Ask The Question 3: Worship Questions

  We ran out of time for a number of questions asked in worship on February 19. Here are responses to those questions.  Red questions were submitted on line.  Blue questions were hand written submissions from Sunday.

A quick reminder that these are my opinions. They do not represent any "official" position of First Congregational Church of La Grange, or of the United Church of Christ. 

Will we bring back the [Passing of the] Peace during the service?

The Short answer:  I don't know.  I have two reservations about this. The first is sanitary, the second and more profound question is theological.

Health:  So long as COVID and the Flu persist and continue to evolve, I am uncomfortable asking people to shake hands and give one another hugs.  When worship becomes a super-spreader opportunity, we stop being a safe place for everyone -- particularly those of us with compromised health and/or immune systems. 

Theological:  The passing of the peace entered worship as a direct response to the saying attributed to Jesus in Matthew 5:21-24

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,  leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

The intention of the passing of the peace is to do exactly this: Following the prayer of confession and as a response to receiving the assurance of your own forgiveness,  we are to approach the person with whom we have a broken relationship and work out reconciliation with them before giving your gifts and before sharing the bread and cup of communion.  This is a difficult and perhaps impossible thing to achieve in 5 minutes of the worship hour. It really requires much more time, effort, and frankly, vulnerability, than most of us are comfortable with.

What has evolved over the course of time, then, is the exact opposite of the original intent. So often this ritual has abandoned goal of community strength to instead being a social moment in the middle of worship where we can greet our old friends, ignore the newcomers (or worse, put them on the spot), and pass on a little bit of gossip. It suffices for social contact for those who lack the time to go to coffee hour, and it interrupts the flow of an otherwise worshipful experience. 

Will we bring it back? I'm not sure we ever had a true passing of the peace. I believe that what we had was a mockery of a sacred part of worship.  Again, this is my opinion, blunt as that may be.

Why did the doxology change?

I responded to this question on Sunday, but I'd like to add a few things to what I said then.  

First, worship is not a static event. It is as dynamic as the wind and weather and changes every week so as to meet the needs of the community.  There is nothing sacred about any one liturgy (in my opinion INCLUDING the Jesus Prayer) that it cannot be adapted with fresh language and more meaningful metaphors and images. This is true of all language based traditions. For example:

• My mother once said aloud the following and no one took any offense: "I have quite the gay life."  I'm quite sure that phrase no longer means today what my mother was expressing nearly 90 years ago.
• In the 1950's in response to the "Red Scare", the words "one nation under God" were added to the pledge of allegiance. 
• The words "In God We Trust" have been added and removed from the US Currency multiple times in our history. 
• Each edition of your favorite cookbook updates methodology and language for the current era.  Compare the language of the original Betty Crocker Cookbook published in 1950 to the last printed edition of 2016 to the electronic version now available on the Betty Crocker webpage, and notice how the language changed over the years, how the pictures have changed, how the very method of delivery has changed. 

Language is a living and dynamic means of expressing ourselves.  It changes with every generation, every culture, and every translation or experience.   

If in worship, our language never changes, we are not only not in touch with the world around us, we become irrelevant.  Language and faith are dynamic. The language of faith cannot be static.

Why don't we share prayer concerns in worship?  Would this help with helping people feel connected?

For some people, knowing what to pray about for others is a means of connection.  For others, it is a violation of their privacy.  Let me explain.

On several occasions, we have asked for prayer concerns before the morning prayers. Other times, we've lifted up the concerns people have brought to me before worship either through a written note, a phone or text message, or by speaking to me.  

Sharing prayer concerns is perfectly fine if the request comes from the person for whom the prayer is being requested. We can be sure that the person feels comfortable with sharing if they've requested that we pray for them.  

However, before we start naming people and their concerns, it is important to remember that our services are broadcast.  So, when naming names and stating concerns we are effectively broadcasting to the world information that the person may not want broadcast far and wide.  

This came home to me when recently a member of the congregation asked that we put their parent on the published prayer list in the bulletin, and that we lift them in prayer on Sunday morning.  We did as that person asked. On Monday morning, I received a call from a very angry member of the congregation who was not comfortable with their name being broadcast let alone that they were concerned about health issues.  To the individual, this was a very private matter. The their adult child, it was a community prayer issue.  The parent was quite hurt by this breach of privacy.  The adult child had no idea their parent felt this way.

As a pastor ordained in the United Church of Christ, I am held to a code of ethics that states that I will not breach the confidentiality of church members.  In this day of hot tempers, identity theft, and litigation, I find myself amazed that I have had to consider asking people to sign a "Prayer Sharing Permission Form."  And yet that is exactly what some clergy are now asking of church members.  I cannot bring myself to that level.  But I do wish there was a way to share without people feeling we've risked their sense of security and privacy.