colors

I love color. As our liturgical season changes so does that of our worship blog. We move to blue and purple. I prefer to accentuate blue in this season as purple is a dominant color for lent. (and I like blue. and if not in my favorite season, then never does it show up in the liturgical calendar) Blue for hope. Purple for royalty. Use them. Teach others why.

Quotables

Henry Sloane Coffin - "If there is one characteristic more than others that contemporary public worship needs to recapture it is this awe before the surpassingly great and gracious God." Andrew W. Blackwood - "The time has come for a revival of public worship as the finest of the fine arts...While there is a call for strong preaching there is even a greater need for uplifting worship."

Canticle of Remembrance

As our Worship Leader read the names a child brought a white rose forward and put it in the vase. The single rose on the altar and tallest rose in the vase is for those who remain unnamed in our hearts.

All Saint's Sunday

This is an altar table I created for All Saint's Sunday several years ago. Just a simple plastic table draped in blue and white fabric. I dropped clear stones at random and we used glass votive jars and white votive candles. The table ran the length of the center aisle. When the names were read, folk could come from any side to light a candle in honor of their beloved. This year I am at a new church with its own traditions. In the sanctuary they will have candles on the altar and light them as the names are read. In the Common Ground service which I work for we will have white roses. I will use the same blue cloth to drape the altar area. As the names are read our children will bring a white rose and lay it on the altar for each name read. There will also be a photo of each person on the screen and our band is working on a simple repeated line to underscore the litany. I am quite fond of All Saint's Sunday. It is a simple, beautiful celebration to me. How wonderful and important it is to take one more time to honor an remember those that have gone before us in this year in which they've gone. We are trav'ling in the footsteps

Of those who've gone before,

And we'll all be reunited,

On a new and sunlit shore

World Communion Sunday Part 2

World Communion Sunday has come and gone for this year. I do believe after a meeting of the ideas of Anna and myself that we came to a wonderful moment in liturgy. It has become our practice to recite the Apostle's Creed as a response to the sermon. This week we concluded a sermon series on the Apostle's Creed. As an alteration to my idea in the earlier post, here is what we did. One of our worship leaders very gracefully instructed the congregation that at the end of each section (Father, Son, Holy Spirit; a division every one was familiar with due to the series) an element of Communion would be brought forth and thus we'd pause. It went off beautifully. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. [A father and daughter from one side of the congregation and a youth from another brought baskets of bread to the Communion Table] I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. [Two folks from either side each brought a cup to the Communion Table] I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. [(At the instruction of Anna to do my liturgical thing, not dance, but gracefully walk) I took a pitcher of juice with a stole draped around the handle down the center aisle, raising and lowering the pitcher as I moved and doing one turn when I reached the front of our horse shoe]

following the Holy Spirit

As many folks have, I've often been in discussions of what happens when a service has been planned out, bulletins printed and then someone wakes up on Sunday morning and just can't shake the notion that something needs to change. Often this occurs due to a catastrophic event and people are understanding. We did it, in a small way, on Sunday just because I couldn't shake the feeling. We changed a song. Didn't do what was printed in the bulletin and nobody thought twice about it. I'd dare to say if we hadn't mentioned the change publicly it wouldn't even have been noticed. And the song we did instead, You are so Good to Me, was perfect! So, I throw up a big AMEN for following the Holy Spirit, you should try it! I bet people aren't as against it as we think they are.

World Communion Sunday

The first Sunday of October is celebrated in many faiths as World Communion Sunday. (a tradition begun by the Presby's in 1939) It is the final Sunday in a sermon series in Common Ground so I almost forgot about it completely until my pastor asked me for ideas today. Do I have ideas!? This is the part of my job that I LOVE! Visually I do like to use somewhat of a montage/collage of fabrics from various cultures as altar decor. The sermon series that concludes on World Communion for us has been a three parter about the Apostle's Creed. We just began reciting it weekly with the appointment of a new Sr. pastor in June, so we thought it timely to talk a little bit about this new addition and quite specific statement of faith. We divided it out into God the Father, Creator; God the Son, Redeemer; and God the Spirit; Sanctifier. Thus, the idea on the table (excuse the pun) for this year is to incorporate the series in communion. I have an idea to distribute the elements (a couple of cups, a couple of loaves) to four folk amongst the congregation. Upon a cue during the communion liturgy they will stand and recite the first four lines of the Apostle's Creed: "I believe in God, the [Creator] Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, [God's] only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,"* Then they will bring the elements to the altar as the preacher continues the communion liturgy. I really like the idea of the elements coming from everywhere to one united table. We're also talking about having some extra loaves, little loaves in bags for folks to take with them. *[these are the word's I use] Common Ground uses the Ecumenical version

A New Adventure

I am thrilled to be sharing this blogging experience with Kelly Jo. Her creativity, insight and knowledge both inspire and encourage me! I have been very fortunate to work with pastors and choir directors who have been very open and enthusiastic to worship design and have trusted me to express the liturgical idea or themes or choral presentations in a visual way through altar and Sanctuary design. It is wonderful to have the option to use either the altar, the chancel area in front or the whole Sanctuary to create an atmosphere, impression, visual reminder of what church is all about for that day or sermon series or cantata. As Kelly and I begin this new experience of sharing with you our ideas, Liturgically Speaking, my prayer is that you will see God's work in this and feel inspired to discover your own liturgical voice!

Mom has joined the Blog!!

I'm taking a moment of personal privilege to explode with joy that Mom is joining me on this blogging exploration!! She's awesome and you'll soon learn to love her as much as I do. She has created numerous altars that I love, but this image is one of my favorites. Maybe as Pentecost nears again she'll post more images and talk a bit about why she did what she did. Till then, here's to MOM! Cheers!

In Process

I am working on regular posts for this site, but began a new job this week. Please check back soon for lots of worship ideas and liturgical ponderings. Thanks!