My February, 2015, column for The Bellringer, the monthly newsletter of my internship congregation (St. Peter Lutheran Church in Dubuque, Iowa). Enjoy!
Worship is an Action
In Sunday School class last week, the confirmation students and I spent some time exploring what’s involved in worship. As we listed on a whiteboard everything we could think of involved in a worship service, our board quickly filled up with different worship servants’ roles, like acolytes, media techs, assisting ministers, ushers, greeters, money counters, altar servants, musicians and more.
One of the last roles we listed was that of the congregation. When we list people involved in worship, it can be easy to forget that the congregation is involved in worship. But the people in the congregation are all involved in the service. The majority of the people in a worship service are not leading, but they’re still worshiping.
Worship is not a spectator sport (although on occasion it may be a spectacle!) As the confirmands and I talked about, worship is a verb, an action word. When we worship, we are doing something, not just watching. Worship is something we all participate in doing, not something we show up to and passively observe others do. While a worship service ought to be engaging, it becomes something less than worship when it slips into mere entertainment.
When we worship, we declare that God is worthy of our praise. We gather to praise God, and to be reminded of what God has done for us that is worthy of praise. We gather to be reminded through preaching, confession, readings, song, and communion that God has claimed us. We are God’s children.
When we sing and pray in worship, we do it on behalf of each other. It can be easier to see this in times of grief. When a person is overwhelmed and unable to sing or pray, the church community does it on their behalf. Of course, worship is not the only thing we do as a church, but it is at the center of our lives as Christians.
In Christ,
Daniel Flucke, Pastoral Intern
If you enjoyed this newsletter column, check out my other columns here.