Worship, 12 June 2011

Worship     12 June 2011        Pentecost   

Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Minneapolis
N.B.  Because I have mostly the highest praise for the worship with this congregation, I am not withholding identifiers.  So be it.  I really liked worshiping here.  CW (1 July 2011)
 
Worship at Mount Olive on this high festival day was everything I expected.  This congregation approaches worship with great seriousness and intention, something I knew because of the annual symposia on liturgy held at Mount Olive and which I have attended. 

Because I expected everything to be done just right, by design I had finished reading the day before Jonathan Linman’s book, Holy Conversation, a study of liturgy through the lens of the tradtion of Lectio divina.  The specific case study in Linman’s book is the liturgy for Pentecost Sunday, so his observations were fresh in mind as we put the liturgy into practice at Mount Olive. 

In general, everything about this service beheld an intentional encounter with a holy God, an encounter on sacred ground with reverence and awe for the Almighty.  This congregation hopes not to provide an experience of comfort and societal relevance in worship, but to engage the transcendent.  Sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches were all an important aspect of this transcendent encounter. 

Our family arrived ten minutes before the service began.  This is an inner city church, so other folks were streaming toward the church from the streets, not from a large parking lot.  This was my second encounter with this type of approach (walking through the streets); the first was May 22.  I find the image of people walking on sidewalks from many directions surprisingly meaningful, although I’m not sure why.  Perhaps the sense of the countercultural activity that can be worship begins with this simple image of many people walking, not driving.  In any case, we were greeted at the door to the nave, handed a bulletin, and then welcomed by an old friend who recognized us.  He suggested we sit closer to the front, so that we could hear the music better.

David Cherwien played the Durufle Variations on Veni Creator Spiritus as the prelude.   The congregation was quiet and attentive.  At the conclusion of the piece, handbells continued a peal pattern, based upon the organ prelude, and the procession with incense, processional bells, choir, and all the other accoutrements began without interruption.  This organic beginning avoided the somewhat uncomfortable sense of self-awareness that I experienced earlier on May 22.  Since everyone seemed to know what to do, we just began.  The singing of Veni Creator began a cappella, and remained so until the fourth stanza.  It was beautiful. 

During the gathering rites and the readings I noticed a great care for time and space.  No words were rushed and time was allowed for us to ponder the lessons.  As worship assistants moved about the chancel and nave, there was a comportment of solemnity. 

On this Pentecost Sunday, the reading from Acts in several different languages was highly effective.  This trick is not new to me, but what was so effective here was that rather than hearing individuals read portions of the lesson separately but in different languages, there was a great cacophony of voices all at once.  That there were a dozen or so languages allowed the success of this device. 

The bulletin at Mount Olive is helpful, but direct and makes no apologies to accommodate guests.  The psalm for the morning was sung from the ELW.  The antiphon and tone were printed in the bulletin, but we referred to the hymnal for the verses of the psalm.  Even though the psalm began with verse 14, there was no effort made to explain in the bulletin where the psalms are located, on what page this particular psalm began, or who should sing what.  Personally, I actually began thinking about how cumbersome it was to hold the hymnal open and then refer to the antiphon, while keeping track of which verse we were singing.  I was also trying to keep things visually available for Quentin.  I pondered the usefulness of a screen.  I pondered the practicality of printing the whole text in the bulletin.  But, I also knew enough about the procedure so that I did not get discombobulated.  There is one point I think Mount Olive is trying to make:  that there is something critical about having to become initiated to liturgical worship.  I ponder: Where is the most rich balance between welcoming our guests and approaching the deep spiritual familiarity with the timeless liturgy?

This worship lasted one hour and 45 minutes.  At times, my children would ask how much longer this would last, but I never felt that they were antsy or bored.  There was always something interesting happening!   The incense and the processions were powerfully attractive.  The singing was always very strong.  The dozens of candles burning in the side aisles, the red banners, and the vibrant vestments were visually appealing.  The sharing of the peace lasted a very long time.  Communion was not awkward and my children were given full attention as they received the elements.  Conversation after worship was friendly and engaging.  This was a worship from which I was sent enriched and fulfilled.