Intimidated by Liturgy?
The word “liturgy” can be intimidating for some people. They wonder if they will know when to stand, or sit, or if they will say the right things at the right time. At All Souls, we try and take the guess work out of the liturgy so that everyone can feel free to participate without anxiety in the service. We ask people to stand if they are able when it’s time to stand, and our responsive readings are clearly marked and on the screen (or in the bulletin, called a “missal,” during our Wednesday Eucharist) so that everyone can participate with ease, even if it’s their first time. So, what does our liturgy look like? While we often sing new songs (along with old ones, like our weekly singing of the Doxology), it is the shape of the liturgy which is very old and intentional. You can think of the shape of the liturgy in terms of movements, like the movements of a symphony, where each movement is distinct and yet all the movements are deeply connected in order to form a single song. Some of the elements within these movement may vary slightly in different churches holding this shape, and Marisa+, who shapes the various elements of the liturgy each week, often uses creative elements according to the season, but the movements themselves, and the form of the elements remain the same. So, what are the movements and why does it matter?
Movement 1: The Entrance
Perhaps this seems obvious, but the first part of the liturgy is actually showing up. But “showing up” at church is different from showing up at a football game. To show us at church, whether we feel it or not, is actually a response to the God who calls us to worship. When the service begins, we are stepping into something special. At All souls, we usually begin with an opening song which turns our attention towards the Lord. We then have an invocation, which is very short, where the person presiding over the service will say some variation of: “Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” and the people will respond with some variation of “And blessed be His Kingdom, now and forever.” In this brief exchange, we are reminded that we are there to bless God, that the God we worship is the Triune God of grace, and that we are celebrating God’s peaceful and universal reign. Following this, there will be a prayer offered (called a ”collect”), and then we will continue to worship by singing. After our singing, we corporately confess our sins and then a word of forgiveness is spoken over us. ”Why do we confess our sins whenever we worship?” asks Flemming Rutledge? “Because it is such a joyful thing not to have to pretend any longer.” Now, forgiven, we are able to proceed with a clear conscience and peace with God. Here we typically stand and sing the Doxology and then proceed to ”pass the peace” with one another. This isn’t simply a time to say hello, but to speak the peace of Christ between us. The reason we pass the peace at this point in the service, prior to the Eucharist (Movement III), is in response to Jesus’ instructions:
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to that person; then come offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)
Movement 11: The Word
In this second movement the scriptures of the day are read and then preached. At All Souls we follow the Church Calendar, or what is often referred to as the lectionary. There are a few important things to say here. First, the church calendar tells us what season we are in. We believe that the life of a Christian is not primarily oriented around winter, spring, summer or fall, or around secular holidays like Father’s Day or the Fourth of July, but rather around a different time which focuses on, and roots us in, the life of Jesus. As you can see below, each season has a different color, and our sanctuary will represent those colors as the seasons change. It’s always amazing to walk in the room and visually know that you’ve walked into a new season. The Christian year begins not on January 1st, but on the first Sunday of Advent.
The other thing that the Church Calendar does is present us with what texts are to be read and preached. The reason behind this is so that we are sure to return again and again to the whole of Jesus’ life. It keeps our hearts and worship focused on Jesus. There are typically four readings: a Psalm, a passage from the First Testament, a passage (or “lection”) from the New Testament, and a Gospel reading. We always stand during the reading of the Gospel to honor the presence of Jesus, the living Word, among us. We love hearing theses texts read from members of our congregation, including our children and youth. These readings give the authors of these sacred texts the space to speak to us on their own accord even if the preacher does not cover a particular part of the passage.
After the readings, the person preaching will expound upon these passages in hopes of hearing what God wants to speak through these texts to our church. While reading a passage aloud is a beautiful and good practice in and of itself, we remember that preaching and teaching is an important part of our worship. We recall the story of the Ethiopian in Acts 8 who, reading from the book of Isaiah, was asked by Philip, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man responded, “How can I unless someone explains it to me?” While the structure of the liturgy is deeply important and formative in and of itself, it is vital that we understand what we are doing and what we are hearing. This is part of the role of preaching. After preaching, we stand together and recite a Creed, a confession of what we believe.
Banner (to separating content): You watch as the repetition of Chirstmases and Easters, births and deaths and resurrections, scratches on the linear time of your life a rough little model of His permanence. You discover that repetition itself, curiously, is not the enemy of spontaneity, but maybe even its enabler. Saying the same prayers again and again, pacing your body again and again through the set movements of faith, somehow helps keep the door ajar through which He may come. The words may strike you as ecclesiastical blah nine times in ten, or ninety-nine times in a hundred, and then be transformed, and then have the huge fresh wind blowing through them into your little closed room. And meanwhile you make faith your vantage point, your habitual place to stand. And you get used to the way the human landscape looks from there: reoriented, reorganized, different.
-Francis Spufford, Unapologetic
Movement III: The Table
The third movement is the Eucharist, also often called by other names like Communion, the Lord’s Supper, or the Lord’s Table. Here we both offer gifts to God and receive the gift of God’s own self. Again, the shape is very intentional. We have made peace with each other (during the passing of the peace) and God (during the confession and absolution), and we are now ready to come to the Alter (the Communion Table). It is also important to note that we receive the Eucharist in response to the Word read and preached. We see this pattern, Word then Table, played out in Scripture. Think, for example, of the men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24). Jesus, “beginning with Moses and the Prophets…explained to them what was said in the Scriptures concerning himself.” After this, “he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.” Word first, then Table. At All Souls we do not “fence the Table.” All are welcomed to come and receive, but you are also not pressured to do so. For those who wish to receive, you can either eat the wafer you are given and then the cup of wine will be raised to your lips to drink from, or you can dip the wafer into the cup of wine (this is called “intinction”) and then consume the wafer. If you prefer not to receive, you can still come forward, cross your arms over your chest, and we will speak a word of blessing over you.
After we receive we say a post-communion prayer together.
Movement IV: The Sending
Now that we have received and been nourished from the Lord, we are sent out with a charge and blessing. This can be as simple as, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,” to which the congregation responds, “Thanks be to God!” Just as we have been fed, we are now to go and feed others. The life that we have been given are gifts that enable us to be life-givers for the sake of the world. We remember the prayer that St. Theresa of Avila prayed in which she repeatedly said: “Christ has now body now on earth but yours.” Therefore we are sent out to be the body of Christ in and for the world.