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with Nathan Bierma, Debra Rienstra, and Carol Rottman
Calvin Symposium on Worship 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
Session F6
Words seldom get as much attention and care as song selection does in worship planning. How can we cultivate language that is both theologically sound and aesthetically beautiful? How can we find words that speak for the whole gathered body? How can we come to view words in worship not as tools we use, but as ways God makes himself known?
Debra Rienstra is associate professor of English at Calvin College and author of So Much More: An Invitation to Christian Spirituality (Jossey-Bass, 2005) (www.somuchmorethebook.com).
e-mail: Debra.Rienstra [at] calvin.edu
Summary statements and questions:
- Words are not merely discursive. They have an aesthetic dimension; they engage the senses and the imagination, reaching our minds and hearts. This is true of words whether we attend to this non-discursive dimension or not.
- Words in worship, therefore, are formative in powerful ways. They help form our orthodoxy (right belief), orthopathy (right feeling), and orthopraxy (right practice). This means worship leaders have a serious responsibility!
- How is the long-term diet of words we use in worship shaping the Christian imaginations of our congregants? Are we suffering from imaginative malnutrition?
Recommended Resources
Ramshaw, Gail. Treasures Old and New: Images in the Lectionary (Augsburg Fortress, 2002).
Schmit, Clayton J. Too Deep for Words: A Theology of Liturgical Expression (Westminster John Knox, 2002).
Wren, Brian. What Language Shall I Borrow? God-Talk in Worship: A Male Response to Feminist Theology (Crossroad, 1989). (Song writers will also appreciate Wren's Praying Twice: The Music and Words of Congregational Song [Westminster JKP, 2000]).
Nathan Bierma is communications and research coordinator for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, writer of the weekly column "On Language" for the Chicago Tribune, and contributing editor to Books&Culture. His first book is Bringing Heaven Down to Earth: Connecting This Life to the Next (www.bringingheaven.com).
e-mail: nbierma [at] calvin.edu
Summary statements and questions:
- Weave your words into the liturgical tapestry.
- As a writer, be seeped in the language of Scripture and song.
- Trust that the Spirit can work through both scripted and spontaneous language.
Recommended Resources
Brueggemann, Walter. Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann (Fortress Press, 2003).
Prayers of the People: Patterns and Models for Congregational Prayer (Faith Alive Christian Resources, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, 2004).
Carol Rottman is author of Writers in the Spirit: Inspiration for Christian Writers (Faithwalk Publishing, 2004), and a teacher of writing from Greenville, Michigan, and Marble, Colorado.
e-mail: rottc [at] iserv.net
Summary statements and questions:
- Start a Writing for Worship group (only qualification - love of words and worship)
- Gather to explore writing tasks and make a plan of action (Begin with the Word, Review common elements of worship, Assign tasks to each person)
- Write alone (Read text repeatedly, Pray the texts, Write thoughts given to you, Discern and decipher text with a worship element in mind)
- Gather to review words for worship (Is the language fresh and accessible? How closely is it tied to the text? .)
- Benefits of Writing for Worship (Heightening your experience of worship, Encouraging you in your devotional life, Sharing your spiritual gifts with others)
Recommended Resources
Duck, Ruth C. Finding Words for Worship (Westminster John Knox, 1995).
Old, Hughes Oliphant. Leading in Prayer: A Workbook for Worship (Eerdmans, 1995).
Rottman, Carol. "The Forgotten Art: Developing New Writers for Your Worship." Reformed Worship, September 2005.
Stookey, Lawrence Hull. Let the Whole Church Say Amen! A Guide for Those Who Pray in Public (Abingdon, 2001).
* For more, see www.calvin.edu/worship/language