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The Formation of Worship Leaders – Focus on Seminaries:   Ecumenical Voices 

Article by Thomas E. Dipko

The Association for Reformed & Liturgical Worship, in the first year of a three year initiative to support the formation of worship leaders for congregations, is focusing on the role of seminaries in the formation process.  The focus will continue through the spring of 2009 in regional cluster groups. 

The AR&LW Initiative As Seen By the Wider Church

The 2008 AR&LW annual meeting gratefully welcomed ecumenical guests from three traditions beyond the Reformed family of churches.  Their presence was made possible by a generous contract with the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.  They were invited as an expression of AR&LW’s commitment to the ecumenical movement and in recognition of the denominational diversity already found in seminaries of the Reformed tradition.

They included the Rev. Msgr. Alan F. Detscher, pastor of St. Catherine of Sienna Roman Catholic Church in Riverside, Connecticut; Professor Todd E. Johnson, Evangelical (Swedish) Covenant Church, on the faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary; and Professor Thomas H. Schattauer, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, on the faculty of Wartburg Theological Seminary. They shared their insights throughout the program and in a panel discussion, a group interview, and brief papers written following the annual meeting.

Insights Concerning Reformed Diversity

All three guests noted in their comments the breadth of diversity in worship within  Reformed churches and the absence of mandated books of worship.  They challenged AR&LW to become more specific about how to share its vision of what renewed liturgical worship might look like, including the more frequent celebration of Holy Communion.  They inquired about the role of seminaries in the process of reception necessary to bring Reformed worship resources already available into the liturgical life of congregations. 

Todd Johnson commented, “It is unclear to me what the desired outcome of the formation of worship leaders will be.”  He cautioned, “Many churches under the Reformed umbrella would not see themselves as ‘liturgical.’” He asked, “Are these churches part of the constituency that AR&LW is trying to serve?”  Noting that “there is no apparent authoritative text” for Reformed worship, he inquired, “Who has the right to say,” on the basis of worship practices, “you are ‘in’ or ‘out of’ this faith community?”

Thomas Schattauer spoke of this diversity in the context of the “Reformed understanding of the church as a covenant community in which there should be mutual responsibility and accountability in the formation of worship leaders.”  He asked, “What is going to motivate congregations, seminaries, and judicatories to engage in this proposed conversation about the formation of worship leaders?”  He admitted, “The greatest challenge I face as a seminary teacher of worship is moving students beyond the replication of what they have already experienced and what they already know.”

Alan Detscher said, “I affirm this Reformed diversity and note that the Reformed do fight among themselves over particulars!  Yet you stay united!”  He encouraged the gathering to recognize “the fact that liturgy helps us worship together and share one Table without the need to agree on all things.”  He reminded us that tradition “is not static” and that if we revisit the church of the first six centuries and try to understand “what Christians held in common,” we may find that “doors today open to ecumenical understanding” without requiring uniformity among or within the respective churches.  “Words matter,” he acknowledged, “but we don’t need to explain things in the same way.”

Reformed Seminaries and the Formation of Worship Leaders

The three ecumenical guests celebrated the presence of faculty from thirteen Reformed seminaries and their candor about challenges they face on denominational campuses that are broadly ecumenical.  Common themes emerged when the ecumenical guests summarized their insights after three days of discussion.

• Seminaries are partners, not enemies, and face limitations that require realism about their capacity to provide formation for worship leaders.
• Denominational identity, including denominational worship traditions, is apparently muted or minimized in Reformed seminaries.  They are more heterogeneous than other denominational schools.
• Diversity in our contemporary environment, including racial, ethnic, sexual, cultural, and religious differences, must be taken into account in the formation of worship leaders, without diminishing what Christians share in common.
• Teachers of worship are frustrated by the limited time permitted for liturgical studies and the “cursory manner” in which specific worship traditions are explored.
• Liturgy is more than an academic subject and requires personal formation through actual experiences of communal worship.  Reformed seminaries may need to restructure their life to accommodate this holistic approach.
• Seminaries cannot do “everything,” and in partnership with congregations and judicatories may need to find new possibilities for the formation of worship leaders through post-seminary continuing education.

Areas That Need Attention in the Formation of Worship Leaders

Thomas Schattauer raised an additional concern about the need for Reformed churches and seminaries to struggle with the ritual or symbolic dimension of worship leadership.  If “Christian worship is a congregation, gathered in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, to enact in a ritual and symbolic way the presence and purpose of God for the world and its well-being, what does the leadership of such an event look like?”   He urged Reformed churches to deal with the sacramental issue of “the mediation of God in relation to human bodies and earthly things,” in our current “gnosticized” or rationalized “state of American religiosity.” 

Todd Johnson spoke of the comfort level of Reformed churches in dealing with signs and symbols, and the mystery of God to which they point.  He cited the use of incense, in a service of evening prayer during the gathering, as an example of “a group that is trying to be Reformed and liturgical” but without “clarity on how these go together.”  His concern was not the use of incense but how to help worshipers experience its use “as a way of identifying or manifesting the presence of God through the Holy Spirit.”

Alan Detscher, reflecting on his own priestly formation through daily worship while in seminary, shared that he learned “not only by seeing, but also by carrying out the various liturgical roles that would be integral to my ministry.”  He lamented that “the seeing and doing seem to be lacking in many, if not most, of your seminaries.”  He suggested that field education, led by mentors “who model exemplary liturgical practice,” could help ameliorate this situation.

Thomas Schattauer offered a challenge inclusive of worship but broader in scope:  “I would like to see a more clear expression of what the Reformed genius is.  We can value what is clear even if it is not our own.  Such distinctives can be appreciated by others.  Share your secret with all!”  His challenge suggests that Reformed churches will understand themselves better through the experience of articulating their heritage in ways that make it clear to others.
 
The ecumenical guests affirmed ongoing conversations about all these issues through regional cluster groups that will meet across the country over the coming year. Generative questions shaped by the participants, including the ecumenical guests, will provide focus for the gatherings on the role of seminaries in the formation of worship leaders.

Other articles for this project:

	Formation of Worship Leaders
	Regional Cluster Groups
	Focus on Congregations