Worldmaking.net

 


Rich is a passionate, engaging musician... his songs bridge the gap between contemporary style and liturgical substance.

Rev. Josh Nelson
Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church
Buffalo, MN



 
Notes from Richard: THE "WORLDMAKING" BIT


The expression "world-making" as it pertains to worship was coined by a theologian named Sigmund Mowinckel. (alas, my wife Trish vetoed naming our son after him.) In the 60's he wrote about that aspect of worship that forms our character as individuals, as communities, and establishes our identity as people of God.

Decades later, Walter Brueggemann, among others, fleshed that "world-making" idea out for a new generation. Since then, many theologians have commented on this notion: that one of the most important purposes of worship is to form us.

This raises a serious issue. It means that when we do worship as a community, we may be changed. In fact, so monumental is this spiritual formation that it reflects Creation. And so we might name worship an endeavor of world-making.

So how important it is that we make intentional choices about our liturgical language and ritual action of worship. We are enacting the realm of God in us and in the world!

If we believe this-- that worship actually influences our character and shapes our lives-- then let's do it really, really well.


 
A THESIS

In my Masters thesis-- I love starting sentences that way. It makes me sound so pompous... In my Masters thesis at seminary, I explored the history of the liturgical tradition and studied how those ancient elements of worship (e.g., the Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) were valuable at the time they were established. Second, seeing how they have been adapted over time, I reflected on in what ways these elements are valuable now. Finally-- and here is the risky part-- I ventured to see what would happen if I took care to interpret these ancient pieces musically and theologically.

Most of the ramblings of my thesis were a kind of dialogue with four wonderful primary authors: Walter Brueggemann, Gail Ramshaw, Don Saliers, and Gordon Lathrop. I noticed how each of these great writer/teacher/theologians has ever one foot in the ancient tradition and one foot in the emerging, post-modern world.

Over the years, I've found myself working with five essential values around music for community singing. It's a list in progress.


FIVE ESSENTIALS FOR WORLD-MAKING WORSHIP

  1. It must be anchored in the ancient heritage of the faith. More than ever, it's vital to re-member that the faith we confess wasn't made up yesterday. In fact, its been a long and winding road, tried and true. It's rich with stories we need to connect with for a sustainable spiritual life.

  2. It must engage our 21st-century imaginations. We don't pretend we don't have science, laptops and cell phones. We show up expecting to be inspired and challenged toward wildly creative ways to express and explore our faith. Doing community worship is performance art.

  3. It must be about welcoming and celebrating all. We celebrate our diversity as people of God. Beyond tolerance, beyond acceptance, beyond invitation. My 10-year-old son knows the world is a small, amazing place. He has no use for any institution that doesn't welcome all genders, all ages, all sexual orientations, all colors and all languages.

  4. It must acknowledge and celebrate our world's many religious traditions. We used to think to be Christian meant we were right and the rest of the world was wrong, and it was the Christian vocation to change them. This vestige of what some have called bigotry is evolving out of our bloodstream. God claims no one religion. Each tradition has value and is a great gift to the world. Christians do not exactly have a great track record of peacemaking around different spiritual traditions; that's why this almost-too-simple-to-mention point is an important commitment.

  5. It must be centered in an ecological perspective. We need to be reminded that we are not alone. in fact, we are created as an integral part of the larger Creation, which God has redeemed and with which made covenant. For our human species to live in partnership with the earth and all creation, we probably need confession, reminders of forgiveness, a place to practice peace-sharing, a moment to practice generosity, to break bread together, and be sent out as ever-transforming people. Naturally, we are fully engaged in the work of justice and compassion that Christ is enacting today-- not just for ourselves, but on behalf of the world. That last thing might be the start of a Number 6...