Worship 3 July 2011

First, a caveat:  As a worship leader who has planned a service for and participated in one over a holiday weekend, I know that these holiday services are not representative of the norm.  Attendance is low, resources are limited, and even the energy of the staff is diverted by other plans.

If pattern and familiarity are what I desire foremost in worship, then this service fit like a pair of old blue jeans.  We gathered in a beautiful, architecturally significant building on a warm summer morning for worship in a style and order that I have known for over 30 years. 

The musical leadership, by organist alone, was excellent.  The small assembly sang with fair energy a pack of traditional hymns.  The liturgical setting for the morning was ELW 3, the Hillert setting I have known since 1978.  The sermon, as best as I could follow it (my girls were somewhat antsy) was engaging.  The greeters at the entrance to the nave were friendly, and during the service offered help as best as they could (I needed help locating children’s bulletins, which weren’t available, and finding a drinking fountain.)  We were welcome at communion, and the pastor was very attentive to my girls at distribution, offering them the bread by kneeling down to their level.  After the service, conversation with congregational members was lively and extended.  This congregation was genuinely pleased to welcome our presence. 

Perhaps because attendance was low and the service so familiar, I left with some sense of disappointment, as if I had not had my fill of inspiration.  Perhaps I saw too much affinity to my own congregation, or at least, the worship of tried-and-true pattern that sometimes happens when there isn’t time for creativity or attention to all the details.  All the elements of this service were, by liturgical standards, “correct,” yet I was a little impatient or bored with it all. 

The irony is that so much of the reading on liturgy that has engaged me lately argues for the elevation of the objective aspect of worship over the subjective.  Worship should be directed toward God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by the help of the Holy Spirit.  At least, worship should do more to compel the corporate church body to action than to satisfy personal desires for fulfillment.  Then, why am I now finding a hard time considering this particular worship by no other qualification than by how it made me feel?

What this experience reveals to me is that personal expectations, in this post-Enlightenment era, are part of worship.  This could be cause for great trepidation, because so many individuals come to worship, each bringing some expectation to the table.  How can each one be fulfilled?   Perhaps the answer lies in the mystery of the liturgy that I should be content to leave alone. 

This sabbatical, the services I have attended that have been the most engaging or satisfying are those that really project the authentic nature of the gathered congregation.  No matter what, I am always a guest, and have found adherence to liturgical patterns to be the best welcoming gesture.  But, there are other elements that provide a clue as to what each congregation is about.  Perhaps these are the elements that give satisfaction to that unique, individual congregation, even when something doesn’t seem right to me. 

Postscript:  A couple of pragmatic notes for future reference. 

Gathering Music.  I remember nothing about the gathering music at this service, but I do remember plenty about the extended introduction to the gathering hymn.  The hymn, “Arise, My Soul, Arise,” was preceded by an (improvised?) introduction that suggested in itself the awakening and gathered joy described by the hymn text.  This is something to contemplate, regarding the function of gathering music, since in this case, it was the music within the service that actually established the spirit of the morning. 

Children’s Activity Bags.  I keep sensing something very incongruent when my kids are kept occupied during worship through the offerings of coloring books featuring Disney Princesses or Transformers, or other items absolutely unrelated to worship.  This is simply a distraction from worship, which if we trust ourselves, can be constantly engaging for a child.  (I’ll admit, the sermon is a potential space for boredom; but, why not some other creative option than Disney?)   I find myself annoyed that I don’t expect my kids to stand up for the hymns (because they are too busy coloring) or that they are not learning the common prayers and responses.