Worship

In our 6 weeks of Sabbatical, we had the unique experience of having 6 consecutive weekends off.  I wondered how we'd spend our Sunday mornings while we were off.  It would've been easy to stay home, sleep in, or go do something else we can never do on Sundays.  But we also realized it was an opportunity to actually worship together, something we rarely get to do.  And we just might be fed and inspired in ways that we aren't otherwise.

The first Sunday, we worshipped in Savage, Montana, at one of the 2 churches Erik served when he began his ministry.  It's a cute little church in a town of a couple hundred people, celebrating their 100th anniversary, so the sanctuary was packed with worshippers.  It was wonderful to feel the spark of excitement among them, realizing that these faithful families were largely responsible for the century of ministry that church had done in that community.  While they haven't had a full-time pastor for several years, these are committed people who know that even though many pastors and leaders have come and gone in their 100 years, THEY are the Church and will continue to be.

The next few weeks, we enjoyed worshipping at the congregations of some of our clergy colleagues, experiencing different styles of worship and different ways of doing things.  It was fun to sit in the pews, noticing things from that perspective.  I noticed the family with the 3 little girls under 6.  It was 9:00 a.m. on a summer Sunday morning, and they were a little frazzled, but they were there.  It was a full-time job to keep the 3 little ones happy and relatively quiet, but we later heard from others how much they appreciated that family's devotion to bringing their daughters to worship, even in the summer.  We experienced welcome at all 3 congregations, and Sierra experienced 3 different ways of receiving communion.  Every week, she'd ask, "Why don't they just do it how we do it?"  It was nice to broaden our children's horizons, so they realize that there's no 1 "right" way to do things.

While at a conference in Dallas, we experienced a more evangelical style of worship.  There were praise bands with professional musicians and leaders, hands raised in the air, massive screens with fantastic graphics, and the sense that you can't really have worship without music.  In fact, our worship there was almost entirely music, with perhaps a prayer or two.

How different it was from our final week in worship.  We were in Ireland, so we attended a Catholic Church with hundreds of people.  It was as crowded as Christmas or Easter are at most congregations.  The presiding priest welcomed all of us, and we were swept into the liturgy, which was almost entirely spoken by memory, which left us Protestants at a disadvantage.  I was struck by the fast-paced nature of the service.  Prayers spoken together were done so faster than I could keep up with.  When it was time to sit down, I made sure I wasn't going to sit on any children, but by the time I actually made contact with the pew, I was about the last one to sit.  They stood up as quickly as they sat, as it turned out.  I surmised that the Irish must have better knees than us American Protestants.  There wasn't a single musical instrument used in that service.  The 1 hymn and few sung pieces of liturgy were led by the priest, and the congregation chimed in when/if they knew the song.  It was fascinating to be surrounded by so many voices that have been joining together in that beautiful church for hundreds of years.

Today is our first day back from Sabbatical.  We're preparing for this weekend's worship services.  And as we do, I think my mind has been opened again to what it's like to be in the pew.  I hope to lead worship better after our breadth of experiences, and I can't wait to be in community again with all the people we've served with for nearly 10 years.