The Lord Be With You!

By
Dr. Todd D. Anderson

This is a seven part series on the explanation of the changes of 11:00 a.m. worship at Church of the Master United Methodist. The series sections are: Introduction, Entrance, Praise, Confession, Proclamation of the Word, Response to the Word and Depart for Missional Service.

This article is meant as an introduction offering the rationale for why we worship the way we do. I hope you find it helpful.

Introduction

The worship of God is the church's primary task. Worship is the center of our community life. In the context of community worship several movements happen leading the worshiper in a logical progression of events: In the first movement the community gathers around a central purpose. The second movement offers the praise of God for the gift of our life. In the third movement of worship we provide a retelling of our mission through confession of our basic beliefs. In the fourth movement of worship the Word is proclaimed and preached and as a part of this proclamation is the Word of God's Prevenient Grace and so it is important that Baptisms are offered at this point. "Prevenient Grace" is that notion that God's grace always precedes human action or response. It is the thread of God's Grace that can be pointed to that holds us together, no matter what happens. In the fifth movement of worship, we experience the Proclamation of the Word. Here we respond to the Word with the offering of our very life in the form of resources. At this point Holy Communion/Eucharist and or The Reception of New Members/Confirmation would occur. In these sacramental movements of the church we offer our whole selves for the purpose of Christian Discipleship. The receiving of the morning offering is far more than "paying the bills", rather it is an act that begs our participation on the other side of receiving an understanding God's Grace in our life. Offering is a Proclamation of a personal relationship-response to a loving God. Finally, in the sixth movement of worship we arrive at a place where we are finally prepared to leave the Sanctuary for Missional Service to the world that Christ died for and redeems.

Liturgical Renewal in the United Methodist Church

Now that the basic movements are outlined, let's look at the historical context regarding Liturgical Theology in the life of the church in the last 40 years. The movements for this next section will include Liturgical Renewal within the United Methodist Church, the recapturing of First – Third Century Church practices, and a word about the Liturgical Year as a story-telling, disciple-making plan of action.

Within the Methodist Revival Movement worship has always held a strong place of importance. Whether we are talking about evangelical camp meetings, preaching meetings in local churches led by our predecessor denominations, Methodist Episcopal Church – North and South, the Evangelical Church, the United Brethren, the Evangelical United Brethren and the Methodist Protestant Churches; the order of worship has always been important as a way to express our experience of God in the midst of our lives.

These practices of faith have come from a broad stream, but most particularly the Book of Common Prayer from the Church of England. The Book of Common Prayer was first written by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in 1549. This would have provided the worship style for Wesley and other early evangelical preachers and leaders in the English speaking revival movement known as the "Great Awakening".

When Wesley was asked to provide preachers for the American Methodist Societies following the American Revolution, he used the only worship style he knew, the Book of Common Prayer and crafted the Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America, a book that Wesley published in 1784 for the use of his followers in America. This connected Methodists to the prayer book style for the next 175 years.

In the Evangelical and United Brethren denominations similar styles were used, however there were differences. One difference was language in the beginning; another was church organization but as America grew these differences ended an eventually led to the merger of these denominations in 1968. If you look in the United Methodist Hymnal, 1989, you can see some practices from this tradition which Church of the Master was a part of for many years. On pages 7-11 and 28-33 services from The Book of Ritual of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, 1959 can be found.

In the late 1960's and early 1970's, following the merger of the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church, new questions arose about liturgical practice. Would it be possible for the church to recapture Christian Practice from an earlier time, before Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer, 1549? Beginning with early conversations by Liturgical Theologians at our United Methodist Seminaries along with conversations across ecumenical lines much was learned about Christian worship practices before the 1549 Book of Common Prayer.

First – Third Century Christian Practices

A revised order of worship arose that took into account those practices again prior to Cranmer's 1549 BOCP. Re-discovered was a rich tradition from Bishop Hippolytus from the first century and Justin Martyr who published an order of worship in Rome, 155 AD. This is known as the Apostolic Tradition and ranges from the first though third centuries. In the first – third centuries the basic doctrines of the church were created and a basic orthodoxy of Christian practice for the purpose of discipleship was completed. During this period normative practices for the administration of Holy Communion, Baptism and the Creeds were created and implemented. The order of worship that was decided upon by the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1988 took into account these practices: Entrance, Proclamation and Response, Thanksgiving and Communion and Sending Forth. It was the first significant liturgical change since 1784! Notice how this is closely akin to the order that is printed in the front of the United Methodist Hymnal pages 2-5, 1989.

The new order of worship that Church of the Master began to use in December 2007 incorporates those elements as mentioned in the previous paragraph, which is the basis for First Century worship and has been offered with the blessing of the Worship Committee and Administrative Council of the Church of the Master.

The Liturgical Year as a story-telling–disciple-making plan of action

While considering worship style we also need to say a word about the church year. For many years now the United Methodist Church has observed the Liturgical year. As a Protestant Denomination we use the Revised Common Lectionary to help us "keep in time with Jesus." You will be interested to know that preachers of many denominations use the RCL each week including most Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, United Church of Christ, some American Baptists and United Methodists. With some variation, Roman Catholics who use their own lectionary, but it is very similar to the RCL. We have begun using the RCL at Church of the Master in the 11 a.m. service. Each week we hear a lesson from Hebrew Scripture, a Psalm which is done in Call and Response style as it was in the Temple, a lesson from the Epistles of the Apostles and a Gospel reading. Using the RCL in worship will mean that approximately 90% of the entire Bible will be read out loud in our 11 a.m. worship every three years.

Each of the three years is divided in A, B, C years. They are repeated every third year. Each year shares its own unique celebration of the church year and vision of the Gospel. The church year begins with Advent, a season of waiting and expectation; Christmastide, a season of the joy of Christ's birth; Epiphany, a season of light and the disclosure of God's love through Jesus; Lent, which is a season of contemplation and the mourning of our sins; Easter, a season of celebrating Christ's resurrection from the dead; Pentecost, a time for remembering the coming of the Holy Spirit and the impact on the fledging church; and Kingdomtide a season of hearing again the parables of Jesus and assorted stories of the Patriarch's and Matriarchs from Hebrew scripture.

As we offer the RCL in worship we are asking our congregation to enter into the text in an intentional storytelling disciple making plan of action. The Text - the Word is powerful and changes lives. The Text – the Word has changed lives for thousands of years and will continue to do so. The Text – the Word moves us from a place of fledgling faith to the next step and then the next step and so on, continuing to our own death and resurrection in Christ. The liturgical year helps us keep time with this cycle of faith always moving forward into a deeper relationship with Christ. More about the Revised Common Lectionary will be offered in the section entitled Proclamation.

In addition to the Revised Common Lectionary there are other ways that the church has helped us keep time and move forward is with the installation of liturgical art. Liturgical art along with the story and movement of worship helps us keep time. You have noticed in our sanctuary a lovely array of liturgical art that helps us keep time. Mostly this is in the form of banners and paraments in the colors of the church year.

Banners and Paraments are in 5 liturgical colors that correspond with the church year. The colors point to the stories of the season and help set mood and tone for worship. Again, beginning with Advent, the color blue offers us the notions of hope and expectation; Christmas is white signifying purity; Epiphany carries this color as well continuing the theme; Lent is purple signifying the sacrifice of royalty. Jesus is King, remember? In Easter, we are back to white connecting Christmas and Easter together as seasons of birth – rebirth. Christ's resurrection can be seen as a new birth. Pentecost is red reminding us of the tongues of flames that danced on the heads of the disciples in the upper room. And finally, Kingdomtide is green reminding us of the pastoral setting that most of the stories of Jesus and the Patriarchs and Matriarchs were set in and proclaimed.

In this introduction we have given rise to notions about our worship life and its rich tapestry. We have talked about the rationale for our worship; the logical progression of the order for worship as a disciple making action plan. We have also given rise to our heritage and the liturgical movement within the United Methodist Church since merger in the early 1970's. Below you will see an explanation for each of the movements of worship. The explanations are not extensive or exhaustive, but are meant to help us get are arms wrapped around the meaning of worship that takes into account first – third century Christian practice.

Movements of Worship

Entrance

Greeting
Announcements

Like any good story, there is a beginning, middle and end. Good worship tells us a story. But more importantly, we will allow ourselves to opportunity to be swept up in the story to see where our lives connect with sacred text and the history of the church.

Entrance has always been important historically in worship. From the earliest days, how one entered sacred spaces was crucial to the worshipper and it is so today. How one enters the sacred space determines in large part the outcome of the service, not only for the individual, but for the entire congregation. In early days there were questions of examination to determine ones readiness to worship were asked of worshippers. While examination questions are no longer used in the context of worship some questions should be contemplated each week as you "enter" the sanctuary.

Some questions to ponder:

Preparation, expectation, and bringing our whole selves are essential points. Most of us have not been trained in worship preparation. We just show up. However, consider the potential hidden treasures spiritually in being prepared for worship. Entrance can be much more than just "finding a seat" it can bring greater depth and meaning. This is what the ancients had in mind when they prepared for worship, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise!" (Psalm 100)

In addition, to our preparation for worship as we enter the sanctuary we begin our worship with some explanatory words about the common life of the church, special announcements or other instructions to enhance the experience. This is done at the beginning to communicate effectively, but also to maintain the flow of the story of worship. Announcements are not made to "wow" the congregation on how many activities we can boast, but rather connect our worship with our call to serve others.

Praise

Prelude
Lighting of the Candles
Introit
Opening Hymn

St. Augustine wrote a long time ago in the Confessions, Book One that "our souls are restless until we find rest in God." As a teenager it was Augustine who wrote that there is a God sized hole in our heart that only God can fill. This is why we worship. We are seeking to fill the hole. We desire to find rest. Our way of worship should address this and should lead us into a crescendo of greater devotion. The crescendo is a part of the story that we tell and it is important that we tell the story well.

The crescendo of Praise comes in three parts Prelude, where the organist/pianist chooses an appropriate piece to gather us for worship. Whether a simple hymn tune or rousing piece, played by the organist/pianist from the baroque or classical period, the prelude centers us in worship. We light candles at this point, connecting to the age old practice of reminding the gathered community that the "Light of Christ is in our midst."

If the prelude centers us then the Introit moves us forward in our crescendo of praise. Have you noticed that most of the Introits and Opening Hymns sung by the choir/congregation are either sacred text or paraphrases of the Bible? This is intentional. Our journey in telling the story of worship always refers back to sacred text and telling the story of Israel, Jesus and the Disciples and the early church. Prelude, Introit and Opening Hymn help us along the journey of our story telling.

Confession

Creed
Gloria Patria

In our story telling we begin with Praise of God, our natural response to the gift of our life. Following along in story telling we remind ourselves of a few things. Who we are? Whose we are? What is our purpose in life?

Who we are? We are the people of God. Our context for this is that we confess that God is greater than we are. God is "Almighty", the "Creator of the Heaven and the Earth." The creed continues to speak of our belief in Jesus as Son of God and of the 3rd person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. When we speak these words it tells us who we are, believers in the Triune God.

Not only does the creed tell us who we are by giving us a common context for faith, it reminds us "who's we are!" Many of the affirmations of faith which you can find in the back of the United Methodist Hymnal pages 880-889 tell us that the activity of God has been expressly offered for the purpose of humankind. It also tells us that a relationship has been established from the very beginning of creation between God and humanity. Moreover, the Bible tells us that we have been created by God and that we are not self made. Many of the Affirmations of Faith or Creeds, found in the back of the United Methodist Hymnal, point to this important truth, which is the basis of the monotheistic faiths, of which Christianity is but one.

Finally, the Creed reminds us why we are here. Our purpose in this life is to "confess this truth" with our whole lives. The creed is a jumping off point for telling the story to the world and to remind ourselves each week, what our purpose to tell the story of God's love with our lives.

We follow this movement by singing the Gloria Patria, a hymn of Praise to God, which of course reminds us of how we began the service in Praise of God.

Proclamation of the Word

(Baptism)
Children's Sermon
Anthem
Scripture Lessons
Sermon

Our journey continues in worship by thinking of the movements of Proclamation of the Word. The key here is in proclamation. Again, these sections fit into the previous sections of worship in Praise of God. We continue to tell the story of Israel, Jesus and the Disciples and the early church.

Children's Sermon

The Children's Sermon has been relocated for two reasons. First, we felt that it would be important for our children to have more contact time with their Rainbows and Sonbeams leaders for activities that are more kid friendly. The goal is to allow the young people an important and meaningful experience on their level of learning and living. Moving Children's Sermon time "up" in the service accomplishes this goal. Our children now have approximately 45 minutes of contact time with their Rainbow and Sonbeams leaders. We still want to welcome children in worship and Rainbows and Sonbeams is a voluntary option for parents. We are glad to have our young people with us at the beginning of the service because we want to impart worship skills to our children, so that when they become junior and senior high youth they will have a context for worship.

Baptism

Baptisms are conducted right before Children's Moments in worship, so that the children of the church may be included in this sacrament. Together with the children all of us participate in the Baptismal Rite, connecting ourselves with the Prevenient Grace that God alone provides. For a greater explanation of baptism, its' context and the rationale and meaning of the vows, I would refer you to the article By Water and the Spirit from the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship.

Children's Music

Our children not only bless us with their presence but also with their voices. When our M&M children sing in worship we are equally blessed. M&M's singing and in its location right before Children's Moments, point back to where we began in our worship experience, in Praise of God.

Anthem

In addition to our children, we are equally blessed to have an excellent Chancel Choir. Most weeks during the school year, we blessed to hear from our choir which prepares us for hearing the Word. In addition to the Chancel Choir there are other groups and ensembles that may lead us at various points in worship where appropriate including our excellent Bells, Quartet, soloists, Joyful Noise and many others.

Scripture Lessons

Along with our ministry to children and the music ministry of the church we are about the task of storytelling. Together those leading worship and the congregation read and hear God's story. And as mentioned in the introductory comments, with the change in worship we at Church of the Master are committing to using the Revised Common Lectionary in worship in our 11 a.m. worship service which is the content of the story of worship.

The Revised Common Lectionary was developed after WWII by many denominations for the purpose of bringing the church together in unity to tell the story. As mentioned before the Revised Common Lectionary is divided into three year sections, A, B and C. When "Year C" completed we move back to "Year A". Each of these years helps develop a focus and flavor telling how God has worked in the midst of human history.

Each week we hear three texts and pray the Psalm together. The texts include a Reading from Hebrew Scripture (Old Testament), Epistle (New Testament) and a Gospel Reading (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

The Hebrew Lesson comes from a variety of sources, Law, History, Prophecy, poetry, and other genres blend together to tell of Israel's' relationship with Yahweh.

The Psalm is prayed between the first lesson and the second lesson. The Psalter in the United Methodist Hymnal holds two traditions together in a new way. First, Psalms are meant to be sung. The Book of Psalms in the Bible was the hymnal of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. A cantor would sing a line of the Psalm and then the congregation would sing the next line and so on in a style, known as, Call and Response. Some of us have Bibles that have the word Selah printed after each Psalm that is the sung "Amen" or "So Let it Be."

Later tradition within the Christian Church had cantors singing all the verses, of the Psalm, with the congregation or choir singing what is known as an Antiphon. An Antiphon is a short verse or text that is sung in response to the reading or singing of a Psalm or Canticle. A Canticle is sung text from the Bible that is not a Psalm.

In the United Methodist Hymnal both of these traditions are used and we are doing this in worship each week at 11 am. The Psalm is offered in a call and response style between the liturgist and the congregation and we sing an Antiphon led by the organist/pianist and choir.

Following the Psalter is the Epistle Lesson, which comes from the New Testament. These lessons focus solely on early church practice, preaching and history. The Epistle Lessons include all the books of the New Testament except for the Gospel Lessons.

The Gospel Lessons are from four sources Mark, Matthew and Luke and John. I put these four gospels in chronological order rather than canonical or (order in the Bible – the Cannon) to identify them historically for you. Mark is the oldest Gospel text. Mark has direct connections with Matthew and Luke which were written next because 70% of the Gospel of Mark is quoted verbatim in both Luke and Matthew! These three Gospels are called synoptic gospels, meaning that they have great similarities. John, sometimes call the Fourth Gospel comes from later sources. It is clear to the reader of John that the church already exists and is functioning. The church of John is deeply engaged in creating Christian practices developing the theology of Jesus Chapters 1, 7, 10 and a worship life, Chapters 14-17. (Sloyan)

The Gospel reading has always played a significant role in the life of the Christian Church. There are many preachers who will only preach from the Gospels. Because of the incredible revelation that the Gospels are to us in the Christian Church we surround the reading of the Gospel Lesson with what is called the Gospel Acclamation –Alleluia. We sing Alleluia because we are overwhelmed with what we find in the Gospel, Jesus' love for us! The Gospel Acclamation is simply an age old tradition that points to the fact, the Gospel Lesson tells the story of Jesus and bears the words of Jesus, and therefore it is important and bracketed by the Acclamation - Alleluia!

Sermon

Following the reading of the Gospel text, the contemporary interpretation of text is offered in the form of preaching. The art of preaching is centuries old and has existed from the earliest biblical times even before Christianity.

While preaching probably takes more time than any single component in worship I would suggest that it is point that moves us along in our journey. The preaching moment is to offer a foretaste of that which is to come, the Kingdom of God. But the preaching moment can't just stop there for it must proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand, in our midst. As believers, we are privileged to live in relationship with God's Kingdom now or reject it. For that reason preaching is preparation for the next stop on our journey and our Response to the Word.

Response to the Word

Thanksgiving – Communion, Reception of New Members, Confirmation
Pastoral Prayer
Common Offering
Doxology
Closing Hymn

Response to the word comes in several movements: Thanksgiving, Communion, Reception of New Members, Confirmation, Prayers of Petition and Offering and then Departing for Missional Service. Our Response reminds us the text from James 1:22-25 to be "Doer's of the Word not Hearer's only." Response calls for a concrete action and in this section there are several actions that bring our worship experience to its full meaning.

Depending on the Sunday in which we are celebrating worship several components happen in order. Thanksgiving-Communion, Reception of New Members and Confirmation.

Thanksgiving comes in two forms, one at the time of Holy Communion when we offer the sacrament in worship. The biblical word that is used in the New Testament and in early church history Eucharist means I give thanks, referring to the attitude of the heart that one has for the sacrificial offering of Jesus on our behalf. The early church and our modern church are connected in our gratefulness for Jesus and what the offering of the Bread and Cup have come to mean to each of us personally.

Personally, we are all touched by the power of communion. You may wonder why we do not serve communion at Church of the Master more frequently as other churches do. Historically and currently the only persons who can "consecrate" bread and wine for communion is the "Presiding Elder" who is a person who has been ordained for the purpose of Word, Sacrament and the Order of Elders. In earlier times this person would have been assigned to a circuit of churches, riding around from place to place, preaching, baptizing and serving communion. In such places where other services were needed, such as, weddings and funerals they would be done at this time too. Generally, the Presiding Elder was only available 4 times a year. An event called the Quarterly Conference was held, which functioned as an all day affair where there would be worship, the administration of the sacraments of baptism and communion, weddings, funerals, confirmations and the quarterly business meeting were held for the purpose of celebration and accountability.

In many church the tradition of quarterly conference communion is still held. Church of the Master serves Communion every other month or 8 times a year. Many United Methodist Churches serve Communion monthly, usually, the first Sunday. Some churches have experimented with weekly communion and have found success, which of course takes us full circle to our Church of England, Lutheran and Roman Catholic ancestors. Again I would suggest that you read about Holy Communion in the article This Holy Mystery, from the United Methodist General Board on Discipleship.

While Communion is an important "Response to the Word" it is not the only possible response. Reception of New Members/Confirmation is a Response to the Word in that points to Christian Discipleship, which is our response to God's grace in Jesus Christ.

Following the offering of the Sacrament of Holy Communion, Reception of New Members/Confirmation we offer our petitions as a community. Those who have Joys and Celebrations or those who have Concerns and Care, and other requests are lifted up and offered to God's keeping. The morning pastoral prayer, often followed by the Lord's Prayer connects us with God's providence and again a reminder that we are dependent upon God and that we are not self-made.

Following the sharing in the Morning Pastoral Prayer and the Lord's Prayer the morning Common Offering is taken. The offering is "common" because we are all invited to participate. The common offering is taken in response to the Word, because after the Word is read and the Word is preached then can we with grateful heart that brimming to the full with grace.

In grace, we are coming home now the finish of our story telling. The story of worship has a single purpose the crescendo that I spoke of earlier and now we have reached that point, personal decision making for Christ. Worship is about making disciples one step at a time. I hope that you can see that each point along the journey leads us to this place. And now with a decision in mind we can depart for Missional Service for others.

Depart for Missional Service

Closing Hymn
Choral Benediction

All of the movements of worship bring us to this place, the moment of our leave taking and deciding to live a new life in Christ. Departing for Missional Service is just that, leaving to live for others as Jesus did for us. In the life and ministry of Jesus this is what he taught his disciples to do and how he wants you and me to live. Worship should demonstrate this kind of living. What we outside of the worship service ought to matter and lead us to Sanctification, or holy living in the Lord. This is deciding to live a new life in Christ. In this section there are two pieces, but they are crucial, the Closing Hymn and the Choral Benediction.

These two musical pieces the Closing Hymn and the Choral Benediction connect important aspects of the components of worship and send us out into the world to serve God and our neighbor in all that we do. Often the Closing Hymn is a Mission Hymn that is that the hymn has some aspect of Christian Discipleship that is at the center of its meaning and purpose. How do I follow Jesus? Why do I follow Jesus? Who do I serve with the gift of my life? These are just a few of the questions that these kinds of closing hymns answer for the worshipper.

Likewise, the Choral Benediction adds to the meaning of the Closing Hymn by reinforcing the message and purpose of worship, sending us out into the world.

In closing, worship will only be meaningful if it impacts and causes the participant to think and entertain the possibility of life transformation. However, you cannot get to meaningful transformation without the other steps of worship, the journey in between. Skip a few steps and worship will feel disjointed. When worship is disjointed you don't know what to decide or how to respond; transformation will never happen. Accepting the invitation to enter the journey is the only logical way to connect our emotion and our intellect so that we may "love the Lord with all our heart, mind soul and strength and then have the energy to love our neighbor as we love ourselves." Mark 12:28-31 (author paraphrase)

Worship is about loving God and loving others. Worship is the decision to allow yourself the possibility of transformed living, giving ourselves the freedom to grow spiritually. We began with our preparation for worship asking some questions about how we enter into a relationship with God in holy places. We have named this time and space in worship - Entrance. We continued through Praise of God for the gift of our life and the reading and hearing of Ancient text and Modern Word in Proclamation. Next, we must be more than Hearers of the Word; we must be Doers of the Word. No response to the Word would be helpful without Thanksgiving, Offering and Petitions to God which we discussed next. It is our response to the Word that prepares us for the final movement and most important outcome of worship. We depart for Missional Service for the purpose of our own personal transformation as a Disciple of Jesus Christ and to share the Word with others.

Worship is the most important thing that we do in the life of the church, because it is such a powerful vehicle to transform our own lives and we dare to offer our lives on behalf of others. It is my prayer that as we grow in grace together here at Church of the Master that at the fore of our minds will be to honor God with our authentic worship and willingly enter along the journey to a deeper more meaningful spiritual life no matter where we are in our faith.

References

The Confessions, St. Augustine of Hippo, 398 AD, Oxford University Press, 1992. Oxford, UK. Read online

Handbook of the Christian Year, 1986, Sixth Edition, 1990, Hickman, Saliers, Stookey, White, Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN.

Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, John, Gerard Sloyan, John Knox Press, Atlanta, GA. 1988, James Mays, General Editor.

The Spiritual Formation Bible, 1999, Zondervon Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI.

The United Methodist Hymnal, 1989, The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, TN.

The United Methodist Book of Worship, 1992, The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, TN.

Wesley and the People Called Methodists, 1995, by Richard P. Heitzenrater, Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN.