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Traditional worship feeds the soul, speakers say Donna Adair, Dec 10, 2008
PHOTO BY JERRY LEIST
The choir from St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston, which sings traditional worship, was the choir-in-residence during summer 2007 at the historic medieval Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire, England.
Those were the underlying themes at the “Traditional Worship for Contemporary People” conference presented in mid-November by Leadership Nexus at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church Houston.
About 250 clergy or church representatives from two-charge appointments to several-thousand-member congregations attended from California to New York, Michigan to New Mexico and throughout Texas.
Most of the clergy speakers represented large churches, and some had contemporary or “blended” worship services as well as traditional.
All of the worship services at Tulsa’s Boston Avenue United Methodist Church and Houston’s St. Paul’s are traditional, and their senior ministers—the Revs. Mouzon Biggs and L. James (Jim) Bankston—emphasized the importance of consistency in worship and “being who you are.”
“You have to be consistent—consistently you,” said Dr. Biggs. “You have to know who you are. Don’t take surveys of what people want. You can’t ‘feed’ everyone.”
Added Dr. Bankston: “The Methodist liturgy is all over the map. Your liturgy has to be who you are in your setting. You should have a consistency of pattern in your own setting that says who you are.”
The Rev. Gail Ford Smith, superintendent of the Texas Conference’s Southwest District that includes the nation’s fastest-growing suburb, recalled her college days, when she was excited by the vibrant, constantly changing contemporary services at the United Methodist church near her campus. But, she added wistfully, she also visited an Episcopal church weekly for Holy Communion to feed her soul.
Dr. Biggs said churches must help people “feel that they have been in the presence of the Almighty.” To that end, he follows the Common Lectionary. Though he is asked occasionally why he doesn’t preach series on such topics as marriage and family, he says that over time, those topics are covered through the Lectionary.
Some United Methodists might think they would feel constrained by following the Lectionary, but the Rev. John Fiedler, senior minister of First United Methodist Church in Dallas, says it can be “quite liberating.”
“It provides the symmetry, commonality and flow,” he said.
Attendees also emphasized education as a supplement to worship. “Seeker churches are good at finding people where they are, but they tend to stay at that level,” Dr. Fiedler said. “We need to educate and bring people along. Nothing is self-evident.”
The Rev. Kent Ingram, senior minister at First United Methodist in Colorado Springs, Colo., used a sports analogy to describe the differences between traditional and contemporary worship.
“Christian worship is more like baseball than world championship wrestling,” he said. “Baseball basics are simple, but it takes a long time to understand the nuances. With the complexities of traditional worship, there’s more to grow to deepen understanding for your entire life. If it’s too accessible, you're not inviting your congregation to grow.”
At St. Paul’s, three weekday Bible studies, a few of the adult Sunday school classes and the children’s classes follow the Lectionary. “We let the Lectionary set the agenda,” said Dr. Bankston. “Once that’s established, people can order their lives around it, and then it becomes a tool for spiritual formation.”
Workshop speakers varied on their methods of using the Common Lectionary. Although the Lectionary is organized to cover about 70 percent of the Bible over three years—usually with readings from the Old Testament, the New Testament, an Epistle and a Psalm each Sunday—Dr. Biggs said he follows a nine-year plan. He preaches from only one Scripture at each service, rotating the Lectionary’s prescribed readings.
By contrast, Dr. Bankston includes all four Scriptures in worship services, with the Psalm often sung antiphonally. He usually preaches on one of the Scriptures, but often refers to one or more of the others.
Planning and using a variety of resources, especially with music, plays a large role in making the traditional worship experience meaningful—and innovative, speakers said.
“Planning is absolutely essential,” said Ms. Smith. “The more well-planned, relevant and ready, the more open worshippers will be to the spirit to come among us. Ad-libbing the Word of God is as bad as faking the Word of God.”
“If we worry about the details, the people won’t be aware of them,” agreed Dr. Biggs, who also advocated talking as little as possible during worship services. “You don’t have to tell people when to stand or sit. It’s in the bulletin.”
Michael Hawn, director of the sacred music program at Perkins School of Theology, SMU, noted that, “Congregations have different resources, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do good, traditional worship.”
Dr. Hawn emphasized creativity: “Each generation needs to add its own stanzas to the great hymns of the church. Global music styles are more and more part of the mix. Look for ways to expand theological thinking via singing. That also alleviates boredom. We’re not saying to give up classical music and hymnody, but broaden your scope. Introduce new music regularly, just not all at the same time.
“Use languages other than that of the congregation, just to remind us that we’re part of the church universal,” Dr. Hawn said. “We have long been taught to fear people different from ourselves, and we have to change that. It’s not Christ-like.”
On the last evening of the conference, the 70-member St. Paul’s Choir demonstrated a traditional worship service in the form of an Evensong, in which most of the service is sung.
Whatever type service a church chooses, Dr. Fiedler cautioned that neither traditional nor contemporary is “a universal cure-all.”
“Take a hard look at what constitutes effectiveness,” he said. “We’re about meeting people’s faith needs, innovatively and resourcefully. If we don’t do whatever style we do well, we’re vulnerable to the next big thing.”
Ms. Adair is the communications director for St. Paul’s UMC in Houston.
PHOTO BY JERRY LEIST
At St. Paul’s, three weekday Bible studies, a few of the adult Sunday school classes and the children’s classes follow the Lectionary. “We let the Lectionary set the agenda,” said Dr. Bankston. “Once that’s established, people can order their lives around it, and then it becomes a tool for spiritual formation.”
