WORSHIP THAT WORKS

A group of us have been enjoying a regular "conversation" about the experience of Worship and what it means, in part guided by an excellent new book by two UU ministers called Worship That Works. Here are some key concepts worthy of even more discussion.

Four Dynamic Forces that influence worship “norms”

What is the “Founding Culture?”

What are the Worship Traditions?

What is the Musical Baseline?

What is the Physical Space?

These four factors combine to create the "personality" of a particular congregation. They may change and evolve over time, but are ignored at one's peril. Meanwhile, one important purpose of worship is to change people's lives for the better: to instruct them, inspire them, and to send them out again into the world renewed, rejuvinated, and ready to face the world for another week. According to the authors,


Transformative Worship…

· invites the congregation into holy time and creates sacred space from the very beginning of the service

· includes an affirmation of the congregation’s central mission, values, and promises

· uses powerful symbols that are familiar to the congregations and are rooted in the community’s history and tradition

· is culturally sensitive, honoring and interpreting the context and setting of ritual elements and service content drawn from the world’s diverse cultures

· finds ways to invite and include people at all ages and stages of life

· skillfully uses the arts, particularly music, to express the ineffable in ways that are culturally accessible to the congregation

· recognizes inclusive singing as a way of opening the heart to the presence of the holy and to the mission, vision, and values of the congregation

· uses any announcements as a reminder of the mission, vision, and values of the congregation, and as a bridge from the service to personal actions and commitments

· invites and creates congregations of generosity and abundance

· finds ways to recognize individual lives within the body of the community, holding the personal and the collective in dynamic tension

· includes silence and words that remind us of our dependency on the mystery of life and each other

· honors traditional and contemporary sources for the congregation’s faith journey and helps place this journey in time, through the framework of the liturgical year

· can happen without a sermon, but the power of the word through excellent preaching is the key that unlocks the possibility of transformation in most of our congregations

· sends people out into the world with a personal sense of mission, with their highest values reinforced.

From Worship That Works: Theory and Practice for Unitarian Universalists, by Wayne Arnason and Kathleen Rolenz (Boston: Skinner House, 2008)