Wisdom

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

My friend Tom van Milligen made the suggestion to me that substituting worship leader (or in this the case the New Liturgist) for English teacher might be helpful; I agree.

Being Formed
The high-school English teacher will be fulfilling his responsibility if he furnishes the student a guided opportunity, through the best writing of the past, in time, to an understanding of the best writing of the present. He will teach literature, not social studies or little lessons in democracy or the customs of many lands. And if the student finds that this is not to his taste? Well, that is regrettable. Most regrettable. His taste should not be consulted; it is being formed.

Flannery O’Connor
Mystery and Manners

Tags: Spiritual Formation

Worship and Story

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

I have discovered many different ways to describe the phenomenon of Christian worship. But to lay my cards on the table early in the game, the one I have found most helpful is the idea of worship as narrative. Robert Webber puts it in even simpler terms – “worship does the story of God”. I have a very deep sense that when people come to worship (whether they know or it not), they are looking for a story that makes sense of their lives. We live in the midst of many competing narratives: the consumerist narrative (I shop therefore I am), the competition narrative (I compete therefore I am), and the sexual fulfillment narrative (I have sex therefore I am); these are probably the top three in North America. Alternatively, Christians have faith that the drama of creation-incarnation-recreation (or creation-fall-redemption as another paradigm) gives the most meaning to the world and our lives, while putting the other narratives in their proper perspective.
When the Christian community gathers to worship they do so in order to intentionally re-enact this dramatic narrative. Through word and symbolic action they remember and more deeply participate in the story. Of course, it is more than a story; it is an encounter of a personal nature with the triune God of grace which occurs by means of remembering and rehearsing the drama. It has been my observation that when people are taught to conceive of the worship event in this manner, it gives them a fresh and imaginative perspective on the order and content of worship. More on this to follow.