Monday, July 25, 2005
Teaching Worship 10
Now assembled in Christ’s name, all your mercies to proclaim—
in the hearing of your word, in our prayer through Christ our Lord,
in the ministries we share, learning how to serve with care—
in the Spirit let us be one in faith and unity.
SNC 14 vs. 2
We began with the same hymn that we sang on the second day of our seminar. Yet, what we’ve learned through our time together helped us reflect on these words a little bit differently. Likewise, our discussions over the past two weeks informed our reading of 2 Corinthians 9. Reflecting on this passage, we hope that 2 Corinthians 9:12 describes our goal in the daily work we do: “The rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.”
The first half of the morning we focused on the final specific questions from our group. We brainstormed ideas for keeping classes engaged early in the morning, we explored the power of stories and drama in worship, we suggested ways to broaden students’ perspectives, and we listed potential questions to ask a church interested in radical change.
During the second half of the morning we summarized and reflected upon the discussion we have had over our time together. We began by listing what should be included in a class on worship, such as Trinitarian worship, full active conscious participation, the dialogic nature of worship, and the formative power of worship. We moved on to how worship should be taught: “worship education should be worshipful,” “interactive and dialogic,” “with an appreciation and respect for where students are at,” and “with opportunities to practice and reflect on that practice.” We returned to one of our first discussions of objectives by next asking why we teach worship. Participants responded, “for the building up of the church,” “to glorify God,” “so that these students may become teachers,” “to deepen the wonder,” and “in preparation for heaven.” Finally, we moved to an important but rarely asked question: Who? This was a time of personal reflection where participants openly shared how each had changed and been formed by the time we had spent together. This progressed into an extended prayer time where we thanked God for who he is and how he has worked in our lives as well as had the opportunity to bring requests for our institutions and our world.
We closed with the now familiar blessing:
My friends, may you grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.
My friends, may you grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
To God be the glory, now and forever, now and forever, amen.
To God be the glory, now and forever, now and forever, amen.
SNC 288
Our time together gave us many opportunities—to worship, to learn, and to develop and enjoy new friendships. In this atmosphere of fun, several participants summarized what we’ve been working on by writing and performing a song (sung to the tune of “Wonderful World” by Sam Cooke) for the other seminar groups:
Learned a bit about history
learned some more about theology
learned a lot about liturgy
learned a bit ecclesiology
heard a lot about the trinity
but we do love our community
and if everyone would just agree—
What a wonderful world this would be.
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