According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, the word “contemporary” refers to something happening, existing, living, or coming into being during the same period of time. When “contemporary” is paired with “worship,” the usual image that comes to mind is worship led by a praise band, words projected on a screen, and multi-media presentations. That is not what the Saturday Casual/Contemporary service looks like at St. Mark’s. (Please understand, I am NOT speaking against anyone’s preferred style of worship or any church’s liturgy. I am simply stating that we have taken a different path.)
Lutheran worship “stands unashamedly in the liturgical tradition.” (Association of Lutheran Church Musicians Statement on Worship and Music) This means we will always have the elements of Gathering, Word, Table, and Sending. It also means that we will follow a lectionary – a prescribed series of readings that support and illuminate the church calendar.
So, what is contemporary about our Saturday service? We are telling our stories through dance, drama, and other artistic means. Congregational song is vitally important, but we are more likely to sing something written by David Haas or Marty Haugen (and other contemporary hymn writers) than something written by Isaac Watts. Along with hymns, we are also using “praise choruses.” We are “playing” with the psalm, sometimes using Isaac Everett’s “The Emergent Psalter” or reading the psalm together with an instrumental “vamp” playing beneath.
We’re also holding services in the gym (aka the fellowship hall), primarily because the nave with its very traditional trappings of stained glass windows, organ pipes and other appointments, has a lot to say about what kind of music and worship styles work best there. In the gym, we have set apart a worship space with colorful banners and the use of lighting. It’s worshipful – and portable!
After the first service was held, one of my favorite parishioners said to me, “Tony, I have to congratulate you on the Saturday service. I hear it’s gone very well. I would never come to Saturday night because that’s just not my thing. . .” A few weeks later, this same woman found herself at the Saturday service and said it was “incredible.”
So there you have it. This is what contemporary worship looks like at St. Mark’s. We worship on the first and third Saturdays of each month. I hope you’ll plan to join us sometime. Feel free to stop at your favorite coffee shop on the way and bring your beverage to church with you. Also, bring a friend.
