Worship Thoughts

Only have a minute. Was up until about two. Got a little theology reading done before I fell asleep. Got about 5 hours of sleep. Trying to power through more of it before class this morning.

One of our Articles is from Richard Hooker and is talking about Worship.

It reminded me that worship has kind of come center stage for me in many respects lately. We recently had our chapel week, so I got to serve on Ash Wednesday here and at my Field Ed Parish. I also lead Morning Prayer on Saturday for a program we have on campus. I decided to go ahead and chant the collects, because I didn't know how often they might hear that done. I have a fear that chanting will die-out in our tradition at some point, and I would hate to see that happen. I think it is so gorgeous - music can connect you to prayer and worship in ways that saying the words doesn't. I'm not saying one is better than the other, they are just different. I would love to take a retreat with the SSJE Brothers in Boston some day, I've heard them lead sung morning prayer at a conference and I have their "Singing the Daily Office" CD.

So at one point I wondered if it was vain of me to chant for these folks during the service. But then I thought no... if I was doing it just to show off or to elicit praise then probably shouldn't do it, but I think if you have a gift and refuse to use it then that could be wrong as well. The fact is that, while I am no opera singer, I *can* chant, and it is part of our tradition. If it is a part of our tradition that I would like to keep alive, then I need to use that ability and continue to expose people to this part of our tradition, within the appropriate settings of course. Also the fact that I was a little embarassed and not sure what to do about the positive comments some of the students said afterward I think tells me that I was doing it for the right reason. It's always nice to get positive feedback of course, one would rather do a nice job than totally botch a service. But underneath there was a feeling of happiness that it seemed my assessment had been correct, it seemed they hadn't heard a lot of chanting before and they were glad for having been exposed to it. "Do they give you special training?" one asked. Well... we all have to take music and our Prof teaches us how to do it during that class.

One of the last times I was home a parishioner asked me, "will you be a priest who sings?" Did you even have to ask? You betcha! But... while the prayerbook says that anything that says "said" can be sung and vice-versa, while writing liturgy assignments in the last year I've thought a lot about what to sing in the service. Just because one has the ability, doesn't always mean it's the circumstance to do it. I think you have to consider a lot of different things. I discovered one can chant the Thanksgiving over the water for a baptism. I originally thought how cool! But then I thought about it again... The prayer is kind of long. There are some key things, beautiful things mentioned in the prayer. If I were to chant it, would people be focusing more on the sound and rhythm of the chanting and less on the prayer itself? Or would the music enhance it for them? So I realized that my answer is not to sing whenever possible. I'll be thinking about it more than that, and will probably have to do some trial and error, maybe talk with others who chant.

Another thing about worship. The Eucharist. A couple weeks ago in liturgy practicum most of us in the group had time to run through Rite I communion. For me it was not quite as awkward as when I got to practice communion in the Fall, but it's still new, still trying to think ahead and figure out what do *you* want to do when you celebrate. I find I've been watching various priests like a hawk lately as the celebrate at the table. Where are their arms? When do the bow? How do they elevate or touch the bread and wine? I'm a sponge and trying to figure out what manual acts resonate with me. My field ed supervisor had said during an interview in the fall that it will all feel awkward and uncomfortable at first because it's new, so his advice was to practice. Get a copy of the altar book and try it out at home so you become more comfortable with it. I have to admit that I haven't practiced it at home yet. During the service I sometimes think the words that the priest is saying and try to envision what I would be doing with my hands, etc. at that point. I suppose at some point though I will go ahead and practice.

Oops, gotta go, class in about 15 minutes! So much for what I thought would be a quick post.