University Church Worship Retreat

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Jun 1 0
  • Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

A UChicago Ph.D. student (Garry Sparks) and I got a Theologian-in-Residence grant from the Divinity School.  Our project: “to work with the Worship Ministry at University Church to discover some of the history, theology, anthropology, and practical workings of worship as they plan this year’s post-Lenten liturgical seasons of Pentecost and Ordinary Time.”

On Saturday we held a half-day retreat in the sanctuary to talk about use of space, the elements of a worship service, and different ways to assess and change those elements.  The time opened with puzzles of worship space floor plans.
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“It seemed like a good idea at the time!” I repeated that phrase over and over as Heidi and I tried to put together a puzzle the day before.  It ended up taking me 3 hours to finish (Heidi saw the difficulty at the beginning and knew when to cut her losses).  I’m going to learn and improve my puzzle-creating abilities.  White space = good design for most things except puzzles!
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We decided to try two of the spaces as the group gathered at UChurch.  We did the puzzles for both the synagogue and the house church at Dura Europos.
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Even with the puzzles being super-difficult, it was a fun opening activity.

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Then, we ordered lunch on the screen and started discussing the worship elements.  After they listed what was essential for worship, we had them decide on an order.  We made sure it didn’t remain connected to how University Church currently worships.  Each time the order changed new dynamics became evident.  The location in which offering was collected raised big concerns over what it was saying about the worship elements near it.  We even challenged the way offering is collected and tried to recover why the congregation chose to do it that way.  They currently have people come up and place their offering on the communion table.  The symbolism reminded those of us whose worship traditions have been strictly in Disciples congregations of the “tokens” our church was founded in protest of.  The discussion was lively, energetic, and very fruitful.

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For the next four Thursday evenings we will gather again for more discussions and worship planning.

Eucharistic Euphoria

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Oct 22 0

For those who I haven’t told: I’m taking a course at the Catholic Theological Union (www.ctu.edu NOT www.tcu.edu) called “Sacraments II: Eucharist and Sacramental Theology.” Why on earth would a Disciples seminarian be taking a Catholic Eucharist course? That’s been my challenge from the beginning. Part of the reasoning is that I need a fuller picture of the understanding spectrum around communion; another answer is that, as Cynthia Lindner claims, “[I] have an inner Catholic side of me.” It’s probably the Disciples’ ecumenical spirit that drives me to explore more … that, and I’m always curious on why other people practice their faith differently. Here’s where the euphoria comes in …

My course doesn’t require any papers, just an annotated bibliography (handed in twice during the semester) and an oral examination at the end of the term. As it turns out, there’s more work and more reading required with the annotated bibliography. So it’s due tomorrow, and I’m filling in some blanks additional reading. One of the “recommended” readings (the professor expects a couple of these per week) is a seemingly obscure text about the ancient Assyrian ritual: the Anaphora of Addai and Mari. This article addresses the question of whether there can be a valid Mass (from a Catholic perspective) and Eucharist ritual that doesn’t contain the Institution words (namely: “This is my Body. This is my Blood.”) The Catholic church decided in 2001 that IT IS a valid understanding of the Eucharist … even without an official consecration.

For me, this is fascinating! A hidden reason for taking this course, that I’ve only recently been able to admit to myself, is that I want to justify a Disciples’ understanding of communion in Catholic terms. I’m working at an Episcopal parish this year; I’m dating an Episcopalian; I’m friends with tons of Catholics and others from traditions who are fully into transubstantiation; and I want, with terms not solely my own, to explain how Disciples celebrate communion in a way in which Christ is fully present. That’s my sub-text.

So this article on the Anaphora of Addai and Mari will probably be key to unlocking the next stage of my preparation for ministry. My M.Div. (Master of Divinity) program at the University of Chicago Divinity School requires a third-year “Ministry Project.” The project is the particular student’s own interest of study linked to ministry and its strange spectrum of practicality and abstractness. Up until now, I thought for sure I’d want to do a biblical studies (probably New Testament) project. Now, however, after all this foreign Catholic liturgy, I want to study how Disciples congregations structure their worship. It will require me to visit several congregations – a good cross-section with ministers trained at a variety of places; it will require me to read through the history of Disciples’ thought on worship; it’s going to be fun and great! Now … to get a grant that lets me do several trips in 2008-2009 to visit these congregations and synthesize like crazy!

Oh yeah … and work more on my Eucharist bibliography!

-A

PS – World Bank and China on poverty – hmmm, in response to the German minister’s statement to the G-8: I wonder where the Chinese learned the wolfish practice?!?; at least there’s hope!