lord’s Day worship, my congregation uses a common cup and a single loaf of bread, and we commune by intinction.

My problem, until now, has been that I could not figure out a good way to use a common cup with shut-ins. All of the little communion “travel kits” made for pastors – at least the ones I’ve seen – use the little cups. In the case of the homebound, the use of individual serving sizes is especially bothersome to me. After all, aren’t they already isolated enough?

So, I made my own communion kit for visiting shut-ins. If you can find a store that sells teapots and tea cups, look for the kind used in Japanese and Chinese restaurants – the small, handleless kind. There are many varieties, but I’ve chosen one that looks like handmade pottery. You can also use the small dishes made for dipping bread in olive oil as a cup. Next, I found a very small cruet for the wine (juice in this case), a linen napkin in which to wrap a hearty dinner roll that looks like a small loaf of bread, and a small, hard-sided container in which to hold everything.

It’s not a solution that leads to world peace, but it does allow the homebound to worship using a common loaf and cup.Continue reading...

Worship at Austin College —a Presbyterian Church (USA)-related college in Sherman Texas—includes the explicit assumption that all who attend are capable of participating in the leadership of worship.  For this reason, after particular students and the College Chaplain plan a given service, a program is prepared that contains every word that anyone will say during the service (with the exception of the Proclamation of the Word and the Words of Institution).  Worshipers always sit in a circle around the Communion Table.  The portions spoken or sung by the congregation as a whole are printed in bold type.  The portions to be read by an individual voice are printed in standard type.   The single-voice sections are printed with a line skipped between each sentence or section.  Whenever a line is skipped, the next person around the circle reads the next line.  In this way, the leadership of the service moves around the circle.

No participant is required to do this.  At the beginning of each service, this “Shared Leadership” model is explained and students who do not wish to read are encouraged to inform the persons on either side of them.  Then they are simply skipped over as the leadership passes from participant.

This model has proven to be very engaging and liberating for 18-22 year olds who often have little or no experience participating in worship leadership.  Over a span of weeks, these services develop a rhythm that is inclusive of all participants, regardless of their particular denominational backgrounds.

Although some students initially express impatience with what they perceive to be the lack of spontaneity in this model, most of them eventually come to appreciate the exposure to the language and rhythms of worship that such a model entails.  The fact that the services are planned by students and the Chaplain together helps to ensure that the language employed is authentic and accessible for the whole worshiping community.Continue reading...

In a class I'm teaching on Crafting Language for Worship, we recently had a discussion about the value of significant words and repeated phrases in worship.  Some of my students from evangelical and free-church traditions reported with delight the value they have discovered in the the persistent Easter season call-and-response "Christ is risen!  Alleluia!/He is risen indeed, Alleluia!" They report that using this refrain now is profoundly formative, reminding them of the catholicity of the church, and connecting them with the faithful of so many times and places.

All of this reminded me of a time when my congregation practiced a fast from the use of the word "Alleluia" throughout the season of Lent in anticipation of its exuberant reintroduction to worship on Easter Sunday.  Throughout the forty days, we still sang songs with "alleluia" in the lyrics, but self-consciously hummed "mm-mm-MM-mm" instead.

Meanwhile, the young children of the church spent one of their education hours creating colorful construction paper butterflies, decorated abundantly with the word "Alleluia."   These were then crafted into a beautiful mobile, which debuted on Easter morning hanging high over the communion table, pointing to new life in Christ.  Alleluia!  He is risen!

In addition to our recent post on Mother’s Day I would add a few more seeds for thought.  During the season of Easter it is appropriate to remember our baptism each Sunday service.  In re-membering our baptism we are re-minded that God has claimed us as children and we have made promises to God to live into the life of Christ.  This means promises to serve others (especially the “least of these”), to be faithful to prayer, breaking bread and taking care of the community of faith as any has need (yes, I’m evoking the last part of Acts chapter 2).  During the rite of baptism the community also makes vows to love, care and nurture those God is claiming through water and the Spirit. We are also called to nurture each other in the faith.

Remembering our baptism this Mother’s Day may be a way to honor both the season of Easter and mothers.  You may begin the service standing by the font, giving thanks for water, God’s promises to us and reminding the community of the promises we make to each other during the time of baptism.  One resource for remembering baptism can be found from the ELCA’s Holy Baptism and Related Rites.  Perhaps on this day we can accentuate the vows to love and care for one another.  This is a way you can talk about how mothers, at their best, who live into these promises of baptism through their care and nurture of children (not just their own but all children of the community).  In this way mothers, and Mother’s Day points back to baptism and a life in Christ as opposed to the worship pointing to a cultural holiday.

The picture is of a baptismal font from a mosaic on the floor of Coventry Cathedral in Coventry, England.

Last year we used this Mother's Day liturgy and it received a warm reception. It's inclusive of women in all stages of life.

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Mothers’ Day Liturgy

Lord, on this day set aside to honor and remember mothers, we give you thanks for our mothers. We are grateful that you chose to give us life through them, and that they received the gift of life from your hands, and gave it to us. Thank you for the sacrifices they made in carrying us and giving us birth.Continue reading...

While planning a worship service at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, one student said, “If we’re going to do the Kiss of Peace, can we play Spin the Bottle?” Although her comment was intended as a joke, she and the other students—with the encouragement of the college chaplain—developed a version of “Spin the Bottle” as an appropriate and authentic part of our Christian communion service.

After the Invitation to the Lord’s Table, Eucharistic Prayer, and Words of Institution, a worshiper who was chosen before the service began, took an empty water bottle and spun it on the floor of the Chapel. When it came to a stop, the first worshiper and the worshiper toward whom the bottle was pointing met in the middle of the Chapel, exchanged the Mar Thoma Kiss of Peace, and then went to the communion table and served the Eucharist to each other.

Then the next worshiper spun the bottle and met the person toward whom it pointed in the middle of the Chapel. They exchanged the Mar Thoma Kiss of Peace and went to the Table and served the Sacrament to each other.Continue reading...