Saturday, October 23, 2010

Contemporary Worship at St. Mark's
















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.

Looking Ahead to a Special Service in Advent















Lost in the night do the people yet languish,
longing for morning the darkness to vanquish,
plaintively sighing with hearts full of anguish.
Will not day come soon? Will not day come soon?

Nordic hymn translated by Olav Lee, 1859 – 1943
Evangelical Lutheran Worship No. 243

In Advent, while many of us are shopping in crowded malls, attending more than one party each week, and wondering how we could possibly eat one more Christmas cookie, there are people who are unable to participate fully in the joy around them. They are “lost.”

Perhaps they are lost in grief at the prospect of facing a holiday season without a loved one who died earlier in the year - or even many years ago. Perhaps they are lost in the struggle to find employment and somehow provide “christmas” for their family. They could be lost in loneliness, depression, or in the knowledge that old age in advancing on them. There could be any number of reasons and many may be lost in more than one of them.

December 21, also known as the winter solstice, is the longest night of the year. This year, we will observe a “Longest Night” service designed to bring messages of hope and deliverance through the intimacy of prayer and song, shadows and candlelight. Some will say that Tuesday of Christmas week is an odd time to have this service, but since it is right on the cusp of Christmas (when feelings of loss and grief are bound to be at their height) it really is exactly the right time to bring our burdens to Christ.

My brother Adam died at the age of 37 this past April. I’ll be inviting my brothers and sisters to this service. I’m going to invite friends who, as a family, have dealt with breast cancer this year. I’m also going to invite friends who have dealt with recent bitter disappointments.

Do you know someone who might benefit from hearing words that comfort, heal and deliver? Please invite them to this service. Better yet, say, “I’d love to come with you.”

The service will be on Tuesday, December 21st, in the nave.

“Christ is coming soon! Christ is coming soon!”