Worship With Purpose
What is worship?
This week I want to take a break in my regularly scheduled weekly reflections to talk about ways in which I am excited that we are changing how we worship at Lakewood UMC. I have had quite a few conversations about worship with many of you, and I have heard a lot of valuable feedback. I have also thought to myself, "you know, I have never really talked about my own definition of what worship is or what God does in worship."
So let's talk about that! I will also share at the end what our new worship format at Lakewood UMC will look like.
Worship is something that the church and the church alone exclusively does. Where we as a much might be in ministry with our neighborhood, or a place where folks can gather in fellowship, or where people find help, or someone can get spiritual counseling, or so many other things that are done by other organizations that are not churches--the church just isn't church without a rhythm of getting together for the sole purpose of worshipping God.
But what does that look like? Is worship gathering together as a group and singing some great music followed by listening to a pastor's reflection on the gospel with some praying and passing an offering plate? Or is worship a structured event with specific rituals and gestures that everyone knows? Is worship a TED talk? Is worship a party where there is dancing and celebration? Perhaps these questions don't go deep enough.
The thing is, all of those things are worship. Many preachers like to reference the theologian Søren Keirkegaard's unique metaphor for worship as a theatrical production where the congregation are not the audience, but are themselves the performers with God as the audience. This certainly resonates with me as I have done a lot of work in theatre myself--but I don't think that goes deep enough either.
The deepest question for me about what worship is requires us to think about two things: space and presence.
What space have we created? Is it a space that abolishes the barriers we create in society that divide us? Is it a space that invites us to be in awe? Is it a space that brings us together in community? Is it sacred space, full of symbols and images and atmosphere that orient us to God who is both infinitely transcendent (beyond/untouchable/far) and also profoundly immanent (near/intimate/close) at the same time? Is it a space that encourages singing and sharing? And is it a space where each moment of the time we take in worship is intentional?
What kind of presence is accessible when we are together? Are with in one another's presence together or are we all isolated from one another in the same room? How is God's presence made accessible and known in worship? Are we aware of God's presence in the ways it shows up to us in our neighbor? How do the choice of words we use invite God's full presence into worship and into us? Is the presence we invite one that afflicts us when we are comfortable and comforts us when we are afflicted?
These are the questions I think about when it comes to worship. I think starting with these and then I concern myself with song style choices or prayers or litanies or dramas or dance or visuals. Because getting at these deeper questions first is a way that, I believe, God leads us to worship that can transform us.
Because that is something worship does in community, it leads us into deeper transformation. The kind of transformation we see Jesus calling us to in the Gospels. The kind of transformation that ripples outward from our community into our neighborhood and into the world. It all starts with worship.
So, at Lakewood UMC we are going to begin to claim a fundamental truth that we can live into: that, at Lakewood UMC, we worship with purpose. That worship is the place where we bear witness: witness to one another, witness to the hurts and suffering of the world, witness to God's beauty and abundance, witness to the movement of the holy spirit; and then it becomes a place where we are moved: moved by the gospel and the stories of our faith, moved by the testimony of those who have a story of tranformation to share, moved by the hope God invites us to take in one another and the call God places on us; and then it becomes the place where we are set in motion: to respond with generosity, to answer a call to action, to take the restoration we have been given into our week as we continue to be ambassadors of Christ's love. At Lakewood UMC, we worship with purpose where, every sunday we bear witness, are moved, and then are set in motion.
I hope you will find others who are looking for a place to worship at a church who is putting its talk into its walk. A church that practices what we preach. Every Sunday at 10am!
Here is the new format:
Bear Witness
A time of gathering, with a musical meditation that starts us off, followed by acts of worship that inspire us and are participatory, followed by a moment of prayer that invites you to pray in the way best suited to you, with candles that can be lit each morning for individual prayers, and cards upon which prayers can be written and even shared with the church if you want them to be.
Be Moved
This is a time of receiving the Word God has for us every Sunday. Scripture is proclaimed and a reflection on the scripture is offered. This is followed by a witness of God's abundance for the week.
Be Set In Motion
A time of action, where we respond to the proclamation we just received, and also can respond to a call to action that will be new each week. This call to action might be a call to volunteer in the garden or with safe parking, it might be to be present at City Hall for an important conversation on a policy that aligns with our faith and the direction our neighborhood should be going, it might even be to a time of fellowship or learning through book study or casual conversation at a local brewery. And this is where the service will conclude with more singing and a prayer of sending.
We will have Holy Communion just once a month for this season as well.
We hope you will join us and invite those whom you think would want to be a part of our worshipping community at Lakewood UMC!
