worship with heidi miller yoder both before and after

INTRO

• the present world is similar to the 3rd-4th century world when christianity was first figuring out how to be and do missions. if this is right, it is of great value to discover what was done in the first three centuries of the church and to pull it forward into our age.
• unpacks the story of unity in the triune god, the sharing and enlargement of unity in creation, disunity of rebellion, and reunification in christ.

theological presuppositions in the story

1. christus victor: christ is the victorious overcomer, conquering rebellion and disunion. his return is the ultimate reunification.
2. church as mother: “by her womb we are born. by her breasts we are fed. by her spirit we are animated
3. christian formation as process: ”the glory of god is the glory of a person fully filled with god“
4. performative symbol: within the process there are a number of rituals that occur continually communicating our union with christ. baptism & eucharist are the most prominent

PROCESS OF FORMATION IS EARLY CHURCH

1. inquiry: evangelism as an introduction to the church not faith. the call is simply ”follow me.“ an acknowledgment that behavior shapes faith
2. rite of welcome: ”will you renounce all false worship?“ this specifically addressed the cult of caesar. anointing of cross in oil in the forehead as an invisible tattoo, a marking of identification
3. catechumenate: three years of instruction during which ethics (not doctrine) were stressed. the final exam was practice: did you care for widows and orphans?
4. rite of election: writing one’s name in a book. renunciation again.
5. purification and enlightenment: occurred during lent. daily laying on of hands and exorcism. great awareness of spiritual warfare
6. rite of baptism: occurred on easter. bishop administered the rite of effica(?) by breathing on them, a symbolic reception of the holy spirit. final rite of renunciation culminating by spiting at the west, at the devil to really end the relationship. now, the convert is presented and able to receive eucharist.
7. mystagogue: reflection. note it follows - not precedes - the experience
8. note: four processes and three rites

ADAPTING TO THIS CULTURE

• remain connected to the church calendar
• website: ancientfutureworship.com: see ”journey to jesus“: also monthly newsletter

i was quite tempted to sit in on the q & a with father tomko, but didn’t. i figured it would be packed out, and i had the sense that the conversation could turn quite confrontational quite quickly. i wasn’t looking for an argument, but rather for stories and reflection on worship and liturgy, so i went elsewhere.

tribe were discussing the use of drum circles in worship. they are a small community in los angeles, who use a drum circle in order to facilitate worship. (what do you do when you don’t have any guitarists? their reasons run deeper, but this was a factor) i see some immediate application to our house church gathering, particularly as a method for breaking out of spectatorship and into participation and co-creation. no notes, but i had a good time drumming. while i clearly don’t have enough rhythm to operate a shaker well, i can bang along on a bongos or a bucket.

the afternoon session was set aside for people to participate in and prepare for worship. heidi miller yoder facilitated a our time.

it looks like about half the attendees skipped out. their loss I hope they were blessed in whatever they chose to do. a pianist set the ambiance with some original music. we reflected on john 4 and the image or living water. in clay we sculpted responses to the the written word.

i arrived early and had begun “doodling” with my clay while folks gathered. i determined not to look at the clay, but rather to let the environment and atmosphere direct my fidgeting. i peeked once or twice, but for the most part allowed the modeling to be a sub-conscious activity, occurring in the background of my mind while i watched, listened, spoke, etc.

after hearing the scriptures and rolling them around my mind for a few moments, i took a look at my clay. behold: a flower had emerged. i reflected on the flower: bearer of seed; sign of spring and new life; image of beauty and frailty. i think the first connections to god are plain enough. i them wrote a poem to capture some of these thoughts. (i’ll post the poem separately.)

next we gathered into groups of four (i think i was the junior member of my group by two full decades.) and talked about our sculpture. then it got interesting…

as foursomes, we next reflected on what it means for jesus to be living water to the world. we then expressed these thoughts on segments of blue cloth. each of the segments will be assembled to form a mosaic tapestry during worship at this evening’s plenary.

out segment turned out to be quite rich. as seems to be the case, some of the depth was intended; much was not. it starts from either end and depicts the journey or labyrinth along which we walk. the idea of the “black wall,” which father tomko alluded to this morning, informed our idea of the journeys. at one end is the cross from which life flows out and at which life culminated and finds its completion. twine, representing thorns, crown the cross to remind us that christ, too, has suffered (and in a manner still suffers with us.) the river is turbulent and littered with not only debris and obstacle but also moments of beauty (flowers) and small gems. the cords wind thru the river doubling-back and crossing over one another, just as our lives do. small symbols abound: a red ribbon for cancer. stitched crosses and stripes in sets of three used to tack everything down.

when we were done, we snapped a couple photos and carried our segment from the gymnasium where we worked to the chapel where we will gather this evening. ok, i snuck away so that i could maintain a veil of surprise for this evening.

• worship with harp46
• responsive prayer by st. simeon (“come, Alone, to the alone”)
• fantastic spoken word confession: mclaren will post on his site in a week or so: if he doesn’t i’ll harass people until i get a copy.
• books by father tomko: st. vladimir’s press: (audio series on the lord’s prayer is highly recommended)
• o.e. worship developed in the golden age of the east, which (coincidentally?) coincided with the dark ages of the west.
• the fundamental worship of the church is fixed. aside from offices developed for new saints, things are pretty much fixed. creativity exists, but it is not considered liturgical; it is “para-liturgical piety.” it is not the worship of the church
• christian worship is generally understood as a christening of the jewish worship. (luke 24: the law, psalms and prophets remain the foundation.
• christ is the incarnation; but the scriptures, nature, man - for example - are also forms of incarnation, for they bear the image of god manifest in the material realm
• n.t. scriptures are simply interpretations of the o.t.
• hebrews and the apocalypse are the primary sources of n.t. liturgy.
• the basic setting: all things are fulfilled in the crucified and risen christ, and thru him we can finally worship the one true god in the right way, all guided by the holy spirit.
• the biblical scriptures for worship (levitacus, etc.) are maintained, though subverted thru the lens of christ victorious.
• yearly cycle centers on passover.
• weekly cycle centers on sabbeth (the saturday of the tomb being the ultimate sabbeth, when god rested from all his work)
• daily cycle of seven beginning with evening vespers
• calendar commemorates saints each day of the year.
• example: e.o churches have a fresco of mary and jesus over the alter. this reflects back to the ark of the covenant. mary sits in the empty space of the mercy seat, for god is made visible in christ. instead of the law, the gospels sit on the alter.
• the eucharist is not a “flashback,” a reflection on the last supper. is a a “flash-forward,” a remembrance of the wedding feast to come.
• book: shmemin
• romans 1: we are by nature creatures of worship, doxa (glory) and eucharista (thanksgiving). sin is our failure to live as such.
• church is not an institution with sacraments. it is a sacrament with institutions
• liturgical prayer of the community: jesus prayer to god thru the spirit
• personal rule of prayer
• unceasing word of prayer within
• quote: “do not begin prayer by aligning your mouth with your mind; align your mind with your mouth.”

worship with matt maher: continued focus on “catholicity” and unity

MAGGI

• winston churchhill: us and uk aredivided by a common language
• church divided by common religion: overcoming these divisions, the differences is hard work
• to listen carefully is to acknowledge our differences: this is the starting point for conversation
• the tradition of theological reappraisal is a time honored one. we only get into trouble when we deny this process
• a major source of disagreement is the bible: how to we approach it? this is s subset of the broader changes in language and understanding of language
• encountering the scriptures in the midst of cultural shift
• book: anglicanism, the answer to orthodoxy (no amazon link)
• 30+ english translations and paraphrases. rarely do we consider the theology behind the translation
• 1976: good news bible published in entirety. first translation made accessible to the average reader): note in the intro assumes that the text is “transparent,” it has a single meaning that transcends the translator and reader.
• we want to believe the bible is above the ‘twists and turns“ associated with other texts. we want that religious certainty.
• the bible, however, is not transparent. it does not give this certainty of meaning.
• question: can we live with the diversity of translation?
• this problem is not unique to the post-modern shift; it is a human problem
• history: late-18th century german scholarly work questioned the authorship of the bible. e.g. parts pre-date the history of written language; evidence of multiple authors in a single document.
• scholars developed ”higher criticism“ to understand and reconsile the bible with scholarship
• the german church panicked and dug its heels in.
• english scholar: coleridge: was progressive and embraced the possibilities of ”higher criticism.“ he anticipated the impact of the scholarly work on the english church, and pre-emptively addressed the topic
• book: confessions of an inquiring spirit: biblical inspiration and higher criticism: uses the technique of letters to a friend.
• 21st century presents a new (but not singular) challenge, namely that the reader has a hand in forming meaning.
• danger: how far is to far? how to you maintain democracy w.o falling into anarchy?
• danger: a retreat into certainty, into a singular interpretation (usually accompanied by appears to the ”word of god“)
• there is no such thing as revealed truth if you mean propositional statements, no list of statements that can be ticked off one by one. the bible is not a magic talisman; it is a text like any other with soft edges of interpretation
• if there is no such thing as immutable inperpretation, what are we left with?
• we are left with poetics. w/o the fantasy of certainty, we find the liberty to engage with the bible as a living book in all the diversity of interpretation

thoughts from coleridge

1. bible has a depth that allows it not to transcend culture or disconnect from culture, but rather to be embedded and re-embedded in culture after culture, the very nature of incarnation
2. frees us from the idolatry of venerating scripture. the absence of a single meaning frees the text to live and breath. excessive veneration is scripture renders it dead, possessing only the illusion of life. the text gains a voice that can speak to us.
3. personal question: where is scripture referred to as the word of god?
4. story: luke 24: emmaus road
5. disciples arguing about the word of god with the Word of God: how often do we walk this same road? we must move off this path and into communion with the Word of God. this is the way forward, the way to continued conversation.
6. storyteller: mike riddell (new zealand)

brian is a roman catholic, and he structured our gathering around the liturgy of the word w/ communion. very participatory, so no running notes, just a couple post-scripts that developed over the course of the afternoon and evening. hopefully i am not misrepresenting or over-simplifying:

• clearly there are depths to the issues which prevent unity across the various strains of christianity of which i am completely unaware. for example, i had the vague impression that i probably shouldn’t have participated in eucharist when i visited st. anthony’s a couple months back, but little did i know how significant and deep this division runs. it was interesting to hear a r.c. perspective: the protestants left 500 years ago, and now they want us to come meet them…. i suppose the orthodox would view protestants as the bastard child of the bastard child. well, if the emergent church is a bastard twice removed, this might be why some orthodox bloggers have expressed the opinion that emergents are really just coming back home to orthodoxy at long last.
• r.c understanding of eucharist is quite thought provoking. the eucharist is the consummation of life. everything leads up to or flows out of it. the arc of mass, therefore, is a reflection of life. i understand that the orthodox take the mass and liturgy even more seriously. for example, their theology isn’t expressed in doctrinal statements, but rather in the liturgy itself. to discover what the orthodox believe, participate in their liturgy. referring back to mclaren’s comments this morning, it’s the ultimate in infusing ritual with meaning.
• during the worship prior to maggi dawn’s plenary, we read selections from 1 corinthians 13 corporately. i couldn’t help but pick up on the following: “love keeps no record of wrongs.” in light of the divisions among christianity, much seems to be rooted in a kept record of past wrongs, real and/or perceived. whether this is simplicity or simplification, (i suspect the latter) i don’t know; but this seems to be a real component of the divisions.

finally a few definitions for my own reference

• liturgy = work of the people
• mass = sent
• eucharist = thanksgiving

INTRO

• where am i? what are the different tribes that surround me? who are the “barbarians”?
• book: celtic way of evangelism (hunter)
• wild goose: symbol of the holy spirit
• celts had a pre-existing affinity for the number three: trinity came to them

HISTORY

• patrick: english. kidnapped by irish slaves as a teen. gained his freedom. became a priest, and returned to ireland. though rome feared and stayed away from the “barbaric” irish, patrick who understood the culture went in.
• form of christianity was adapted to the culture: open air monasteries, scripture meditation (illiterate culture)
• no martyrs in patrick’s day: peaceful conversion
• st. comumba: irish royal who became a monk: banished from ireland b/c of violence: settled in iona (island of west coast of scotland)
• as dark ages descended on continent, monasteries in iona (and others) collected books
• ionic monks bring christianity to scotland
• contrast: continental church established in england wasn’t affecting or transforming the culture b/c is was continental vs. indiginous
• st aiden: apostle to uk: monk from iona who went to linesfarne
• takeaway: candle: light in the darkness: also name of celtic saint for further exploration
• celtic cross: circle = creation, eternity, wholistic
• synod of whitby: differences in roman/continental and celtic expressions are confronted. rome comes out on top (though not necessarily b/c they have a better argument)

SO WHAT? COMMUNITY: take the kingdom into the places where people go

HOW TO… APPLICATION FOR YOURSELF

• scripture memorization: originally for a pre-literate culture; what about a post-literate (or post-post-literate) culture?
• trinity: recovery of the holy spirit: the spirit is already present and working, even in the “barbarians”
• prayer infused into the rhythms of life, the daily activity (connection: mclaren this morning)
• infiltration and incorporation of culture (example: church of the apostles in seattle)
• thin places: physical places when space and time grow thin, where heaven and earth draw close and connection of god becomes transparent (question: can you create thin places in homes? in the suburbs? in the concrete jungle? steve collins; spiritual signage)
• modern monasteries (example: community houses @ vineyard central)
• prophetic: pointing those who worshipped creation to the “high king” of creation.
• takeaway: ribbons to weave: what is god weaving into my life?
• art of listening/hospitality: when a visitor arrived at the abbey, the guestmaster would welcome them and take them to the abbott/abbottess, whose job was to listen to the guest’s story (in detail, questioning when necessary, exploring, full-on listening)
• personal application: cedar campus is a thin place for me: would pilgrimage be possible?

welcome: continued focus on unity

eo prayer & selections from eph 4

worship by tribe (los angeles): drum circle: kevin revealed an oilgraph

simple songs, whose music and rhythms are created by all

WORSHIP AS SPIRITUAL FORMATION (OR DISCIPLE MAKING OR COMMUNITY FORMATION)

• moving to a “post-protestant” era in worship where forms of worship are not biblically mandated
• lets move beyond protesting against each other, and into pro-testifying about god who unifies us
• everyone has liturgy, whether it is written or not (just try deviating and you’ll see)
• spiritual formation = the development of people who embody jesus: “teach them to do all i have commanded” OR “i have given you an example love one another as i have loved you” OR to be conformed to the image of god“ OR ”be transformed by the renewing of your mind“
• in some sense everything is spiritual formation. everything forms our spirit, though not necessarily everything forms us to christ
• spiritual formation = actions within our power which we do to train ourselves to do things currently beyond our power, and to become people we are currently incapable of being.

10 SPIRITUAL PRACTICES FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP

1. ritual = doing things i may or may not feel like doing to bond to the meaning they represent

• book: symbol and ceremony (no amazon link)
• example: ancient celtic practices: an illiterate culture whose discipleship practices bonded meaning to regular daily activities

2. inconvenience = going to a place i didn’t choose at a time i didn’t choose for a purpose i do choose

3. association = associating with some people i like and others i don’t like for a purpose i believe in (AMEN!)

4. speed = altering my pace to see what i’ve missed and feel a different rhythm

• weekly: seasonal: annual: lifespan
• hip hop culture: evidence of a renewed interest in poetry and spoken word: we must slow down to appreciate it.
• lifespan: what if we created liturgical milestones that spanned the course of our lives (middle age, retirement etc.)

5. hospitality = using my presence and our space to help ”the other“ feel welcome in my presence, and in the presence of our community

• the other: those who don’t believe (a la hybel and warren): racial and economic differences: cultural and generational
• we should be drawn to the other vs. standing at a distance from the other

6. attentiveness = waiting for what i may receive only by waiting receptively (he’s thinking of sermons in particular)

• what if we only get something one week out of the year, but we only get it if we come all the weeks.
• an unfortunate consequence of modernity is an instant gratification approach to spricture
• ”what you focus on determines what you will miss“

7. generosity = taking greater pleasure in being productive (fruitful) than consumptive

• bond the ritual of giving to the meaning that it is more blessed to give than to receive

8. modeling = exposing apprentices to masters in prayer, teaching, artistry, faithfulness, service, hospitality, etc.

• contemplative models (we experience god in the very center of the normal)
• and charismatic models (we experience god one step beyond the normal)

9. justice & mercy = preaching justice, singing justice, praying justice, signifying justice, announcing justice

• what if our focus was not just on saving our lives but rather on bring justice?
• what if our songs focused on god’s justice in our world, praising god for his justice, not just his salvation?
• thought: compare the context for singing ”we shall overcome“ in 1960’s selma, al vs. 2000’s bagdad? our colonial past steered our hymnity and theology away from justice. how can we justify slavery and colonial domination while singing about god’s justice and concern for the oppressed? our focus on individual salvation belies our guilt and need for absolution.
• book: spirituals and the blues

10. catholicity = quoting others, affirming others, praying for others, inviting others

• sidenote: sermons are better seen as ritual than education, bonding to the meaning of listening.
• wendell berry: humans have lived as individuals who live in community, and there are ”publics“ that span communities and connect them. in the modern era publics began bypassing the community and communicating directly to the individual. our virtues, however, tend to be found in the realm of the community.

• being a participant is a lot harder than being a consumer. the participant must be formed, the consumer must only decide what he or she likes
• limiting discussion for music written for regular folks singing corporately
• song-writing is a matter of working with ingredients: melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, rhyme, meter, imagery

(sidebar: off-the-map.org: video clips of mclaren harassing the slide presenter)

quote: scott alexander: all good is hard. all evil is easy. dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity are easy. stay away from easy.

MELODY

• range: middle c to middle c is safe; don’t go more than one step beyond
• rhythm is the heart of melody (example triplets in o, the deep deep love of jesus)
• melodic shape (example: be thou my vision)
• steps are easier than leaps (example: and can it be? has leaps that are difficult)
• meter can change… and they don’t have to be 4/4
• 6/8 (and others grouped in threes) have a light, jig quality (a dr. suess feel)

summary

1. find the natural meter of your text (more to come)
2. develop an interesting rhythmic plan
3. create an overall shape
4. now fill in the details

HOW HARMONY WORKS

• inversions: the root of the chord doesn’t have to be in the bass
• cadences = musical punctuation
• book: common ground, a song book for all the churches ( st. andrew press, edinburgh)
• harmony provide a sense of narrative
• harmonic rhythm: how often chords change (example: god is so good vs. o sacred head now wounded; slow vs. fast)

writing a chord progression

1. find the simplest chord pattern that will support the melody
2. plan the cadences
3. try some substitutions
4. vary the harmonic rhythm
5. why not try a suspension

LEARNING TO PARTICIPATE

• call-and-response songs area good way to develop participation, especially in communities that do not have a strong culture of singing. the response should be simple and fairly repetitive
• rounds: use them to trick people into singing parts

LEARNING MORE

• theory book: music in theory and practice
• online web sources (musictheory.net)
• if all else fails, take a class

TEXTS

• poetry is simply language in concentrated form. it speaks not only by its propositional content but also by imagery, rhyme and meter.
• all song lyrics work like poetry, so we have to know some of its rules

METER

• what is the underlying rhythm? twos or threes
• how are the syllables organized? strong first vs. week first (technique: map out the text with dots and dashes for each syllable)

imagery

• good imagery is concrete but not overblown: or kitschy:
• book: an experiment in criticism (c.s. lewis)
• concrete imagery celebrates the ordinary
• abstractions: abstractions cry out for the concrete.

• compression: packing layers of depth and meaning
• rhyme schemes
• working out a metaphor
• beware false accents
• (rhymezone.com)
• book: a deeper alleluia (no google link)