Living Theology in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran
Church In America
Volume 4, Number 1
Easter 1999
Multiculturalism And Worship
Responsive
Contextualization: Planning Worship in the Parish
Lorraine Brugh
Christian
worship, at the end of the second millennium, stands at some unique junctures.
As never before, hymns, prayers, and litanies from all over the globe are
appearing in many North American denominational hymnals and books of worship.
These new resources are available because worshipping communities all over the
world are exploring indigenous Christian worship and sharing it with the
global, ecumenical community. This exploration has led to the introduction of
new musical instruments into worship. It has also led to the creation of much
new music for the church in local contexts.
The
increase in electronic media, computers, and the Internet have also all aided
this process, bringing resources to our fingertips which were previously thousands
of miles away. Recent changes in copyright licensing has made it easier to have
a wider selection of hymns available than any one hymnal can contain. Today,
congregations across the globe can share hymns and prayers which just ten years
ago they could not even have been aware of. The opportunities to engage the
Word from beyond one's local community are enormous. There is an
ever-increasing potential for local communities to participate in global
contextualization.
At
the same time, many Christian congregations are experiencing an internal crisis
on the local level. For some North American congregations this crisis takes the
form of the loss of a congregation's identity as the social and moral center of
the community. For others, it is the struggle with loss of members as the
church loses the central place it had in the community just a generation
ago.
There
is a pressing need for North American congregations to begin to look at their
own context and consider how to address the crises of identity present within
it. This requires, first of all, a look at the "word" upon which the
community has focused. What is the Word which is present in this community?
Then, who are those present, and what does their worship tell about them? What
are their questions of identity? How are those questions addressed? This is the
process of local contextualization.
The
possibilities are enormous. This situation can be as baffling as it is
exciting. How does one make choices for worship which have integrity for a
particular context? How does one sift through and decide among the many choices
that which will speak in the local worshipping congregation?
Entering
into another's cultural tradition offers the potential of seeing God's pattern
of unity in a new context. It may not be immediately recognizable or easily
discerned. If we patiently learn the cultural patterns, however, the underlying
unity will begin to emerge.
At
first, the terrain feels unfamiliar and disorienting. After we enter into
another's culture, learning and participating as we go, we begin to discern
patterns and contrasts we previously could not. We find new ways to discern the
patterns which reside in another culture as we set aside our own for a time.
The multicultural church is a process of learning one another's patterns, and
discerning God's unity within them.
I
propose a process with which any local worshipping community can engage new
worship materials. Responsive contextualization is a way of presenting the
local community with resources outside its own borders. Through this process, a
community articulates its own sense of identity and meaning, while coming into
contact and interacting with materials from other worshipping communities. In
the process a community develops meaning with new materials as it brings them
into its own particular context.
In
the following paragraphs, I will outline six steps in the process of responsive
contextualization. After the description of each step, I will offer reflection
questions. These are intended to help a congregation get in touch with its own
particular process of meaning-making. The questions are intended for individual
or group reflection, and are not intended to be an exhaustive list. A worship
and music committee, or other group with some responsibility for the worship
life of the congregation, would be a good place to begin this process.
When
crossing cultural borders, responsive contextualization is made up of several
steps. First, a local community needs to know and identify itself as a specific
context. Understanding itself includes awareness of the range of individuals
within the community; what unique talents and gifts they possess; what are the
community's identifying marks.
·
What is the size of the worshipping community?
·
What are unique talents and gifts which
individuals or groups possess?
·
What would this community believe to be the most
important elements in worship?
·
What style or styles of worship does this
community experience?
·
How is the community's leadership affirmed and
expressed in worship?
Second:
A community identifies what it is that creates and holds meaning for this
community. At this juncture it is important to consider to what kinds of truth
claims the community regularly assents; recognizing those worship forms to
which the community attaches meaning. A community that is self-conscious about
these aspects of worship will be able to clarify its unique identity.
·
How does the congregation find meaning in these
elements of worship?
·
Holy Communion
·
Holy Baptism
·
Preaching
·
Sharing of the Peace
·
Prayers
·
Singing
·
Fellowship
Third:
A community seeks a more diverse expression of itself by encountering a
resource from outside itself. This could be through a song, prayer, or litany
from another culture; it could also be a resource from another denomination or
church. By seeking a greater contrast with its own identity, a community opens
itself to a potentially more diverse identity. By continually seeking things
outside one's own community, an expanding potential for diversity and variety
increases.
·
What are some natural points of connection
outside the local community?
·
What ethnic groups are represented in the
congregation?
·
What ethnic groups are represented in the
neighborhood around the church?
·
What does the congregation do especially well in
worship?
·
What does the congregation do poorly, or not at
all in worship?
Fourth:
A community begins to learn what it can about the context from which the
resource originated. Issues of language and culture, performance practice (in
the case of music), theological ideas, would all contribute to understanding
what one can about this worship element.
·
What is known about the singing style of the
people from which the resource came?
·
How would music be accompanied and led?
·
What potential is there for using the original
language of the resource?
·
What theological ideas are presented in the
text, and how do they interface with this congregation?
·
What images of God, creation, or humanity are
used?
·
Could they complement, add to, or diversify the
community's self expression?
Fifth:
The resource is introduced in worship. Care is taken to prepare the community
so that the new element can invite everyone's participation. Its place in
worship is chosen to give it the opportunity to fit into the community's
worship and speak meaningfully.
·
Will this resource be able to bear repetition in
the community?
·
What points of contact can the community find
with the resource?
·
Does this resource reinforce, challenge, or
confront the community's normative expressions?
Sixth:
There is reflection on the introduction of this new element.
·
Did it communicate and engage the worshipping
community?
·
Was its meaning able to connect with the meaning
of the local community? Was there a fusion of horizons in bringing this new
element into a specific contextual community?
·
What was the meaning created by this new
occasion?
·
Were truth claims presented and experienced?
·
If so, how was the community's expression of
meaning expanded through the experience?
These
six steps offer a middle way between two common options. Resources from other
contexts are sometimes simply not considered because leaders realize they do
not know enough about the cultures from which they originate. Rather than present
a new hymn without authenticity, new hymns are simply not presented. Responsive
contextualization reminds us that when a worship resource crosses out of the
borders of its original context into a new one, it becomes an expression of
that new community. It is no longer limited to an authentic representation of
its original community. While it does not have authenticity, it can have
integrity when it is brought into the community through such a process.
A
Hispanic hymn presented in an Anglo community, for instance, is no longer the
same hymn it was. When it crossed out of the borders of its original, community
context it became a part of another, different community. Its presentation in
the new community will give it a new treatment, creating varieties of the hymn.
In each new community the nuances will be slightly different and the results
will be slightly different. These variations are no longer the authentic
presentation of the hymn as it was in its original community, but become
presentations with integrity in their new community.
A
second option is one which does not recognize the borders that are crossed when
a resource from another community comes into one's own. Without this
recognition, a new resource is simply presented the way all resources are
presented in that community, without regard for its original context.
Responsive contextualization reminds us here that a resource from another
context is indeed different, requiring its own form of presentation. One needs
to know what one can so that the meaning of the resource can be carried into
the new community. Without this, there is a flatness about a new resource which
reduces its ability to form a contrast with the new community. Responsive
contextualization names the process in which contrasts are introduced into
worship. It also consciously values those expressions that come to a community
from outside its own circle. New expressions give the possibility of new
contrasts. This places the community in the position of seeking, inviting, welcoming
and receiving new expressions into itself. This process gives impetus to a
dynamic sense of worship, with fluid borders and constantly new
expressions.
There
is a wealth of material for Christian worship at this edge of a new century. Let
us embrace and welcome the greatest diversity into our worshipping assemblies.
In the process we may show ourselves hospitable to the stranger, and inclusive
within our Christian fellowship. Responsive contextualization gives us a way
for meeting this encounter with others which respects all cultures and
contexts. It gives us a way to express the diversity of the body of Christ in
the context of worship. God provides the unity through Christ; we express that
unity through our great human diversity.
Lorraine
Brugh