Worship Worries: Do We Understand What We’re Doing?
Sometimes, while I’m attending church I think about what it would be like to be new. Not just new to this particular church, but new to church, to Christian worship, to everything. Usually when I do that exercise I’m almost immediately discouraged, as I realize that I would probably understand very little of what was going on. More than that, I’d have to juggle a book and bulletin or keep following what’s being projected on the screen. Most of the decorations around the sanctuary and the dress of the people up front would be foreign. And, let’s not forget, I’d probably be singing (or at least listening to) a style of music that I don’t hear anywhere else. Which makes me wonder if I’d ever come back if I ventured into worship in the first place.
Okay, so I realize that’s what hospitality is about, and how we ought to be patient with folks who are new. And, more than patient, we ought to help visitors find their places in our books and bulletins and explain to them what the various parts of worship mean. I get that. But every once in a while I go the further step of wondering how many in our congregations could actually do that, explain to visitors what’s going on, I mean. That is, how many of the non-seminary trained folks in our congregations understand what’s happening in worship, too. I don’t ask that to be condescending, but rather to be realistic – because, quite frankly, our worship can be fairly confusing.
For instance, when we have communion we often sing “The Lamb of God” (Agnus Dei in Latin) just before coming up to receive the bread and wine. The lyrics are relatively simple and so easy to memorize: “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us,” repeated three times, but the last time substituting “grant us peace” for “have mercy on us.” But while the words are simple and the music meditative, it occurs to me that you need to know a fair amount about of the biblical story in order to understand it. You need to know, for instance, that John the Baptist says those words when he sees Jesus: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). And it helps to know that John only says that in the fourth gospel, The Gospel According to John (the evangelist, not the Baptist, although John doesn’t actually baptize Jesus in the Fourth Gospel, which is a whole other story). But why does John the Baptist greet Jesus with these words in John’s Gospel? To understand that, you have to know something about a number of Old Testament stories, particularly the stories about scapegoats and, to a lesser degree, Passover.
Do you see what I mean? There’s a lot you have to know even to follow, let alone really understand this familiar song. And if you don’t know these stories, then what does that song mean? For most of us – and I mean those of us who have been attending worship most of our lives – it means that it’s time to go to communion. How, then, are we to teach visitors what our worship means when we ourselves don’t understand a fair amount of it?
I thought of all this when I stumbled upon a series of videos called “A Capella Science.” It’s the brainchild of Tim Blais, a self-described “harmony addict working on a master’s in theoretical physics” at McGill University in Montreal. In each video, Blais rewrites the lyrics of familiar song in order to explain a complex theory in science. It’s really fun and educational…sort of. Okay, so it’s totally fun, but I’m not sure I’m learning all that much because while the music is familiar, I can’t say I understand what he’s singing about. Consider, for instance, his use of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” to explain string theory, a video he’s called “Bohemian Gravity.”
It’s kind of genius, isn’t it? He’s so creative in combining his love of vocal harmonization, use of video, and and competence in science to create a unique experience. But while I enjoy it, I’m not sure I really understand all that much more about string theory after watching it. Which is what I wonder/fear is going on for a lot of us during worship. So…what to do?
I have no simple answer to that question. I’m not terribly interested in making worship so simple it becomes simplistic. And I realize we need to do a much better job of teaching folks – regular folks, new folks, pretty much everyone – what’s going on in worship and what it means. And I’m pretty convinced that we can’t just keep doing the same thing over and over hoping for different results. (Einstein’s definition of insanity. BTW: did you catch the cool Einstein puppet?)
So, absent any answers I can only offer you my questions and invite your insights and suggestions. Thanks for considering sharing those in the comments. I look forward to the discussion.
Note: If you are receiving this post by email, you may need to click on the title at the top of the post to watch the video.
David, I’m not sure I get exactly what your saying, but let me say what I think you may not be meaning to say, and that is that the main thing one gets out of worship is what is understood cognitively. The A Capella Science pieces can be appreciated because you connect on some level. Of course you get the most out of it if you understand string theory- then it’s a creative introduction, not to mention a real hoot- but then science is cognitive- it requires rational thought, and not emotions or spirit. Isn’t the point of worship to move people to an experience of the divine- the numinesce? Alan Watts- Anglican priest who was instrumental in bringing Buddhism to Westerners- thought that the RC church really missed it when the dropped the Latin for the common tongue as the whole point is to move beyond words – beyond form to formless. Having said that, it really helps to know the form first! In the West we don’t think of our worship as a spiritual practice form- a yoga- but that is what it is. There’s an Antiochian Orthodox church in my town that requires new members to learn the liturgy (they have the original of course) and that means memorizing it. They only provide the written form for visitors in services. Which leads to the observation that it seems some theologically trained folks don’t understand the liturgy,either, based on what I’ve seen some of them do with it- and the fact that they can’t do it from memory, so they haven’t internalized it, and let it form them. And another point, that most of our folks who have been to church for years don’t really need a book either, and would be able to go deeper if they would put the book down. It’s what is so powerful about the musical settings and the power of Holden Evening Prayer sung by Holdenites, for instance. So what if we just let visitors know that it’s o.k. to not be familiar with the worship but to just open themselves to God. If they experience God, I bet they’ll come back. And if it’s true they make their decision to return in the first five minutes of their visit (who figured that out anyway?) then they are making that decision based on non-rational criteria. So if they could both feel welcome AND experience God… they might come back. Is that what you’re after- helping see that visitors return, or making sure they feel a part of the experience, or understand the Christian faith- or all of the above? Or something more?
Include lunch as a time for sharing.
Share a video explantion following worship.
Our pastor recently added in the margins of our bulletins explanations next to the various parts of worship. People are finding it helpful.
Ha, I get the analogy something like this would be great for theology and explaining beliefs.To be honest coming into church as an adult with a memory of Sunday School, I found the preaching the best, some of the forms of worship though, and most of the songs, were foreign to me. The preacher made the most sense to me, but some of the congregation seemed to assume if you were there you had shared historical knowledge of their beliefs, habits, and similar musical appreciation,which can be awkward for a newbie. Another awkward thing is when invitations are announced from the pulpit by congregation members, such as, “Come along and bring a plate”, but when you come if what you brought isn’t home-baked it is reserved for youth night as only home-baked goods are served.I think that church members need not expect newcomers to acculturate to their routines, old-fashioned ideas, or choices in music, but actively learn how to incorporate technology and music into their priorities and be trained to communicate the gospel in ways people with no, or minimal, background can understand and relate to. Don’t get me wrong I know congregations are sincere, loveable people but if they don’t know how to relate to outsiders church won’t grow.
LOVE IT!
I’m a science nerd, and even though I only understood about half of what he was talking about, it was an absolute joy.
Explanation is certainly always a needed thing. We were discussing communion and how we ‘do communion’ on Wednesday with our confirmands, because they will help as mentors for our first communion class starting this week.
What we found is a lot like this: those who don’t regularly attend worship knew very little about what was going on… yet those who do go knew what we talked about about being welcomed to the table (all are welcome), whose table it is (God’s, not ours), and what the experience was about.
They didn’t have all the little bits down (which hand went over the other was of some big debate), but they knew the parts that we regularly explained.
Every opportunity that we have to be partnering, educating, and welcoming, is always good… but in all of that, we must be contextualized to our communities and people- that’s the biggest win of all.