Living Theology in the Metropolitan
Volume 10, Number 2
Winter 2006
Worship and Culture
Worship and
Culture: One congregation’s
Exploration of Alternative Worship
by Ruth VanDemark
During the summer of 2005, an urban congregation of the
Metropolitan Chicago Synod went from using Setting 2 from the Lutheran Book of
Worship to a movable summer worship without books or
formal setting, steeped in ancient liturgy with Eastern Orthodox overtones.
The culture of
With the exception of the summer of 2005, worship at
Conventional and formal Lutheran worship seems to reflect the
culture of
While worship is conventional and formal, the congregation is
anything but. Worshipers on Sunday morning frequently arrive with coffee cups
in hand. Only visitors arrive before 10:30 a.m. when the service begins. Only
the older members dress up for church. Members and friends participate in The
Night Ministry and other social service activities. They have also raised red worms for their castings
as part of a larger ecumenical urban ecology project in
Most visitors come to Wicker Park Lutheran out of curiosity, attracted by the building itself. Most return because of the warmth of the congregation and its involvement in the community. Sunday bulletins print the entire liturgy, music and words, any hymns not from the Lutheran Book of Worship or With One Voice, and explanations of the service and of the particular Sunday. The bulletin also serves a weekly newsletter, introducing visitors to the breadth of congregational activities.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
The worship at St. Gregory of Nyssa in
In 2004, Father Richard Fabian, one of the two founders and
rectors of St. Gregory, spoke at the Valparaiso Institute of Liturgical
Studies. My assessment that this was not for
In a small workshop session, Fr. Fabian explained the
vestments, umbrellas, and dancing. Just as chasubles were ordinary Roman outer
garb in the fourth century, the exotic and colorful tunics worn by the St.
Gregory worship leaders are common outer garb in East Africa, Central and South
America, and
While Fr. Fabian’s
small session was demys-tifying, it was his plenary
address that captured my attention. Hospitality, he explained, underlies all
that St. Gregory does. Its purpose is to show the Jesus who welcomes and eats
with sinners to the world. He outlined how St. Gregory puts newcomers first.
• Worshipers are greeted on the steps at a
welcoming table. Before the service, the clergy move among the crowd (in 2004,
225 persons attended the main service) touching each person.
• During the service deacons announce
everything so newcomers never feel left out. When collection is taken after
communion, newcomers are told that they don’t have to give. Congregational
groups treat insiders and outsiders alike.
• The music at St. Gregory’s (“Good
church music! Not dumbed down!” Fr. Fabian
emphasized) is sometimes sung with hand instruments but usually without
accompaniment. The congregation and the music director preview the music before
the service, singing the first verse of any hymn or service part in unison then
in parts. Much of the liturgy is in call and response form. All this gives
newcomers some familiarity with the service. The only written material given to
worshipers is a book with a collection of music used at St. Gregory.
• After
the sermon (delivered by the presider while seated),
everyone is invited to share life experiences.
• After the service, the altar covering is
removed, coffee urns are brought, and coffee hour takes place around the altar.
On Fridays, the table and the space around it become a food pantry serving 300
families. The coffee hour, Fr. Fabian noted, is “the most remarkable part of
the liturgy,” one linking Eucharist and service.
The St. Gregory church building also enhances hospitality. Completed in 1995, it was inspired by early Syrian Christian synagogues. The church is laid out in a rectangle with two equal square spaces. The western space or choir room has seats facing one another along two sides. At one end is a platform with a lectern and a standing censor where the word is read. The presider sits in a chair at the other end. The eastern space of the building is open, with no seating and a D-shaped table. After the Service of the Word, the congregations moves, singing and dancing, to the eastern room where they gather around the altar for the Eucharist.
The average age of worshipers at St. Gregory is 38. The
cultural similarities between St. Gregory and
All that changed the following year at the 2005 Liturgical
Institute. Gordon Lathrop from the Lutheran Theological Seminary of
Philadelphia spoke. For the closing Eucharist (and with no advanced warning),
Prof. Lathrop presided at a service and in spaces that replicated those of St.
Gregory.
St. Gregory at
Our music and choir
directors immediately set out to devise a service based on the St. Gregory
model. The logistics proved to be the
easiest part because the Wicker Park Lutheran church building was amenable to a
movable service.
• There is a courtyard in front of the
church with a small furnace for the Easter Vigil, planted with flowering white
plants. The assembly would gather around the furnace to begin the service. A
card table would serve as a welcoming table.
• Adjacent to the sanctuary is a large
connecting room, formerly a chapel but now a fellowship hall. The 1906
architect cleverly designed the walls between the sanctuary and the chapel
space to roll up, thus connecting the two spaces visually. The Service of the
Word would be set up in the fellowship hall with rows of chairs on both sides, facing one another.
The lectern would be at one open end, and chairs for the presider
and assisting minister at the other.
• In the sanctuary itself, there was ample
room for a table and people in the front of the nave. The church possessed a
beautiful Victorian table with inlaid legs that had long been crying out for
refinishing (and, in my mind, for being used as a free-standing altar).
To prepare the congregation, I introduced a two-minute period of silence following the sermon that began and concluded with the ringing of a gong. Beginning in May, the communion liturgy (including the Lord’s Prayer) was sung without accompaniment. Meanwhile the Victorian table was beautifully refinished.
The
The Gathering
• As at St. Gregory, the
• At 10:30 a.m., worshipers moved into the
courtyard. Older members who have difficulty with stairs sat in chairs at the
top of the outside steps. Preceded by a crucifer with the processional cross
and an assistant with wind chimes suspended from the cross beam of a ten foot
pole (an umbrella surrogate), the presiding and assisting ministers came from
the church and down the steps and joined the worshipers in the courtyard.
• The ministers greeted those gathered by
touching each person on the left shoulder and saying, “Christ is risen” – usually eliciting “He is risen indeed” as a
response. After a welcome, the order of service was explained. A cantor taught
the congregation an easily harmonized “Alleluia” from
• Singing the Alleluia, the congregation
followed the crucifer and ministers into fellowship hall. The processional
cross was placed near a table with communion vessels and elements, and the wind
chimes were placed near the lectern. The lectern was flanked by torches, and a
stationary censer burned a small amount of incense. Scatter rugs were placed on
the floor in the open space for small children and infants.
• Once everyone found a chair, the opening hymn was sung, accompanied by the piano in fellowship hall. On a few Sundays, there was a confession before the opening hymn.
Service of the Word
• After the hymn and greeting, everyone sat
down, and the gong introduced silence. After the gong was rung again to
conclude the silence, everyone remained seated for the prayer of the day. (
• The readings were read from the lectern.
(
• The congregation stood for the gospel and,
while the assisting minister walked to the lectern and retrieved the gospel
book, the congregation sang the Alleluia it had sung earlier. It continued
singing the Alleluia as the assisting minister carried the book around the open
space between the rows of chairs. The assisting minister then held the Gospel
book for the presiding minister to read. (
• After reading the gospel, the presiding
minister took the book and, with the rest of the congregation, sat down. The
sermon was delivered with the gospel book open on the presiding minister’s lap.
The gong and silence followed the sermon.
• Omitting the hymn of the day, the congregation stood for the intercessory prayers, led by the assisting minister.
The Meal
• After the greeting of peace, the
congregation sat, and the offering was taken. Immediately before the
congregation stood to go to the sanctuary, the pastor reminded them of options
for taking wine or grape juice.
• The procession to the
sanctuary was led by the ministers carrying the communion elements and vessels.
The congregation sang Vamos todas al banquete / “Let us
go now to the banquet” as it processed and gathered around the table in the
sanctuary, forming a large circle. There were chairs for older members. (
This
“dance” is accompanied by Ethiopian sistrum rattles
and African and native American drums.)
• The
offertory prayer from Sundays and Seasons was said by all. Sung without
accompaniment, the dialog and Lord’s Prayer were from LBW setting 3 and the
preface and sanctus were
from LBW setting 1, followed by Eucharistic Prayer G from With One Voice.
• During communion, “Eat this bread, drink
this cup” was continuously sung. For at least sixty years, Wicker Park Lutheran
has used a pouring chalice and individual cups for communion wine. At last
summer’s services the option of a common cup was introduced. Children who do
not commune and unbaptized adults received a
blessing. (
• After the communion and blessing, the
congregation joined the assisting minister in praying the post communion prayer
from Sundays and Seasons. After the benediction, everyone remained
gathered at the table and sang the sending hymn. (
• The congregation moved back to the fellowship hall for coffee.
The Pastor’s Reflections
The service at Wicker Park Lutheran was not the St. Gregory Service. There was no congregational dancing. Wind chimes replaced an umbrella. Vestments were not exotic or different. Incense was used sparingly. Announcements of “what we are doing next” were abandoned early on as unnecessary. At the same time, the service was St. Gregory in spirit, in openness, in hospitality. For the pastor, delivering the sermon seated made the connection with the members of the congregation immediate and direct. Gathering everyone around the table meant that individuals who attend regularly but do not commune were part of the assembly. Each responded positively to receiving a blessing. The congregational singing was exceptional. Even the record-breaking 2005 summer heat was somehow more bearable. As one worshiper remarked, with seating for fifty, no one was aware of the seasonally low attendance.
The Congregation’s Reaction
The unanswered question at the beginning of the summer was
whether the St. Gregory’s service would be accepted in
The overwhelming response to a survey of summer worshipers was summed up by the response of one previously unchurched member: “What I liked most about the summer service was being outside and connecting with the neighborhood. Having a place for the children to sit while they played. Dancing with the Bible. The intimacy that the service had.” What survey respondents least liked were singing in Spanish (“Recognizing the global church for ONE Sunday with international music is fine for me, but to do it every Sunday was a turn-off for me”), the heat (“but we can deal with it for the hour of worship”), and starting outside (“I am a more private individual... but it was a nice processional into the interior space...”).
An older member (who used the chairs) liked the intimacy of the service but missed the windows and carvings in the sanctuary. Only one respondent (a twenty-something cradle Lutheran) did not like the use of incense and found “the walking around of the Bible before the gospel...bi-zarre.” Suggestions for improvements included coming into the church through the sanctuary (thereby connecting the service of the word more directly with the communion) and arranging the chairs in fellowship hall in a semi-circle.
Aftermath
Because of last summer’s service, silence is now a permanent part of our worship. The communion rail has been moved (and made removable) to open up the chancel. The table is now used as a freestanding altar.
Will