Underscoring Elements of Worship Celebrations

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9uFNWEUqYHiQ1NQNXhkS0NCSW8

Above is a link to some step-by-step suggestions of how to underscore ritual and ceremonial elements. In other words, it's how to noodle during those special moments in church. Try it in a safe setting! You might surprise yourself!

How to Write a Hymn

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9uFNWEUqYHiU2FXdkxpUjVHOVU/edit

Above is a link to a document that gives one step-by-step method for writing a hymn. This is not The Way, the right way, or any type of way. When someone asked me, "How do you write your own hymns?" I answered, "I don't know." Then I thought through some steps that look kind-of like what my brain, heart and spirit are doing when they write lyrics.

Before "how," one may ask, "Why?" Speaking only for myself, this has been a helpful skill. Often, I cannot find the exact right song for the right occasion -- especially considering my pickiness about imagery and language! (Please note that new hymn lyrics do not replace the hymns of our forebears nor do they preempt more recent styles of worship music. There's room for all of the above.) Here is an example, which is a hymn in common meter that we sing to the public domain tune of "Amazing Grace" (NEW BRITAIN). It was sung last year at our Football Chapel services, during which the team met to focus and center themselves.

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In gratitude, we come to you, our mighty, gracious God,

to honor every gift you give as on this road we trod.

We gather now to offer up the best we have to share,

in unity, in excellence, and in each other’s care.

God, grant us strength to overcome each struggle and each doubt,

yet keep us mindful of your help when joyfully we shout.

Welcome Home Communion

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9uFNWEUqYHiZVNUai1KRnhhV1U

Above is a link to a PDF of a communion liturgy we used at Shenandoah University to welcome the students "home" to school after a break. It was written by SU student Virginia Greer and uses sung elements from two songs: Gather Us In by Marty Haugen, 2236 in The Faith We Sing and Halleluya by Abraham Maraire arranged by Patrick Matsikenyiri, 22 in Global Praise 3. It is accompanied by a djembe and a piano. If you have any questions or comments, or want a Word document of it, please email me at dcelec@su.edu.

Practical Worship Arts Suggestions for Corporate and Personal Worship

"Inspiration: Worship as Education, Punctuation and Liberation"

• We punctuate the moments that pass so quickly by calling to mind the events of the week, honoring the events as much as the God who strengthened us to move through them. Songs and prayers that, in addition to being relevant to a lectionary or theme scripture, relate to the previous week or weeks can be used. Examples include a favorite song of a person who has recently passed or a theme song of a group that is absent because of a mission trip.

• We liberate ourselves from words we speak each day by engaging meaningful movement, intended to help us think about their interpretations of love in the wonderful God-neighbor-self triangle. A call to worship can be a spoken welcome with an invitation to mirror the actions of the worship leader. The worship leader can raise hands to heaven followed by bringing hands together and down, one atop the other over the heart. The worship leader can extend arms forward, hands wide apart as if to say “Give me a hug,” followed by arms embracing self with each hand on the opposite shoulder. The ritual might end with a passing of the peace or other opportunity to greet one another.

• The sermon can be delivered using brief, scripted readings to punctuate the main points. A preacher might print readings on pieces of paper and ask different congregants to read them on cue. The congregational reader may read the paper, invite a moment of silence and then sit down. The preacher would regain the attention of the congregation and elaborate on the reading.

• Offer the worshiper a small take-away card that contains a few practical suggestions for living into the learnings for the week. What might happen if worshipers took cards to which they could refer throughout the week, on which were written a few questions? Questions could be as simple as “Do you remember what we talked about at church on Sunday? How has it changed your daily life?” Questions could also be far more specific, asking something like “How have you loved your neighbor?”

• Remind worshipers in the middle of the week of the previous week’s theme. Understanding that technological advances vary congregation by congregation, home by home, we might get a bit creative. In circumstances in which the preferred method is the mail, a card every once in awhile containing the lyrics to the key hymn might get the message running back through worshipers’ heads. In other cases, a Youtube link sent via email or Facebook event might be applicable. But don’t be afraid to get creative!

• Have a Sunday School group or choir of any age write the hymn lyrics in community for a theme every once in awhile. Use a tune in the public domain that is familiar to your congregation. • If you have multi-lingual congregants, the scripture could be read twice, each in a different language. If not, diversity could be welcomed by splitting one English reading sentence-by-sentence between a child and a retired person. If the scripture includes dialogue, one reader could read the narrator part while a different voice is assigned to each sentence in quotes.

• Fixed-hour prayer ideas can be as high-tech or low-tech as appropriate. Ask congregants to draft prayers that are 180 characters or less that will be texted at pre-determined times to all on an opt-in list. Alternatively, congregants could receive a “Prayer of the Day,” over which all participants agree to pray at a certain time or within a time frame.

• Skype an overseas missionary, and the locals in ministry with him or her, into a worship service. If live interactive Skype is not technologically possible on either end, ask your far-away friends to make a brief video to show in a corporate worship celebration. Alternatively, a phone call on speakerphone amplified by a microphone (or recorded message) with a photo of the group on an easel or in a bulletin could offer the opportunity to see and hear these cherished parts of the Body of Christ.

• In a corporate worship setting, highlight a story from Response magazine by dividing it into a few voice-parts and reading it dramatically as a Readers Theatre. In this genre of theatre, actors read from their scripts rather than memorizing their lines. They sit or stand stationary rather than using blocking, or movement on the “stage.”

Un-Church-ing

My partner and i visited a church to which we had never been before on a rare Sunday off last weekend. We saw many people we know from the Shenandoah University community including staff, faculty, students, administrators and alumni. Even those we did not know greeted us warmly and made sure we knew the location of facilities and such. They offered us coffee and conversation, along with publications to share about gatherings and initiatives. It reminded me of a different experience at a church several years ago on a different first-time visit.

The contrast was blinding. We wandered in the door to an office area in which no sign pointed us in the direction of the rest room. No one spoke to us until a staff person asked how we were and if she could help us find something. I asked her a bit sarcastically if she was on the hospitality committee. She chuckled and said, "No ma'am; i'm the janitor!" When we were finally invited into a conversation, one of the children asked a parent why they hadn't invited a friend on this particular bring-a-friend-to-church Sunday. The parent answered, "Because all our friends are already here!" The whole crowd laughed.

How do we welcome people into our churches, groups of friends, homes, and lives? What messages do our words, actions, room setup, and reading material send? When we say, "We are very close to one another," who might hear that as "We do not welcome outsiders?" When we say, "All are welcome here! Come as you are!" how do we prove it? Does the new person then see you leave with your small group of friends and feel left out?

"Radical Hospitality" is a well-used term around SU. We mean that we are looking for ways to model hospitality to our neighbors, setting an example for our students to do the same as they "settle in" here. We look for teaching moments during which we can examine the message we are sending to a newcomer who might be in earshot. Hospitality is one of the core values of many faiths including Islam, Judaism, and Baha'i. In my Christian tradition, Jesus modeled hospitality as the includer of those considered outcast and the gracious recipient of hospitality of others toward him. This summer, while most of the students are away, how can i be welcoming of those who are in town and prepare for the return of those far away?

Many people whom some label "unchurched" view the Church as a sort-of country club, unwelcoming to outsiders. Many within the Church think the same thing without realizing it. How can we un-church the Church so that it looks more like the Kin-dom Jesus called, and calls, us to build?

Inclusive & Expansive Language

My understanding of expansively inclusive language grows constantly. I just updated an "Inclusive Language Statement" from several years ago for a worship guide. Comments are welcome!

The lyrics of each song are printed just as they appear in the sources from which they come. Many choose to sing lyrics more inclusive and expansive than their original texts as we celebrate our belief that all are created in the beautiful image of our just God. You are invited to sing the language of your heart. Historically, our rich Judeo-Christian tradition has named God in exclusively male terms. Many believe that this male-only perspective, at least, separates God from the female experience, and at most, enforces and reinforces oppression of women. Furthermore, our growing understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity is not reflected in ancient, beloved texts. In addition, language in traditions arising from, and supported by, a painful history of colonization has minoritized people on the basis of race and ethnicity. Please feel free to sing the words in this music that most deeply facilitate your worship, regardless of whether they match those of your neighbor or those in the bulletin.

hierarchicizing holiness

Moved as though by ocean waves through the experiences of all i serve, & keep company & co-work with, how do i appropriately honor/not discount ALL griefs, inequalities, joys, celebrations, loves, losses, disorders, orders, hierarchies, and community complexities? It is this living of questions, considerable and perhaps unanswerable, that fuel me.

Today i am acutely aware of the sacredness of every single minute. We label times such as Easter, worship services, baptisms, etc. as "holy" or "sacred." They most certainly are sacred. However, i wonder how much we rob our lives of daily sacredness. I also wonder how much we discount the sacred moments of others in our prioritization of these holinesses.

Today, my partner & i had the absolute honor of Skyping in to a hospice room of a person we love, surrounded by a family in which we are lucky to be included. The call began with a scanning of the room of dearly loved ones. As we sang "Nearer my God to Thee" i was able to see my loved one in end-of-life care struggle for comfort & life & breath on my computer screen. What a gift to us to have been present for only a few moments.

What if, at the moment that we Skyped, i had instead returned the call to the colleague who needed to locate the paper on which the brochure for next week must be printed? Would it have robbed that moment of its holiness for me? Or for those in the hospice room?

It reminds me to ask: is any minute or moment anything less than sacred? In addition, is any one person's moment "sacred" over and above any other's?

Today, later, while washing dishes, i finally put words to a concept that had long concerned me: how dare we hierarchicize the holiness of time? As i thought of my beloved friend at the end of her life, i wondered: how do i bring the holiness of that hymn-singing moment into every moment of my life? In addition, how do i fully and authentically honor each moment of my life, and all other Lives and Life, as the truly holy gift that Life actually is?

How can we authentically fuel each other?