Jesus and the Musical Saw

I love worship. I always have.

My first memory of worship is sitting with my father in the first pew on the pulpit side of Victory Evangelical Lutheran Church in Detroit. I must have been about six years old at that time because my brother was still in the pre-Kindergarten class that met during the worship hour. That’s where Mom was too, helping out. I remember being wedged between my dad and the pew end. It was such a secure feeling with his arm around my back.

My dad figured that if we sat in the front pew I would be able to see everything that was going on and the chances of my misbehaving would decrease. The sights and sounds intrigued me. Organ, stained glass images, brass appointments, colorful paraments—I took it all in. The liturgy never changed much, so I knew it all by heart. In those early years, I didn’t know what the words meant, but I knew them. Right in front of us, carved into the front of the pulpit, were some of the first words I learned to read, “Sir, we would see Jesus.”

There are certain things I believe about worship. I believe worship is the most important thing that a congregation does. I believe worship demands our very best effort, every week. I believe worship should always provide an encounter with the living God. In word and sacrament, song and assembly, we should be able to see Jesus. I also believe worship should be fun. (Perhaps I will define what I consider to be “fun” sometime in the future.)

I believe a congregation’s worship should be so inviting, so sacred, and so important to one’s life that it becomes the highest priority in one’s week. Yes, I think this is possible even in today’s world, though it may take some creative scheduling in some communities.

I love worship. That’s why I have a couple of concerns.

Bishop Wollersheim, Pastor Kurt Nordby and I have the opportunity to worship all around the synod. It is a joyful part of our ministry. But, I have been led to wonder on more than just a few occasions, if the necessary amount of planning is going into our weekend worship experiences. I do not normally do any supply preaching. I am usually a guest preacher when the resident pastor is present. However, when I do lead a service, I always ask to see the bulletin ahead of time and I ask that someone walk me through the service(s). I practice the liturgy and whatever reading I will be doing.

I have found that worship becomes very uncomfortable when it appears that the worship leaders (pastor, assisting minister, lector, musicians) are unprepared. I have high expectations of every sermon. I also quickly discern if a service has been slapped together or if it has been thought through and well-planned.

If worship is the most important thing that we do, then we must give it the attention that it deserves.

My second concern is that I think we may just be stifling creativity with our labels. As congregations have expanded their worship offerings, we see more and more schedules with, for the lack of any better terms, a traditional service and a contemporary service. Two worship styles require twice the amount of planning and preparation. If a congregation offers more than one style, each service should strive for excellence. In some places, I see one style worship service being emphasized at the expense of the other.

Personally, I am a fan of a blended worship style. The introduction of Evangelical Lutheran Worship reminded us that our Lutheran liturgy is very flexible. I love singing some of the great hymns of faith that I recall from my childhood. I also love some of the newer music we have available to us. Too often folks think that 300 year old hymns accompanied by an organ are the only acceptable music for a traditional service. Others feel that contemporary services should only embrace songs that were written in the past five years and are accompanied by keyboard, guitar and drums. Congregations can get locked into certain patterns with those traditional and contemporary labels.

In the past month, I have experienced some creativity in worship that has brought smiles to the faces in the pew. Worship in one place was led by four accordions. In another congregation, the prelude was played on a musical saw. Contemporary? Traditional? I haven’t a clue. But, it sure was fun.

The people of your congregation want to see Jesus. Does your worship help them do so? Comments? Go to http://niselca.blogspot.com/ or comment on Facebook. --JC

Assembly Afterthoughts

Today has been a quiet day in the synod office. The phone has been nearly silent, I had one piece of mail, the email has been manageable, and there have been no visitors at the door. A quiet day is welcome every once in a while. We have barely had a chance to catch our breath following the synod assembly.

Several months of preparation lead up to the two days of our synod assembly. Prior to my coming on the synod staff, I had no idea as to how much work it takes to prepare for the assembly each year. It takes a lot of work and coordinated effort to have a successful assembly. Sandy Musch and I serve as co-chairs of the assembly. I think we are made to look pretty good by our synod staff and assembly volunteers. Nancy Corey, our synod registrar does an unbelievable amount of behind-the-scenes work. The year’s host congregation, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Orion did a great job. Augustana College is a gracious host and works hard to accommodate our needs. I know of no one who comes to an assembly better prepared to lead than our own bishop. All of that preparation generally pays off in a good experience for our voting members and visitors.

This year it was so exciting to welcome additional youth and young adult voting members. The ELCA has a goal of 10% youth/young adult voting members at synod assemblies. In addition to the regular number of voting members, each congregation was invited to bring an additional youth (high school aged) or young adult (18-30 years old) voting member. The Synod Youth Assembly, as we have known it for many years, is now a thing of the past. We expect the number of youth/young adult voting members to grow in coming years.

Following the Synod Assembly, there are many “thank you’s” to be written and evaluations to be read. Nancy Corey prepares a compilation of ratings and comments from the evaluations for the staff and Synod Council members to read. Later, I receive the original evaluations so that I can make good on my promise to respond to any individual who desires it.

Those comments are important to us and are taken into consideration as we finish work on one assembly and begin planning the next. I am annually amused by those comments that seem to cancel each other out. For example, 88 individuals felt that the time spent on resolutions was either very good or excellent, while at least one person felt that resolutions should be eliminated altogether. One thing most people agreed on was that Centennial Hall was far too warm on Friday!

Some other points can be summarized easily. There is no doubt that Dr. John Nunes, president and CEO of Lutheran World Relief, was a hit. The assembly appreciated his passion and enthusiasm. The ordination of four new pastors was a highlight even as Saturday morning’s Memorial Service generated more positive comments than any I can remember. There were some comments about certain rooms being hard to find. That’s true. We try to remember always that at least 1/3 of our voting members have not attended an assembly before and don’t know their way around. We get comments about how jam-packed our assembly agenda is. We debate each year about what is essential to the agenda and what is not. There is no doubt that Friday is a taxing day for all.

We continue to search for a cost-effective to handle online payments. From some comments, I am led to believe that our pastors need to spend a little more time preparing voting members for the experience. Some voting members felt ill-equipped to discuss genetics or to vote on nominees.

If you attended the assembly and submitted an evaluation, we thank you. Of the 700 we distributed, we received 129 back. If you attend next year, you will see the impact that the evaluations made. We strive to make each assembly experience better than the last.

For me personally, as I read the evaluations, I am most pleased that our voting members and guests always go home with a better sense of who and what the Northern Illinois Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are.

Comments? Go to http://niselca.blogspot.com or comment on Facebook. For photos and highlights of the assembly, go to www.nisynod.org. --JC