Looking for an "Aha" moment in worship? Try the hidden power of a well-structured hymn

Allow ourselves the time and space to Stop. Look. Listen.

As lay worship leaders, we are frequently asked merely to fill in either when the minister is away, church is on hiatus, or there is a need for an extra time of worship. Sometimes that feels like a low bar to reach - just write a short message, fill in appropriate songs and readings, and you're done. You 're probably given a template of the expected service format so you don't even have to plan the outline of worship.

But what if you want to achieve something different? What if you set your sights on bringing your congregation to an unexpected place? Maybe a message of social justice - a good outrage moment? Perhaps a particularly beautiful piece of music that transports one to a higher place? What about a good cry with a well-written testimonial?

Here at WCL, we believe that worship is most powerful when it flows one element into another in a way that challenges us as individuals to be more honest with ourselves, face uncomfortable truths with awareness and hope while finding the motivation to act in radically new ways to build a better world.

We ask ourselves tough questions, leave time for silent awareness, then build through music, ritual and prayer to an affirming sense that we are here together to help each other when times are hard as well as celebrating when things go well. These are elements that move people out of their comfort zones to acts of radical welcome, risk-taking justice, and transformational forgiveness.

Using one hymn or melody as a connective tissue through a service can be very strengthening. Coming back to a tune or words can imbue it with a deeper meaning as different ritual elements are played out.  Singing the first two verses at the beginning of a service, then the last two at the end is not boring, it can be very meaningful - especially if the words work to carry you from inner awareness to outer mission.

Take for instance the beautiful UU hymn #83, "Winds be Still," lyrics by Richard S. Kimball, set to the Wesleyan Christian tune, "Lead Me Lord." The first verse speaks metaphorically of the end of a violent storm and the coming of silence, peace and tranquility.  Then the second verse talks of connecting with the mystery of Life.  Finally, the third verse speaks of illumination, clarity, and the joining of people together to bring forth a new movement of collective action.

Or another example, UU#298, "Wake now my senses," words by Thomas Mikelson set to a traditional Irish melody. Each verse awakens a different aspect: mystical Senses, Reason, Compassion, Conscience, Mission. This hymn follows precisely a natural arc of worship from private awareness to outward mission. How powerful to build a service around this set of lyrics, interpersing it with other chants, songs, anthems, readings, testimony...!  The use of repetition in this case builds the sense of unity toward a common goal and can send your congregation out into the world with renewed commitment and common purpose! Try it, you'll discover a hidden power.

Lay Worship Lessons Learned from Bruce Springsteen

from The Providence Journal, August 15, 2012

You never know where you’ll get worship inspiration. Mine came last night at a Bruce Springsteen concert at historic Fenway Park in Boston. To me the concert was one big tent revival, albeit a soulful modern-rock-‘n-roll infused one, that reminded me once again of the awesome power of music in worship. Rather than focus on the amazing musical journey of songs old and new (I’ll leave that to the music critics), allow me to focus on the worship lessons:

• DRAMATIC ARC: During the concert there was a definite, intentional pacing of energy and sound that led us along. From the buoyant beginning, “Promised Land,” that hinted to the theme, we then settled in, dug deep into the message, and ended on a celebratory, hopeful note (it doesn’t get more upbeat than “Twist and Shout” and “Dirty Water,” does it?). In the same way it is crucial to have an arc to worship to help the message unfold and play out.

• KNOW – AND HONOR – YOUR CONGREGATION: At his level of professionalism, nothing gets by The Boss. He “knew” (or at least his people did!) that a beloved Red Sox icon, Johnny Pesky, had passed away at age 92 the previous day. He seamlessly and ingeniously wove this sad milestone with another more personal one, the death of his longtime saxophone player, Clarence Clemons, a rock icon himself. At various times, Bruce, sang, spoke, showed poignant photos, and used silence (during a ROCK CONCERT!) to mark those important passings. We felt the depth of his sorrow and he honored ours.

• USE VIDEO JUDICIOUSLY: I know, I know, we’re big proponents of the projector here at WCL. But we are keenly aware that you need to know when to use it and when to let your worship speak for itself. Even during a video-laden worship service there are moments, such as times of meditation or prayer, when it’s best to allow the congregation to get lost in its own contemplation rather than the gorgeous, distracting image on the screen. Bruce and the E Street Band let their music do most of the talking, but the video images they used were highly effective devices for honoring the missing souls mentioned above.

• TAKE IT TO THE PEOPLE: The Boss does this with the best of the rock icons. From the start he was traveling, working the crowd, connecting with his audience, recognizing all ages. (He even lugged a 10-year boy under his arm to the stage, a device I most certainly DO NOT recommend for worship!) We all felt a part of his journey and he welcomed us into it. This, my friends, is a most difficult skill that I most assuredly need to work on. His music pours through his veins; if we lay worship leaders could feel even a fraction of this passion, our message WILL get through.

The Boss (The Reverend Boss?!?) is at the top form of his calling, rock-‘n’-roll anthems. What is your calling? What is beckons me? Although I have no misconceptions about my own potential, I’m inspired to challenge myself to consider those elements that can strengthen my own lay worship creations.

Atonement and Gratitude - two sides of the same coin

Why is it that, in general, we are so squeamish about building into our lives, rituals of saying we're sorry AND giving humble thanks for all that we have?

In our lay-led services, we have discovered the cathartic and soul-stretching strength of closing our eyes and walking ourselves, together, through words of contrition. "I haven't been the person I want to be."  "I could have been braver in that situation today."  "I didn't act in good faith." "I found an excuse for my behavior or lack of action."  Contrary to the assumption of many religious liberals, this is not wallowing in self-doubt or self-condemnation, it speaking from a place of aspiration and truth-telling.

We follow that with a long pause during which we can personally talk to ourselves, and/or to God. We think it's important to take time and not rush this. For our inner selves to truly feel the impact of honesty and contrition, takes more than glossing over words quickly.

As one of our worship collaborators points out, "Even when we do say we're sorry, we move so quickly into self-forgiveness that I wonder if the process is given the time it needs to go deeply into honesty and thereafter to heal through affirmation."  Wise words.

To say we're sorry is not only honest, but also means we aspire to be our best selves.

It means we take responsibility.

To be grateful means we know we aren't in control - 

we know we are lucky to be alive.

Following contrition, come words of affirmation: "We will try to do better." "We know that, in community, we can count on others to help us grow." "We find strength in sharing our burdens and rejoicing in each others gratitudes."

At the same token, we wish we would build more places into our lives and into worship to acknowledge the deep gratitude we feel for the gift of Life - in all it's messy manifestations of joy and sorrow.

A friend of mine recently shared that her son, a born UU, has been deeply effected by his contact with Catholic friends and now says grace before every meal. His parents were a bit taken aback, but see it as a sign that he is taking charge of his own spirituality. My first reaction is, "How sad that he didn't learn that habit in church." When we started saying grace before our common meal before our mid-week lay-led service, it was greeted by some with discomfort and a disparaging comment or two. We continued anyway and got quite used to it and it became second nature to those of us who made mid-week worship a part of our spiritual practice.

To carve out time in worship to allow for personal honesty - both contrition and gratitude -  is risky, but so worth it. It's challenging to look into a mirror of our character and acknowledge what we see. It takes humility to admit that much of what we have or what we experience are gifts given to us by others or through Grace. Humility is a virtue we could all do well to embrace.

Worship as an on-going spiritual practice can be a large part of this transformation. Church should be a place where we are honestly accepted for what we are but, even more importantly, where we are encouraged to grow into our better selves. It should be a place where personal gifts can be uncovered and nurtured, leadership is cultivated, moral courage can be planted and we all work together to build a better world.

"Gimme that ole metric index, gimme that ole metric index, gimme that ole metric index, it's good enough for me..."

Don't you love some of the tunes of the old hymn standards but sometimes feel the words are a tad out of date or not quite the meaning you want to impart? Allow me to introduce to you a dear old friend of ours, the Metrical Index, found in the back of every hymnal I have ever known.

Found on page 664 of the UU hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition, but hiding in the back of every Protestant hymnal I have ever met, the Metrical Index lists songs that share the same line meter and therefore can have their words and tunes interchanged easily.

For instance, the Doxology, "Old Hundredth," dates back to 1551. You may know it as "All People That on Earth Do Dwell." This song is in Long Meter, 8.8.8.8 syllables per line. There are literally 45 other hymns in the UU hymnal that share that meter and therefore can be interchange - tunes and words as poignant as "When Jesus Wept,"  as yearning as "When all the Peoples of this Earth," as mysterious as the words of Hildegard of Bingen, "I am that Great and Fiery Force,"...... the possibilites are endless!

I love the Welsh tune of the hymn,"Come Thou Long Expected Jesus," written in 1844 by Rowland Pritchard (Metric name: Hyfrodol, syllabic numbers: 8.7.8.7.D). Many of us know it as the Earth Day hymn, "Blue Boat Home," arranged by Peter Meyer. It has a very adaptable meter that can handle scores of other lyrics - 14 listed in the UU hymnal.

The beautiful tune called Sursum Corda has a meter of 10.10.10.10 and can handle the gorgeous words of RabindranathTagore (UU #191) or the words of Robert Frost (UU#64) or W.H. Auden's poem, "What Shall we Learn." The fact is, "Abide with Me," which most people associate with funerals, is a beautiful 10.10.10.10 melody that can carry many, many different lyrics on its back.

When crafting a lay service, this means you can be very discriminating. You may want to chose a great tune, then see if there are words that fit both the tune and your theme, or you may choose words you love but that may be matched in the hymnal with a difficult or unfamiliar tune. Check to see if you can change up that tune to one either more familiar or easier to sing.

I'm all for learning new tunes - I'm a huge fan of the UU Teal hymnal when used properly (that's worth it's own posting...) and I feel that stretching musically bring richness and spiritual intensity to our singing repertoire, but let's face it: lay-led services can be short on expert musical resources and it's nice to know you may have options other than the particular tune currently matched with a particular lyric. Plus the old tunes are great!

Use those little color-coded post-its and mark hymns with the same meter in your hymnal!
You will be delighted by what you find!

How did I find out about this valuable gem? Years ago from my elementary and high school youth choir director at Riverside Church in New York, Rose Marie Wildman, a gifted church school teacher who believed children should be taken seriously musically. I'll never forget her leading us in the chorale of J.S.Bach's St. Matthew's Passion with an adult cast of hundreds and full orchestra. Oh, we had to sing it in German, of course. Amazing!

Exploring the dynamics of change in a worship setting

People are suspicious of change - with good reason. Change can end up ruining a good thing.

How do we effect positive change in worship without freaking out the congregation?

Many minister see lay worship as a useful way to try a change without having to take ownership of it, thereby allowing an experiment to take place once, but not have to invest reputation or ego in it.  The trouble with this is that a change needs to be experienced over a course of time for people to get used to it before passing judgment on it. Also, as lay people, given an opening, we over-eagerly tend to lay on too many changes all at once, thereby muddying the waters, so-to-speak, in an effort to present ALL our best ideas and hope that something will stick.

Take for example, a paperless service.
Images and the words to hymns, songs, and responsive readings are projected on a screen in the front, allowing people to lift up their heads, have their voices mingle in greater unity, and elderly and young folks people can follow along more easily. Less paper is used, visuals (artwork for example) add another element to understanding a message, the mind is engaged by more than one sense.

That's all well and good, but it takes time for people to get accustomed to this radical change in worship. People may associate the method with a different faith tradition, college lectures, commercial advertising - the visceral reaction can be negative.

The best advice we got on this was from Terry Steeden, a church friend and retired minister, who has in his professional career successfully shepherded two congregations into the use of multimedia in worship.  He advises initially using BOTH print and projection in worship, doing multimedia in a particular seasonal experience such as Advent or Lent, with a fixed time period and returning to the old way of doing things so people can first, get used to a change, but also trust that leadership is not going to make permanent change without necessary discernment.

He also strongly advises not messing with any other aspect of worship while you are trying this radically new and different style. Wise words from someone who has been a cheerful and courageous proponent of the use of new technology in modern worship.

No official church in the summer? Wow. Cue the death knell.

Does worship really matter in people's private lives? We know from experience that it does - it can be transformational - but you would never know that from watching the typical UU church calendar.

One of the most damning aspects of the UU common culture is that while worship and the support of community are held up as foundational during the academic year (September through early June), it becomes acceptable to take the summer off. Oh, sorry, we do alternative events such as "walks in Nature." We meet for coffee at 8 a.m. We walk the dogs. We watch videos of GA. We visit other faith traditions. We let lay people fumble around trying to compensate for professional worship and music leaders. We have an "open pulpit." If you want to take on planning summer worship, go for it. We won't come 'cause we're busy or sleeping late. We have extended vacations with complicated schedules with family, foreign travel and extended trips into pristine wilderness. We're on vacation, but go for it anyway. You have our absent blessing.

What is up with that? Do you realize the elitist message you are sending?
Does worship really matter to you?

If worship and community support of people struggling with their lives matter, why is it okay to disappear for the summer? Burned out? There are ways to provide funding, training and leadership to compensate. Worship is a core value in most faiths and weekly practice is part of the most dynamic traditions.

Light bulb moment: 

Life doesn't take a vacation. 

If worship matters in helping cope with life, it should happen year 'round. Some churches lift this value up. In working class communities especially, those of us who only get a two week vacation, know that year-round church matters. We're coping with the messiness of Life 24/7, 52 weeks a year. Life is hard. That's why we thought church might help. Are you gonna be there for me? No? Only when it's convenient? Okay, sayanara.

If UU churches really want to matter to the people who need them most, they would prioritize year-round church. Church should meet an urgent need: the need for community and the need for spiritual practice.

Evangelicals don't take the summer off, believe me, there's too much work to do. You can dismiss them for their theology, but they know why people come to worship - they come because they need it.

An Alternative to Joys & Concerns...

Sometimes it feels like we hear from the same people every week during Joys & Concerns. What about the people sitting quietly in the pews who don't feel comfortable standing up and speaking into a mic about their trials and tribulations, their successes and gratitudes? Do we honor their journeys, giving the hurting and vulnerable in our midst an opportunity during worship to process their concerns and gratitudes? A strong pastoral prayer can do this but a participatory prayer can be even more effective.

This Hand Meditation is an alternative, maybe not every week, but on some sort of regular basis...

Open your right hand. Look into the cracks, lines and crevaces. Here we place our personal concerns and those of people for whom we care deeply. . . We are tired and weary. We have overextended ourselves and need to say “no, not at this time” more often. We worry for people facing chronic illness or other medical challenges…people, maybe ourselves, who are in transition…who feel despair and loneliness…who are in conflict with others or with themselves…people for whom hope feels far away…We hold their needs and our own with reverence and care.  

(pause)

Now open your left hand. See the interplay of the lines of life. Here we place our joys, our delights, our celebrations, the unexpected blessings that reassure us.

We raise up the joy of new life, new beginnings in relationships, in work, in life choices. Many things have worked out well. We and those we care about have faced and met challenges, overcoming them. We wake up to revel in the beauty of Nature, the rewards of living in community, times when we’ve opened our hearts to small and large moments of grace in our lives…

(pause)

Place your hands together.

Life is a balance of these things and through the strength of community, we know that we and our loved ones will receive help through prayer and good works.

Written by Ellen Snoeyenbos

Bless these, our circumstances,

Bless the hardship and the pain as well as the delight.

Bless the hunger and the thirst as well as the abundance.

Bless those things that do not turn out right as well as those that do.

Bless those who take all and give not and also those who love.

In these circumstances, find growth.

In growth, discover clarity.

            In clarity, an inner vision.                                    

(Nancy Wood, adapt. by Victoria Safford, White Beak Lake UU, Minnesota)

Multimedia is the new stained glass window...

Lots of people see a screen and projector and think, "Oh, oh. That's not our style. We're not a mega-church."


What we have found is that there are a lot of good reasons to incorporate visuals and dispense with paper in a service:

Telling a story visually can be transformational

• Adding an image can allow people to bring their imagination to bear on what is being said or experienced musically. Obviously, it's possible to hit people over the head with a message, but, if done tastefully and with respect to the intelligence of the congregation, visuals can involve people on a more visceral level and bring art and symbolism to the discussion.

• Putting the words to hymns and responses on the screen is a powerful way to include elderly people and the young in participation. Bold words spoken together with heads up and facing forward is SO much different from words spoken into a bulletin or hymnal, heads down and elderly eyes searching for the appropriate reading. (We had a 100 year old church lady tell us this week that, "usually I come into church and fall asleep, but with your service, I can follow along more easily, singing and reading with everyone else!")

• Having the announcements run before and after the service on the screen means you don't have to intrude into the service time to let people know things. It can have a bigger impact than a printed announcement and teachers who may be leaving in the middle of the service, will see the announcements at the beginning.
• An opening loop of visuals and information can set the stage for the main body of the service. Setting the tone and introducing a theme can have a powerful effect on people's ability to absorb a message.