National Conference on Worship, Music, and the Arts – July 2005
Plenary Address II
Jonathan E. Schroeder
RITE WORSHIP FOR NORTH AMERICAN OUTREACH
Does the way we worship help or hinder outreach? I first wrestled with that question six years ago when the synod called me to be an exploratory missionary in Atlanta. North American outreach was to be the central focus of my ministry. When we held the first service of this new exploratory effort, it was nothing like the Praetorius service we just enjoyed.
We had nine people in attendance. As that handful of people struggled to sing the liturgy accompanied by a crashing computer, I first wondered: Is this the place for liturgical worship? I had my doubts.
Soon after that first service, another incident made me question my liturgical commitments. One Sunday morning I arrived at our rental space, unsuspecting of what awaited me.
When I noticed the doors that led into the worship space, my heart started beating faster. They were cased in blue streamers and had shimmering blue beads draped to the floor. Nervously, I parted the beads and stepped into the sanctuary. Inside, the entire room had been wrapped, floor to ceiling, in white Styrofoam panels, and then painted with snowscapes; snowflakes hung in clusters from every light fixture.
My heart wildly beating now, I reached over, and flipped on the lights…and every single light bulb in that room had been removed and replaced with blue light bulbs. I was standing in a polar ice cave.
In the chancel, an ice covered pond had been simulated, right down to fake ice fishermen, hunched over holes in the ice. As I walked to front, jaw agape, I thought of all the people I had invited to church today; I thought of all the effort that went into planning the service and writing the sermon. And as I stood and stared at the room’s crowning artistic achievement, I wondered:
“Can I really, with all the saints on earth and hosts of heaven, praise his holy name and join their glorious song, while standing next to a six-foot tall papier-mâché polar bear?” I had my doubts.
The mission fields of North America today present many challenges far more serious than my papier-mâché polar bear. We live in a post-literate, post-modern, and increasingly post-Christian country. Can we really hope to have any relevance when our worship paradigm is rooted in the pre-literate, pre-modern, pre-Christian world?
Six years ago, we held our first service with nine people. But God is good. Our high attendance happened a short while ago when we had 310 people in worship. That is all to God’s credit and his glory. But between our first service and our last service, we had to ask some hard questions. Is liturgical worship the right worship form for North American outreach? Or must we adopt contemporary worship forms to reach the lost?
Before we get started, let’s remind ourselves again of the differences between liturgical worship and contemporary worship. Let’s start with what liturgical worship is not: Liturgical worship does not mean slavishly doing page 15 and page 26 out of CW. Liturgical worship does not mean music at least 150 years old. It does not mean simply having an order of service or following a pattern of Word then music, Word then music.
Simply put, liturgical worship uses the ancient songs of the Church, the seasons and readings of the Church Year, the vestments and patterns of worship inherited from our Christian forefathers. Liturgical worship uses the great texts of the Church (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Te Deum, Sanctus, Angus Dei, etc.) as the basis for its praise, and uses the Life of Christ and the Teachings of Christ as expressed in the liturgical calendar as the basis for its proclamation. It is the product of twenty centuries of Christian worship.
Let’s also start with what contemporary worship is not. Contemporary worship does not mean using songs written recently. It does not mean using melodies that sound like pop music on the radio. It is not a matter of musical style or instruments. It is a matter of texts.
Contemporary worship does not follow the pattern of those songs and rites of the Church. It does not bind itself to the Christian calendar. It avoids vestments. It is a product of the Evangelical movement in Christianity, and in its present form it is a few decades in the making.
In our circles, discussions of liturgical versus contemporary worship fail to gain traction because they inevitably degenerate into a debate regarding style of music. This misses the point entirely. The difference between liturgical and contemporary worship comes not from style but from texts. Liturgical worship could be a music minister strumming his guitar, accompanied by drums, electric bass, and four singers up front with fuzzy microphones and the lyrics PowerPointed on the jumbo screen. Style and instruments do not make worship liturgical or contemporary. The texts, or lack thereof, do.
Understanding the difference between contemporary and liturgical worship, the question remains:
Is Liturgical Worship the Right Worship Form
for North American Outreach?
The clarion call to contemporary worship is usually advanced for the benefit of “The Unchurched.” Who among us would oppose reaching the lost? Must we abandon liturgical worship to reach them?
The big church in my community recently hired the Barna Research Group to conduct a research project on the unchurched in our county. An intriguing section of the report assessed ministry approaches for reaching the lost (Braelin Baptist Church Community Research, page 27). They asked the unchurched people in my county which ministry approaches held the greatest appeal for them, i.e., what would be most likely to bring them into church for the first time.
Barna Research Group, Braelin Baptist Research, Peachtree City, GA, 2002
Much ink has been spilled positing that reaching the unchurched of North America necessitates contemporary worship forms. The reality in my community differs greatly from that demographic assumption. Ask the unchurched in my community and they will tell you that contemporary worship falls at the bottom of the list of ministry approaches found most appealing.
This is my community. Can I tell you that the same numbers would hold true in your community? Of course not. But you can go and ask them. Making assumptions about demographic segments leads to knee-jerk reactions.
What the research shows is that the unchurched in my community don’t come to church for the first time because of worship forms, either contemporary or traditional. Do we need to punt liturgical worship to reach the unchurched? In no way. In fact, liturgical worship in outreach means playing to our strengths.
The Strengths of Liturgical Worship
for North American Outreach
GOSPEL CONTENT
The strength of liturgical worship for outreach lies in the fact that by design, it proclaims Christ for us, from beginning to end. The importance and impact of that fact will always remind me of a man named Steve.
I met the family through a couple of outreach opportunities before they attended worship for the first time. He and his young family sat in the back, but listened attentively. We scheduled follow-up calls, but I never saw him again because a few days later, he died.
He died of a heart attack at age 34, leaving behind a mourning family. He died in the middle of closing on a new house and moving in. He died in the middle of his child’s third year. He died a few days after coming to worship at our church for the first and only time.
It was Mother’s Day when Steve sat in the back and listened attentively. The sermon that day focused primarily on raising a Christian family, on our life of service for God. After he died, I found myself wishing he had attended the previous week to hear the sermon on the conversion of St. Paul. That sermon’s sole focus was sin and grace, life and salvation.
However, our worship is far more than just the sermon. I looked back at the order of service for that morning and I found great comfort. There, so clearly, the liturgy proclaimed the work of Christ for us.
In the liturgy, the Law was preached and sin confessed. In the liturgy, God’s solution to sin was proclaimed. In the liturgy God’s plan of salvation was set forth in gracious detail. Our words, our songs, our whole liturgy—they proclaimed what Christ has done for us.
I never thought it would be the last time I would see him. That young man who sat in the back is in the next life now. Only God knows what had taken root in his heart. But we were given the privilege of sowing seed and committing it to God.
What a blessing that the liturgy had such clear Gospel! Even on a day when the sermon’s focus largely centered on Christ’s work in us, the liturgy reached out with the saving Gospel message of Christ for us. I pray that it called Steve home.
STABILITY
Liturgical worship also serves the cause of North American outreach because it provides stability to our worship forms. This stability lends itself well to outreach among the lost in our rootless society. These generations stricken by marketing fads look for authenticity, historicity, and time-honored practices in worship.
Our liturgical worship forms have that; they are the living faith of the dead who have gone before us. They express the unity in the Holy Christian Church that we share with believers around the world. They communicate the joy we have of knowing this song doesn’t cease in death, but our worship will continue with the angels in heaven, and with saints on earth who follow the path we trod. Worship forms penned at the pastor’s desk on Tuesday night may certainly praise Christ and feed the flock. They cannot, however, lay claim to share the taproot of the liturgy that reaches through time and space to connect our worship to the past, the present, and the future worship of Christ. They cannot claim the pedigree of the living faith of the dead who have gone before.
ACCESSIBILITY
Another facet of liturgical worship that serves outreach is its accessibility, especially for the young and the new Christians. Liturgical worship is child-friendly. There is a reason why Children’s Church sprang out of non-liturgical churches. What were the children to do? However, when you have the stability and repetition of the liturgy, even the little children are part of the body of Christ joined in worship. My children said the words and sang the songs of the Ordinary by age three.
Liturgical worship is also accessible to new Christians. Our worship visitors are not Lutheran. Often, they were not Christian. But the accessibility of the liturgy allows them to quickly become participants in worshipping their newfound Savior. One woman, new to faith, commented when I changed the musical style of the Agnus Dei. She said, “But Pastor, that’s the only song I know.”
Critics often deride liturgical worship for its repetition and its sameness. I think that those very aspects serve as powerful tools to help assimilate new believers into the worshipping assembly. To see one of our recently baptized adults, join in the song of saints and angels, to see her take her place in the long line of Christians proclaiming Christ through the rites and prayers and readings of the church is joyful, humbling, and exciting beyond my ability to express.
VARIETY
However, this stability and accessibility does not mean mindlessly repetitive worship. Within its stable framework, liturgical worship allows for a great variety of style and form and genre. This spring we had a vespers service. The service of vespers retained its historic stability; this service and its texts have been used by Christians since at least the sixth century, with its roots dating as early as the fourth century. But after the opening versicles, familiar to many liturgical Christians, the forms and styles of the rest of the service varied.
As the Church has for 1500 years, we sang Psalm 141, words inspired by God millennia prior, but with music written in 1990. We sang the Magnificat, composed by Mary two thousand years ago, but the melody we used was barely 20 years old. Our Verse of the Day was historic, but it was accompanied by an acoustical guitar.
Why does this serve outreach in North America? Simply put, liturgical worship appreciates the old and the new, the tested forms and the emerging gifts of the church. It serves the faithful with familiar forms and varied styles. It incorporates the new believers into the living faith of twenty centuries of Christian worship. It shows a rooted worship, vibrantly adapting the new to the old and the old to the new.
Necessities for Liturgical Worship
in North American Outreach
The question I struggled with when I arrived in the mission field was simple: Is liturgical worship the right worship form for North American Outreach? The answer, in my mind, is: “Yes, but.”
Yes, but the concerns raised regarding our use of the liturgy are often valid and must be addressed. Worship poorly done fails to faithfully serve our God, whether it is liturgical, contemporary, or any type of mix in between. Worship done without passion or excellence erects obstacles to outreach and inreach.
Are there valid concerns raised about liturgical worship in our circles? Absolutely. Does mindless repetition put up an obstacle to outreach? Absolutely. Do stumbling deliveries and ill-prepared accompaniments put up obstacles to outreach? Absolutely.
So let’s address the concerns regarding liturgical practice. Let’s embrace the constructive criticism and grow from it. The problem isn’t the concerns that are voiced, but the solutions that some propose. Do we remove these obstacles, solve these problems, by throwing out twenty centuries of Christian wisdom in worship for an evangelical substitute with a pedigree of a few decades? I have my doubts.
How do we address the concerns? How do we grow from the criticism? What are some keys for using liturgical worship in North American outreach?
KNOW IT
If people think that liturgical worship is merely “just the way we’re used to doing it,” why are we surprised when they want to abandon it for the flavor of the month? How many of our people, or even worship leaders, know that the Prayer of the Day, used in our liturgical churches last Sunday, Pentecost 9, is a prayer written in the 5th century that has been prayed by Christian churches on that Sunday for 1600 years?
How many of our people know that the words of the Preface spoken before communion (“The Lord be with you./And also with you. Lift up your hearts…”) are not merely tired words that came from the ’41 hymnal, but are the most ancient and unaltered words of worship and praise that we have from the early Church. By using those words we stand at the end of two millennia of worshippers greeting each other before the Supper in this way.
Might there be benefit to our pastors and people having some perspective when it comes to worship innovations?
ADORN IT
Adorn the liturgy for North American outreach. Liturgical worship that is a testament to static sameness does not well represent the vitality of our faith. Let your worship be rich and deep and varied.
I serve a small, mission congregation. But at a festival service this spring we had worship that utilized two trumpets, an acoustical guitar, a flugelhorn, a keyboard, a glockenspiel, a flute, a motet choir and two cantors. Small does not mean shallow.
Yet many large congregations can amble along for half a year, the only adornment of the liturgy being a choral anthem predictably placed between lessons two and three. If asked, they answer, “We only did the liturgy.” Liturgical worship is so much more than that. Adorn your worship with the best of the new and the old. Experiment with new styles and new instruments. Remember what makes worship liturgical: the texts.
Could we not make a commitment to help adorn the liturgy across our church body? Why don’t we use our intranet presence and make in-depth worship planning available for every Sunday of the church year? I mean far more than the seasonal helps currently posted. Why don’t we ask our most talented people to pool their resources and efforts, and post on the intranet for every Sunday of this coming Church year, service themes, choral pieces, proper verses of the day, gathering rites, and the like? Showcase varied styles and forms. Keep it current: each year update it to highlight the best of the new and the old. We have the talent in this room to do that. Why don’t we?
EXPLAIN IT
“Liturgical worship is too hard for a first time visitor to follow.” How often isn’t that put forward as unassailable truth? I agree that going from page 17 in the front of the hymnal to Psalm 85 on page 97, to hymn 370 in the no-page-number section of the hymnal, back to page 19 for the Creed, is nearly impossible for a first time visitor without pedantic instructions at every step of the service.
Our congregation addressed that problem by printing the entire liturgy in the service folder every Sunday. All the words, all the responses, all the canticles appear in full. This provides a number of benefits.
First, no one has a problem following the service. No one is lost. The order of service is in the service folder in its entirety; the hymns are sung from the hymnal . No first time visitor has ever commented that this method was too difficult to follow.
Second, printing the entire service every week allows for great variety in an accessible format. A gathering rite for Advent can be seamlessly brought into the service. Adornments of the liturgy that incorporate congregational responses are handled in their place in the service—no flipping for an insert or a supplemental book.
Third, this format provides the opportunity to explain the words, the actions, and the symbolism of liturgical worship to those new to the faith and old. Footnote and explain the history and the content of the Te Deum. Footnote and explain the seasons and festivals of the church year. Teach some and remind some of the meaning of Maundy, and paschal and Agnus Dei. Explain the advent wreath, the farewell to Alleluia, the reasons we do what we do.
If we want accessible liturgical worship for outreach, on-demand publishing is a must. Our new worship resources like the Supplement are being provided with digital images for insertion into the service folder. But why are the rites of Christian Worship not available in softcopy? Why can’t we release an assembly edition of the rites and canticles? Let’s make these accessible to our people immediately.
EXCEL AT IT
Nothing impresses our society quite like excellence. However, most WELS churches have less than 100 people in attendance on Sunday. Our greatest challenge to excellence in worship remains quality musicians and the use thereof. Small congregations often struggle to adorn the liturgy because they lack the musicians needed.
The term MIDI refers to digital music run from a synthesizer. It will never replace live musicians, but for congregations without musicians, it can be an answer. However, small congregations dependent on MIDI music often are unable to adorn the liturgy because they don’t have, and aren’t capable of creating MIDI files for new gathering rites, choral pieces, Verses of the Day, etc.
Creating quality MIDI files requires someone with musical talents and someone with MIDI training. We have these people in abundance in our synod. Why isn’t every musical recommendation or resource suggested accompanied by a MIDI file? The current failure to do so, greatly limits the congregations that can benefit from these resources. In fact, it excludes the smallest congregations who most need the help of synodical brothers and sisters.
Why can’t we, along with every Sunday planning and liturgical resources on the intranet, make available quality MIDI files for the new pieces and the old, for the choral pieces and gathering rites, the verses of the day and new psalms?
Yes, copyright issues can be thorny. But let’s sort through them. Yes, this is hard work, and it might cost some money. Yet this is precisely why we walk together as a synod: to do those things jointly which we cannot do as individual congregations. If we are truly at a crossroads in the WELS at jeopardy of losing the liturgy, can’t we get this done?
LOVE IT
I am amazed that people act embarrassed by our heritage of liturgical worship. They act as if it can’t possibly appeal to a visitor. Then they say that the unchurched don’t really belong in worship anyway—worship is for believers. The unchurched should go to adult instruction class, and then come to worship. They say worship is not the place for evangelism.
Like it or not, especially in the mission fields, worship is the primary point of first contact with the unchurched. Our adult instruction classes were held in my basement for five years. What is more of a leap for the unchurched: coming to our place of worship, or coming to my basement for Bible study?
The majority of our worship visitors are not unchurched, in the sense that they know nothing at all of Christianity. Rather, they are what I call “dechurched,” that is, people who have had experience in Christianity but have fallen away. The dechurched find worship a far less threatening experience than the thought of attending a Bible Class with two other people in my basement. Worship? They have an idea of what goes on there. Suggesting Bible study in my basement makes them wonder if I’ll shave their heads and make them pass out flowers at the airport.
Worship is and will remain the primary first contact for many. There is nothing wrong with that; liturgical worship is the right kind of worship for outreach. So love it. Don’t be embarrassed of it. Don’t think that it can only appeal to people who have been hearing it since birth.
What a blessing it is! What a powerful proclamation! What a rich and deep resource! We are confessional Lutherans. We are different from so many other church bodies. Celebrate that difference, because we are different for the right reasons. Have the courage of conviction! We are Lutheran for a reason; we are confessional for a reason; we are liturgical for a reason.
It is for freedom that Christ set us free. God’s people are free to worship in infinite styles and forms that please Him. There is no one right form to worship God or share Him with the lost. But in the rites and texts of Lutheran liturgical worship we have a tool well fit for outreach to the post-modern, post-literate, and increasingly post-Christian society in which we live.
Don’t abandon it. Instead, know it, this gift given us by the saints who have gone before, this living faith of the dead. Adorn it, with things modern and things ancient, the best of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Excel at it, by bringing the best of our talents and efforts. Love it, with the courage of conviction and the celebration of who we are. Then, finally, trust that the Lord of the Church will do his work and will keep his promises and will call his children home.
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. – Zechariah 4:6
See also The Liturgy by James Tiefel, and The Changing Music of the Liturgy by Paul Rydecki – additional plenary addresses from the 2005 worship conference. All three addresses may be found in the file Plenary Addresses.
Other Presentations Through the Years
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GJ - Question. How does someone give a paper on Lutheran worship without mentioning the Means of Grace or the efficacy of the Word? The basics are not being taught at Mary Lou College or The Sausage Factory. A paper would be a good place to point out what has been neglected.
