(slide 1) Presiding at Communion in a Contemporary Service
Before getting to the specific topic of presiding at communion in a contemporary service, allow me to do something that I think will help our discussion and time together. Let me take a look at the word “ethos” and then apply it to this activity we call “worship.” Please be patient for just a few minutes and the relevance of everything to our topic today will become apparent. In addition, I ask for your patience for me to answer your specific questions. I will do so.
(slide 2) Here is a dictionary definition for the word “ethos”: ethos is the distinguishing character, sentiments, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or institution. If I would try to summarize this definition, (slide 3) here’s how I would do so: it’s the what and why of how something or someone exists and acts. Thus, an ethos is the defining marks in terms of perspective and practices. As you can see in the dictionary definition, a person, a group, or an institution can have an ethos.
(slide 4) And, according to worship historian James White, a way of worship can have an ethos, too. As White was working on a scheme to label and distinguish different ways of worship among Protestants, “ethos” is the term he settled on to point to what’s at the heart of a distinctive way of worship. A distinctive tradition of worship, according to White, has a “dominant ethos” that characterizes it. By that he wants to point to the core character, sentiments, and guiding beliefs of a way of worship. It’s not the less important things at the edges of a way of worship that define it, White would say, but the most important answers to the questions of (slide 5) what, why, and how of a way of worship that define it and make it distinctive. It is the strongest and most important aspects of a way of worship’s central perspective and practices that define it.
Although James White never applied this notion of a worship ethos to contemporary worship, I want to start by doing exactly that. I want to start here—by defining the ethos of contemporary worship—because I think (slide 6) it is important to understand what’s central, defining, and common about contemporary worship in order to determine how to do Communion in a way that is fitting. Think of it as a little bit like going to shop for clothes. If you don’t know what size body you have, you won’t know what size clothes will be a good fit. (slide 7) The clothes either won’t fitor you’ll just decide to go without and be naked. For the sake of modesty I won’t show a slide of someone not wearing clothes.
And so, let me ask: (slide 8) what is the ethos of contemporary worship? Let us spend a few minutes answering that question so we can then contemplate what the best fit is for Communion in a contemporary service.
(slide 9) I always like to have a road map whenever I am taking a car trip. For those of you who have the same sort of desire, before I do anything else, allow me to lay out the map for my whole presentation. As I have already mentioned, we will first consider the ethos of contemporary worship. We will then take a look at classic features of Communion in order to gain perspective of what the essential things are we need to find a way to do in a fitting manner in contemporary worship. I will then discuss particular practices that allow us to do those things of the Lord’s Supper in a contemporary style. We will then consider your pastoral preparation in order to be able to do those things fittingly. For those of you who like acronyms, let us call our agenda for today the (slide 10) “EPPP” approach: ethos,
1 perspective, practices, and preparation. We will conclude with an extended time for questions and answers.
And so, let me get back to the main discussion. (slide 11) What is the ethos of contemporary worship? What makes it “contemporary worship”? I will identify 14 elements of a “distinguishing character, sentiments, moral nature, or guiding beliefs” of contemporary worship.
The first defining element will surprise no one: (slide 12) it is musical. Music is the foundational underlay for the whole service. (animation) Music is the tablecloth upon which everything else is set in a contemporary service. Indeed, apart from the sermon itself, music is pervasive throughout the entire service, even during much of the spoken praying. If you have been to a contemporary service, you will not be surprised that this is the first element I have highlighted in the ethos of this way of worship. Most importantly, music is connected to worshipers’ experience of God, which brings me to the second defining element: a defining theological tension.
(slide 13) Specifically, the power in contemporary services arises from a theological tension found in the overlap behind the articulated theology and the expectation for experience. The theology articulated over and over is one of transcendence: God is holy and mighty. The expectation of experience is the opposite; the expectation and experience is one of imminence: God is here. This seeming incongruity between transcendence and imminence is where I think the power that drives contemporary worship comes from. The One who is overwhelmingly beyond all things, the Creator of all, “mighty to save,” is the One who is experienced right here and now. Being transcendent does not negate being imminent. That theological tension creates among contemporary worshipers an expectation of actual experienced encounter with God in worship.
To help facilitate worshipers being aware of God’s presence, contemporary worship services usually stress having good flow in how things are done. (slide 14) This emphasis on good flow is the third element in the ethos of contemporary worship. Rather than a stop-and-go jerkiness to how things are done, contemporary worship seeks to flow smoothly from one act of worship to the next, from one song to the next. Obvious gaps and dead time are to be avoided.
The fourth defining element deals with the sense of time and its management in contemporary worship. (slide 15) Time in contemporary services is circular and cyclical. Perhaps meandering is a good word. A traditional service has a different sense of time. In a traditional service we manage time in a sequential manner in which the first act of worship is followed by the second act of worship which is followed by the third act of worship and so forth. This even applies to the songs of traditional worship: the hymns. Verse one is followed by verse two which is followed by verse three and so forth. Contemporary worship operates differently. Time in a contemporary service meanders; it circles back; it is cyclical. Let us sing that chorus one more time, this time dropping out all instruments except for the drums. Wait, that went so well and deepened our experience of God’s presence that let us sing it again, dropping out even the drums. Oh, we are in God’s presence now. Let me strum the song’s chord progression softly on my guitar while we all stand silently in the presence of God.
Here is the difference in time in traditional and contemporary services. (slide 16) Time in a traditional service is like the PIE or, at least, Bukit Timah road. It is a major thoroughfare that goes fast and straight. You get on it and go. Wait, we just passed the fast food restaurant I wanted to stop at. Do not worry. There will be another one in just a little bit. (slide 17) Time in a contemporary service is like
2 the paths in Singapore’s National Orchard Garden. You get on them and wander. (animation) You can almost lose yourself on them. Of course, the flowers are beautiful and so, who cares? That is the point in a contemporary service. God is beautiful and wonderful and so who cares how we keep circling back to contemplate him.
This sense of time as circular or cyclical is found constantly through the practices of contemporary worship. Since God is worshiped and experienced through an upward spiral, the performance songs and even the manner of spoken prayers tend to have this looping aspect. Put simply, speech in contemporary worship—whether sung or spoken—tends to use fewer words but said multiple times.
(slide 18) What keeps this from getting redundant or boring is the fifth aspect of the ethos of contemporary worship: the propensity for layering, that is, doing more than one thing at a time. It is quite appropriate to have more than one thing happening. Thus, instrumentalists will keep playing even while the worship leader prays over the top of the music. Or worshipers will be asked to pray by themselves or in small groups even as someone on the platform prays over the entire congregation. Or it is entirely appropriate—even presumed—for there to be physical movement and gesture during singing and praying.
If you have been in very many contemporary services, you are likely to have seen the posture that is so prevalent that it has become the default image for this way of worship. (slide 19) I am talking about the fully engaged worshiper with hands raised in the air. That image is associated with the sixth element of the ethos of contemporary worship: (slide 20) intensity and passion. Worshipers are expected to have a deep emotional investment in what is being said and what is being done. Mere formal recitation of words is not enough. And, in contemporary worship, worship leaders play an especially crucial role. These leaders are expected to model proper intensity and passion in the adoration of God by voice, by expression, and by their body. Worship leaders provide a visual template for the entire congregation as to how it is and what it means to engage with God.
(slide 21) The seventh element of the ethos is related closely: authenticity while worshiping is critical. Whatever you do and whatever you say in contemporary worship, especially if you are helping to lead, needs to be true, natural, and real to you as a worshiper. Mere formality and dry recitation of words are not perceived to be worship in spirit and in truth. True, spiritual worship arises from within the worshiper and worship leader, not from without.
(slide 22) In terms of practice in terms of the use of words, authenticity leads to the eighth element of the ethos: colloquialism. Both in terms of the actual words expressed in worship and in the manner in which they are spoken, the manner of speech is to be colloquial. It is to be similar to how people actually talk. Not only in contemporary worship but generally since the 1960s, this tendency to read colloquial speech as more true is a general cultural shift. What used to carry weight was highly polished and crafted speech, but what tends to be heard now as authoritative and true now is speech that seems to arise naturally and truly from the heart.
(slide 23) You can almost guess what the next element of the ethos will be: extemporaneity when speaking in worship—especially when praying—is much preferred. Anyone can read an act of worship from a book. It only takes literacy. But to pray truly in faith requires tapping the heart in extemporaneous or extempore prayer. In this ethos it is the word arising naturally and spontaneously in
3 the heart that will seem to be true and real. Other than song lyrics and the reading of Scripture, consider how little reading from other texts is done in contemporary services. We might need a screen, but what role do books have in a contemporary service? In most contemporary services, books—and reading from them—seem out of place.
(slide 24) There are two other elements in the ethos of contemporary worship that also primarily deal with speaking. One of these is directness: in contemporary worship we are to look directly at whoever we are speaking to. If you are singing or praying to God, look God in the eye, presumably upwards. If you are speaking to people, look them in the eye. Consider how the best preachers in a contemporary service work hard to make and keep good eye contact with the congregation. Obvious dependence and first attention to a written manuscript are not done.
(animation) The last spoken element of the ethos dealing with speaking is a recurring emphasis upon relevance. The content in contemporary worship is expected to be connected to these people. What is talked about should express their faith. What is talked about should arise from their hopes before God, express their concerns, and reveal what it is they truly love about God.
Thank you for your patience. We are almost through the list of essential elements in the ethos of contemporary worship. There are three more, each dealing with the external way things are done. (slide 25) The first of these—the twelfth overall—is that in terms of ceremony and ritual—the stylized way things are done and objects handled—contemporary worship prefer “popular” way of doing things. By that I mean ceremony and ritual are drawn from average ways of doing things and of handling objects and yourself. Elaborate and formal ceremonies are avoided. Ceremonies and rituals do not need a historical pedigree. Past ways of doing things do not need to be retained just because they are traditions. Things are done in simpler, more current ways. Thus, how things are done in traditional services are avoided. (slide 26) Other than a traditional service, where else do you see young people dressed in robes carry sticks on fire to light candles at the front of an assembly of people?
(slide 27) If the ceremony and ritual is “popular,” then the overall feel of this ceremony and ritual is relaxed and informal, which is the thirteenth aspect of the ethos. This tendency for being relaxed and informal in ceremony provides another interesting tension in contemporary worship since it is desirable for the emotions to be intense and passionate. But there is no contradiction. How we do things and express things to God in worship may be informal but what we should feel while doing them should be intense and passionate.
(slide 28) The final element of the standard ethos of contemporary worship is a reliance upon electronic technology. In the United States, I like to joke that the real worship leader in contemporary services—the one who really controls the service—is whoever is controlling the sound board. The joke point to this reliance upon electronic technology.
I appreciate your patience as I have one by one gone through the core elements that constitute a contemporary way of worship. If you remember, I wanted to do so in detail because I think it is important to understand what the dimensions are for something to be fitting to a contemporary service. (slide 29) This is what we want to avoid when contemplating how to do Communion in contemporary worship. What we want is to do the essential things in a fitting and appropriate way, that is, in a way that feels true to the ethos of contemporary worship while also fulfilling the classic scriptural and historical things Communion does and means.
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In terms of the “map” for my presentation today, where are we? (slide 30) Remember that I said we were consider a (animation) perspective for Communion after looking at the ethos of contemporary worship. By “a perspective for Communion” I mean to name classic scriptural and historical features of the Lord’s Supper. By developing a perspective for Communion, I want to name the specific things and practices that have been common for Communion services across time and across a range of cultures. In this way we can begin to ponder what it would mean to do those things in a truly contemporary manner. We can avoid just trying to impose a way of doing Communion that is fitting for another style of worship but is not fitting for contemporary worship. (slide 31) Imagine wearing a business suit while enjoying a swimming pool. Nothing is ethically wrong in this picture, but it is still not right.
What are the classic scriptural and historical elements that ought to be in every Communion service? (slide 32) One is related closely to the very word, “communion.” That scriptural element is community: a celebration of Communion ought to deepen the experience of community. I used to teach my parishioners this bumper sticker slogan: (slide 33) Communion is the sacrament of community.
This is the aspect that the apostle Paul emphasizes in his long passage on the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11. We know this passage, especially verse 27 that warns against eating and drinking in an unworthy manner. Oftentimes, we take that to mean that receiving Communion unworthily means an inward disposition. In other words, we have come flippantly, or not feeling rightly sorrowful for our sins, or in not having the right inward feeling that we think a communicant needs to have. But take a closer look at the whole passage. Paul’s main concern is that the members of the church community do not appreciate each other enough. Communion is the sacrament of community and so as we contemplate doing Communion in contemporary worship it ought to strengthen a sense of community, not individuality.
(slide 34) Communion ought to involve a consecration in which we pray in thanksgiving to God remembering God’s mighty acts of creation and redemption. There is an amazing passage in the New Testament that points to the propriety of that perspective. The passage is 1 Timothy 4:4-5. The apostle is rebuking a heresy that has been circulating by some who said that creation was bad. Thus, truly spiritual people ought not to marry and take a spouse and they ought not to eat certain kinds of foods. The apostle’s response corrects this error by saying God created food “to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, (slide 35) because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.” I suggest that what the apostle gives as a general principle finds it best, most concentrated expression at the Lord’s Table. At that table we practice what should be our approach to all of creation: receiving and consecrating it by offering a prayer of thanksgiving.
Notice the interesting combination of the “word of God” and “prayer” in verse 4. Based on what we see in Communion practices over two thousand years, these are not two completely separate things but are two deeply related things. The “word of God,” meaning a remembrance or retelling of God’s mighty acts, provide the core content for the prayer of thanksgiving. Thus, to have a prayer of
5 thanksgiving in which God is praised and honored and by which the food is consecrated has been a very, very standard practice across Christian history. What have Christians across time done at Communion? They have recounted the story of what God has done in Jesus Christ in a substantial prayer of thanksgiving.
(slide 36) A perspective on Communion includes an emphasis on community, consecration by scripture-filled thanksgiving, and also a cluster of key actions: take, bless, break, and share. These is the cluster of activities we see in the Gospel accounts of Jesus at the Last Supper. Mark 14:22-23, for example, provides a succinct account: “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.”
And do you remember how the resurrected Jesus was finally recognized by the disciples on the way to Emmaus? It was not in the long conversation they had with Jesus while they were walking. The recognition came in this cluster of key actions. Luke 24: 30-31 tells the story this way: “When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.”
Not surprisingly, if we examine worship history, we will find that this cluster of activities is very common across twenty centuries and is found in the denominational resources of churches that provide those in book form. If you are Methodist, for example, our written, published Communion services usually use this four-action template to provide the specific acts in the Communion service. In fact, looking at my own denomination’s service and looking at history allow me to provide you a bit more detail to see what each of the four (take, bless, break, and share) has usually involved.
I find it helpful to think of these four actions as two repeating sets of two: first there is preparation and then we do something. (slide 37) “Take” is the first preparation and involves preparing the food and preparing the people. In the early church preparing the food was a more involved process since the people themselves brought the food that was used for Communion. Nowadays, the church itself provides the food and someone prepares it ahead of time, getting it ready and setting it in place. In a few congregations, the food is moved from one location to the table itself to prepare for Communion or, perhaps, a cloth that had been covering the elements is removed to make them visible to the congregation. What has not changed much over history is taking some time in the service to prepare the people for the remainder of the Communion service. In my denomination’s service, for example, there are the following acts of worship: an invitation from Christ to come to the table, a confession of sin and a petitioning of God for grace, a bold and assuring Gospel statement of what Christ has done for us, a moment to extend that graciousness to each other as fellow members of the body of Christ, and an offering of ourselves and our gifts.
(slide 38) After “take” comes “bless.” This is the prayer of thanksgiving, remembering what God has done through Jesus Christ in both creation and redemption. This prayer of thanksgiving is the consecration.
(slide 39) After “take” and “bless,” we return to another act of preparation: “break.” This term is a shorthand way of talking about the immediate preparation of the consecrated elements for the people to receive, including the actual breaking of the bread if you are using a whole loaf of bread. “Breaking” often seems like a throwaway activity in many churches I visit. But I think it is a missed opportunity to tie
6 the specific Gospel promises of that day’s service to the reception of the Communion elements, which immediately follows.
(slide 40) Finally, there is “share.” The preparing of “break” is followed by the actual sharing of the elements as the people receive them.
Prepare and do, prepare and do. Take and bless, break and share. In Scripture and in history there is this cluster of activities. Along with an emphasis on community and consecration by thanksgiving, this cluster of activities provide perspective on what has been really essential in doing Communion regardless of the historical period and regardless of the style of worship.
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You have been very patient and attentive, things for which I am very appreciative. I wanted to build some foundation first before directly addressing the question of how to do Communion in contemporary worship. I have spent the time on these foundational topics because I wanted to avoid just handing you a simple, step-by-step formula. To do Communion well and fittingly in contemporary worship will require your imagination and some creativity. I thought it best to teach a bit about contemporary worship as well as Communion so you could get a sense of the reasons for what I will be advocating in doing Communion in a contemporary way as well as the details of the specific practices I will share with you.
(slide 41) Where are we on our map for our agenda today? We have covered the ethos of contemporary worship as well as gaining a perspective on what’s truly essential and classic in doing Communion. Let us move to today’s topic and address it directly: (animation) what are the specific practices for doing Communion so it fits in a contemporary service?
Let me admit that it might be hard to know how to answer this question and to do Communion in a way that fits contemporary worship. For one, official denominational materials giving the texts for a Communion service and providing instructions for how to do Communion usually only presume the ethos of one style of worship, a more traditional or formal one. Indeed, even the way these materials are printed and presented make it hard to envision how to do them in a fitting way. (slide 42 with animation ) As the Communion service is presented on the page there is an implicit ethos of worship style that does not match the ethos of contemporary worship. As the Communion service is presented on the page, there is a clear linear sequencing, a tendency not to layer dimensions, a reliance upon printed text to pray, an emotional evenness, and polished (not colloquial) speech. And so, how our denominations give us Communion resources already makes the fittingness question a difficult one to address. Oftentimes, especially if our first preferred home in worship is traditional worship, our assumption is that to do Communion means simply and only to follow the service that is provided in the denominational worship resource as it is printed. The problem is that only following the book does not produce a way of doing Communion that is truly fitting for contemporary worship. We must imagine how to do the essential actions found on the page in ways that the page of the book do not tell us.
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And so, we are left wondering how to do Communion well, fittingly, and movingly in contemporary worship. If you are wondering that, you are not alone. Let me show you part of an email I received from an old friend, a retired Methodist pastor and former seminary professor, a few years ago. (slide 43) He wrote me: I’m attending a church pastored by one of your former students. I’m trying to be of assistance to him in finding ways to incorporate Communion into their “contemporary service.” As with many such services, the communion has been severely reduced—to the mere repetition of the Words of Institution (no consecration prayers, etc.) and the passive receiving of the elements by the laity…Can you point me to some videos, books, or articles that show “best practices” of how a contemporary style can celebrate Communion without drastically reducing it, or just woodenly sticking the traditional liturgy on the end of the service? I could not direct him to any materials that had already been created and that answered his enquiry. But I did answer him with some preliminary thoughts, which I later worked up more as an appendix for a book I collaborated on (slide 44). What I will present today is a further expansion. And I thank the officials here in Singapore for the opportunity to answer this need more fully.
Let us answer this question of doing Communion in contemporary worship by laying out some overarching principles (slide 45). As I do so you will see how strongly connected these general principles are to the essential aspects of the ethos of contemporary worship. After I give you general principles, I will offer specific suggestions. (slide 46) The first is to try to do musically as much of the essential actions in the Communion service as you can. Make Communion much, much more musical. Let the songs and song lyrics carry the liturgical actions. Or, if there is speaking, the music does not have to go away. Layer. Let music, both singing and instrumental, occur simultaneously with speaking.
(slide 47) The second is to make sure the music has good flow from musical piece to musical piece and that there is good, natural flow between musical and spoken pieces. That is one of the potential problems with how Communion services are laid out on the printed page. (slide) Take, for example, the text for the Sanctus, which is the text that begins “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” My denomination’s resources do provide musical settings for that text (all traditional, by the way) but the standard practice is for the pastor to be saying the prayer leading to the prompt and then stop. At that point the musicians begin to play and the choir or congregation sings the text. And when that is done the pastor begins to pray again. It has all the feel of one of those commercial interruptions sometimes dropped into just the wrong spot of a rerun movie on TV.
(slide 48) The third general principle deals with your handling of written, printed texts. Do not let your eyes get glued to the book. When you pray, do not let your head be locked on the book while you pray. Or, if the service has you addressing the people, look at them—not the book—while speaking. Much better than looking down at a book is to use the comfort monitor—often mounted on the back wall—to provide you the texts. Even better is to be free of the text. When I talk about aspects of preparing yourself at the very end of today’s presentation, I will share some thoughts as to how to free yourself from overdependence on the text.
(slide 49) Here is a related fourth general principle: when you use the text, adapt and improvise. Be like a good jazz musician who is able to take the basic melody of a song and provide interesting
8 variations on it. The basic song is never lost and you are not left wondering what the song is, but a good jazz musician is able to do more than just play the notes on a page. A good jazz pianist is able to make music. Hear the difference in these three youtube clips. (slide 50) The first is a famous hymn where someone is just playing the notes written on the page; (slide 51) the second is where someone is doing something with those notes; (slide 52) the third is a jazz rendition. Avoid handling the text of Communion like the first example for every type of worship: just a rote reading. Traditional worship could be more like the second and presiding at Communion in a contemporary service should be like the jazz version. Of course, I am speaking metaphorically here, not in the actual, literal use of this music.
Here is the fifth general principle: as you preside at Communion, (slide 53) let your own passion, wonder, genuine gratefulness for Jesus, awe of God, and desire for the Spirit’s infilling be evident. Do not hide your deepest spiritual aspirations at that moment. Let the tone of your voice, the pace of your speaking, and variations in the inflection of your voice be evidence that you actually consider that the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, has decided to take this opportunity to meet with his people. A monotone and a mono-pace does not seem fitting. My guess is that, when you pray in private, you do not speak in a monotone. And my guess is that, when you will appear before the throne of God at Jesus’ return, you will not speak in a monotone then either. Why are you then doing it at the most intense, climatic moment in Christian worship on earth?
(slide 54) The six general principle deals with time: do not be afraid of repetition and use it much more than is normally provided for in the printed text. Let your path through the Communion service be more like (slide 55) the paths of the National Orchid Garden than a speedy drive down the PIE. Repeat, cycle back, do things more than once. Do not be fooled or led astray by the linear, strictly sequential presentation of published materials as they have to be printed on a page in a book.
(slide 56) Finally, let your ritual be simple. Do not overdress. Do not over-ritualize. Speak more colloquially. For heaven’s sake, it is not the most elaborate of food we are receiving. If we can say that we can experience the presence of Christ while receiving the most simple of foods, why do we think we need the most elaborate or formal of ceremonies to frame that reception and experience? Simplicity fits Jesus. When Jesus came, he was first placed in a manger. When it came time to save, he was placed on a cross. Afterwards, he was placed in a dusty tomb hewn from the raw earth. If the most stupendous of God’s actions can occur in the simplest of locales, our Communion ritual can be simple and still be profound, too. And remember that simpler sometimes means shorter.
The connection between these general principles on presiding at Communion in contemporary services and the ethos of contemporary worship should be obvious. Let us now consider applying them to the cluster of essential activities: take, bless, break, and share. (slide 57) But first, let me suggest that we take a short 5 minute break. I will see you back in 5 minutes. Please return by then.
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Let us look at specific ideas on practices for the essential things of a Communion service. Let us proceed through the service, considering each of the activities in the core cluster of activities in turn: take, bless, break, and share.
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In each of these four actions the key thing to do is to take an analysis of what it actually supposed to take place. Indeed, it is critical to cultivate that practice of looking closely at what is in the service and getting beyond the surface level of the words to the essence of the liturgical act accomplished by the words. (slide 58) Getting to the essence of what the printed service is asking for is critical to do Communion well and fittingly for contemporary worship. The goal is to not lose anything essential while also doing these things in a contemporary way. There is more than just a single way to achieve a goal.
For the following discussion, I will be using my own denomination’s service, the United Methodist service. It is a service that is fairly representative of Methodists generally and of Protestants, too. If doing so raises particular questions, we can address them in the question and answer time later.
When we look at “take” in the United Methodist service, (slide 59) we will see five essential actions: Christ invites; we repent of our sin; a bold Gospel assurance is spoken over us; we unify ourselves to each other; and we offer ourselves and our gifts. Collectively, these five essential actions “set the table” for Communion, if I can speak metaphorically.
The goal is to do these five essential actions in a contemporary way. How might that be done? (slide 60) I see several options, ranging from non-musical to deeply musical. The first is to do them in a simple spoken manner, free from the use of printed texts and unison readings. Here is a possibility: “Friends, do you know who invites you to this table? Jesus Christ himself. But he desires for you to come clean and be honest and acknowledge your need for him. Bow your heads with me and confess your sins as you pray silently. (Then allow time for silent, individual prayer.) Do you want to hear the most remarkable news? While we were still sinners, Jesus Christ died for us. That proves God’s love for you. Turn to your neighbor and say, ‘That proves God’s love for you.’ (Allow them to do that.) Did I tell you who invites you to this table? Of course I did: it is Jesus Christ himself. Let us offer ourselves and our gifts to him as we approach his table.”
Can you see what I have done? I have taken the root ideas in the printed text and transformed them into a colloquial version that would move pretty quickly and have good flow. By the way I would stand in front of the table, between it and the people, and allow my gestures to create a sense of them being invited to that very table.
The second option would be to mainly rely upon speaking as above but to integrate in a single song at a critical point to reinforce that point and add some emotional texture. One possibility would be a song to confess sin and to ask for God’s salvation. Another might be a song to declare God’s salvation for us through Jesus Christ and to celebrate that. All of these are common themes in contemporary worship songs and so finding appropriate songs should not be difficult. For an isolated use of a song like this, it would be most useful if the song is very, very well known to the congregation or if the song had been used earlier in the service so that it is familiar. The goal is not for them to have to focus on learning a new song but to use a familiar song to express the sentiments of their hearts in authentic confession and desire for God’s grace. Notice, too, that the key in finding songs is to know what the essential liturgical action is in the Communion service. Naming that essential action is what allows for finding a song lyric that is a dynamic equivalent to the text printed on the page.
Other options increase the musical dimension. For example, instead of relying primarily upon speaking, create a short set of songs and have the musical worship leader weave in a few spoken
10 elements (for example, perhaps reading the Romans 5:8 text which provides the official’s texts assurance of pardon) within the set. Another option is to allow a carefully crafted set of songs handle all of the actions from hearing Christ’s invitation to confessing sin to hearing the Gospel applied to unifying the church in celebration to offering ourselves. It would be possible to construct a set along those lines. Of course, I am assuming that it is possible to do musical worship sets at more than just the beginning of the service.
Of course, to do something musically means extending the time it takes to do something. To do something by a song increases the emotional investment but it also increases the inefficiency in terms of use of time. And so, here is another idea for how to get “take” done in a musical fashion but keeping it relatively short time-wise: have a gifted songwriter in church write a new song that handles the essential actions. I can image a song utilizing a verse/chorus/bridge structure being able to handle the actions of inviting, confessing, and assuring: in the verse Christ invites us, in the chorus we confess our sins to God, and in the bridge the Holy Spirit assures us of the work of Christ.
Let me offer one last idea: consider dropping some of the elements of “take” depending upon what season of the year it is. I can imagine, for example, that for Communions done from Easter to Pentecost, you could emphasize the celebratory aspects and not include a confession of season for this period. I have used seasonal adjustments like that in my own pastoral ministry to good effect.
(slide 61) Let us move on to “bless,” that is, to the prayer of thanksgiving that consecrates the elements and serves as the heart of the service itself.
(slide 62) My first idea for praying this prayer in a contemporary way will surprise no one: make the prayer more musical. Because of the role music plays in contemporary worship, it is reasonable—I would almost say necessary—for there to be a strong musical element in this consecratory prayer. (animation) In contemporary worship the moments of deepest investment in worship and of the clearest sense of God’s presence are musical moments. To have this prayer unmusical thus sends the implicit message that the prayer is not that important. Nothing could be farther from the truth. To have contemporary music integrated with the prayer becomes a marker of the opposite: that this prayer is where we humans fulfill our destiny within God’s created order, receiving gifts of creation as the occasion to praise and thank our Maker. This is a destiny restored to us by Jesus Christ who has made us, to use the language of Scripture, a royal priesthood. To try to show our regained status as a royal priesthood in contemporary worship without the use of music would be like trying to celebrate a birthday without presents or consummate a wedding without kissing or play football without a ball. It cannot really be done.
(slide 63) I believe there are four ways to incorporate contemporary worship music into this consecratory blessing. The first is the most straightforward: use new contemporary settings for the standard parts of the prayer that have been sung, especially the Sanctus, the part of the prayer that goes “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, etc.” (slide 64 + animation) Here is an example from a composer and worship leader named Vincent Zarletti in the United States. Search for “sanctus” and “Zarletti” on youtube and you can find it. (Play the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VObanClX-_Y)
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He and others are beginning to write new settings for the Sanctus, the acclamation (Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again), and the concluding Amen. Some google searching and using certain Facebook groups will supply you sources.
Listening to Vinnie Zarletti lead his setting for the Sanctus, I wish he had done one more thing: I wish he had continued to repeat it multiple times. Remember contemporary worship’s propensity to repeat and cycle back. In fact, if you look at the words closely, the Sanctus has the marks of a classic praise chorus from the 1970s: it is a fusion of several brief Bible passages, merged together in no particular order, but expressing a deep exaltation of God. It is a natural to be sung multiple times!
(Slide 65) Now, if you are worried that singing the Sanctus multiple times will lengthen the time of the service, I have my second idea for incorporate contemporary music into the blessing of thanksgiving: layer. Allow the music to continue while the consecratory prayer is prayed over the top of it. Let the music be the ongoing underlay for the spoken prayer.
In this way you can use a contemporary song or part of a song to help carry the meaning of the prayer text. One of my favorite examples is the use of the chorus of Benton Brown’s song “All Who are Thirsty.” The chorus varies between “Come, Lord Jesus, come” and “Holy Spirit, come.” I will ask the worship leader to include the song in the opening worship set early in the service so it is fresh on the hearts and minds of the worshipers. The worship leader and I will rehearse just a bit so the leader is listening for this cue from me: “Pour out your Holy Spirit…” At that point the worship leader and team will start playing and singing the chorus from Brown’s song, inviting the congregation to do the same. As the presider I will not be in any hurry. After there is good engagement in singing that repetitive chorus, I will continue to pray: “Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.” If I finish before a natural stopping point for the singing, fine. I will simply let the worship leader discern when to bring the singing to a natural ending.
The key to finding songs or part of songs that can be used is a matter of looking closely at the Communion prayer as well as song lyrics (and the feel of the song). Is that portion of the Communion thanksgiving and the lyrics and feel of the song doing the same thing? Is everything in harmony? And I do not mean just literal harmony. I will dissect the Communion prayer more in just a few minutes to help us see what is taking place within it.
(animation) The third idea for incorporating contemporary worship music into the time of blessing is more involved. It involves having a second worship set of praise songs after the sermon. Spend an extended time of singing praise to God in the second half of the service and pray the prayer of thanksgiving over the top of this extended time, perhaps creating a give and take between singing and speaking with instrumental music never stopping. If I was to do this, I would use the shortest version of the prayer that I could find like the one on page 80 of the United Methodist Book of Worship.
(animation) The final way I have incorporated contemporary worship music in the prayer of thanksgiving is by a complete integration. This is more involved and required more rehearsal because it requires more complex coordination. (slide 66) Let me show you an example using a catchy piece of music from South Africa called “Freedom is Coming.” Let me play the original for you. (Play the audio file.) As you can see the lyrics are simple and are quite repetitive. Those qualities are what gave it potential.
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Here are the specifics on how we did this at my school. After the opening dialog, the choir began by singing “Lord God Almighty, Lord God Almighty, Lord God almighty, we praise your name,” repeating this as is done in the original song. When the singers heard the cue (“with all the company of heaven”), they switched to singing a new line: “The angels cry out…” They sang that until the Sanctus had been prayed by me and then they switched back to the original lyric: “Lord God Almighty…” When they heard me begin the account of the Words of Institution describing Christ’s institution of the Supper, the choir then switched to a new lyric: “O yes he did” which they continued to repeat until the next cue. That cue came at the point where prayer says “…as we proclaim the mystery of faith: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.” Underneath these spoken words the singers were now singing “Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming, O yes, he is.” I allowed for repetition to take place even if I had finished my spoken part. When it was time, I began to pray for God to pour out the Holy Spirit and the singers moved on to “Send down your Spirit…” For the final doxology in which I offered all honor and glory to the Triune God the choir was reinforcing this text by singing “All honor, glory; all honor, glory; all honor, glory is yours, O God.”
As you can guess this coordination took a little bit of practice but not a lot. Even with little practice it went off with no real problems. If we did it regularly, it would very quickly become second nature.
What enabled me to coordinate well with the singers was the fact that I can do the thanksgiving prayer independently of having to read it word for word. I have so familiarized myself with it that I have internalized it. I know it phrases; I know it words; I know its rhythms; I know its flow; I know its high points and its low points. (slide 67) That level of familiarity is the second big element in doing the blessing which is the consecratory prayer of thanksgiving in a fitting manner for contemporary worship. To preside at Communion well in a contemporary worship service means having independence from the printed page even as you are guided by the printed, published prayer.
(slide 68) Having that degree of independence from having to read the prayer allows you to do several things. (animation) It allows you to have the sort of expression of intensity and passion that is fitting for contemporary worship. It allows you to better coordinate with music and musicians. (animation) Or it allows you minor adjustments of the prayer like a good jazz musician so that it seems more like an authentic prayer colloquially spoken. If I know the prayer deeply and have independence from the printed page, I can make the prayer more like how I naturally pray. For example, when it comes to asking God to pour out the Holy Spirit, I like to expand a bit there adding statements like “Lord, please, we beg you for the depths of our heart to share your Spirit with us.” The concluding burst of praise at the end of the prayer is another point where I allow my heart to get swept up in awe of God and I allow that overflow to expand the statement of praise there.
Having independence also allows you to (animation) completely improvise on the prayer, either doing so doing Communion as a purely extemporaneous prayer or doing so ahead of time using biblical materials loved by your own worshipers so that it feels like their prayer expressing the things they love about God and Jesus Christ. I have done both. Using the internal structure and logic of the prayer, which I will explain in just a few minutes, I have created a new prayer utilizing the content of the service up to then, either from songs sung or the Scriptures read or content from the sermon or prayers. In that way everything that had been said in the service up to then become the raw materials by which we offer thanks and praise to God in this high moment of Communion.
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I also like to get rank and file worshipers to help me fill in the content of the prayer. I have done this with both children and adults. I have a straightforward way of doing that. I simply ask them what their favorite stories or passages are from the Old Testament and from the New Testament. Or I might ask them what are their favorite things God did before the coming of Jesus and then after the coming of Jesus. Their responses become the raw materials out of which I shape a prayer of thanksgiving for Communion.
(slide 69) You can do this if you know the internal structure and logic of the prayer as given in the denominational resources and seen throughout history. If you can remember the number 3, you can remember what is in the prayer. Think three groups of 3. Again, my point of reference will be the Great Thanksgivings in the United Methodist Book of Worship.
(slide 70 with animation) The first group of 3 is the Trinitarian one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The prayer is offered to God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, the prayer begins with a tighter focus on God the Father, commemorating God’s activity prior to the coming of Jesus Christ and referencing much Old Testament materials. (You can see that this is where I would use answers to my first question posed to worshipers helping me with the prayer.) After the Sanctus, the commemoration shifts to what God has accomplished in the life and ministry of Jesus. The camera angle widens and Jesus comes more into focus in this second large section of commemoration. It culminates with an account of the Last Supper and the Words of Institution. After offering ourselves and praise to God in light of what God has accomplished in Jesus Christ, the prayer then widens even further to mention the Holy Spirit by asking God to pour out the Spirit. A Trinitarian element (Father/Son/Spirit) is the first kind of structural logic at work in the prayer.
(animation) The second group of 3 deals with time. Over the prayer, the focus moves from past to present to future. The spotlight is on the past for most of the prayer as it commemorates God’s activity before and after the coming of Jesus. That commemoration of God’s mighty deeds in the past culminates with the account of the Words of Institution. Then prayer then moves to the present as it talks about how, in remembrance of these mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we want to offer ourselves right here and now in praise and thanksgiving in union with Christ’s offering for us, something he is still doing before the throne of God in heaven. The focus on the present continues with the petition for the Spirit’s outpouring on us right here and now. But speaking about the Holy Spirit’s coming naturally leads us to consider the future, since the Spirit is our earnest of what God is yet to do. And so the prayer ends with a petition for God to fulfill all of his saving purposes and establish the reign of God in which, as we know from the book of Revelation, bursts of praise offering honor and glory to God is the normal mode of speech. And that’s how the Communion prayer ends.
Let us review the three groups of 3 that provide the internal logic or structure of the prayer. The first is Trinitarian: Father, Son, and Spirit. The camera angle of the prayer keeps expanding the longer it goes. The second is time-related: past to present to future. (animation) And the third is the types of prayer found within the thanksgiving itself. I have already mentioned these in passing. The consecratory prayer of thanksgiving moves from praising or thanking God to offering ourselves to petitioning God for the Holy Spirit and the fulfillment of all of his redeeming work. Praise and thanksgiving to offering to petitioning. That transition in types of prayer within the prayer is the third aspect of the consecration’s internal logic.
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Know these three groups of 3 and you can be independent of the printed text even as if you use it. Know these three groups of 3 and you can pray the text, truly and authentically, not just read it. That is critical, given the ethos of contemporary worship. (slide 71) Thomas Long, an American preaching professor, once said with respect to familiarity with liturgical texts that people like to dance without looking at their feet. What he was saying that dancing is when the movement has become second nature and you can do without being self-conscious about it. The enjoyment in dancing comes you can do it and not be looking down. I would like to say that the enjoyment of presiding at Communion in contemporary worship comes the same way.
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Thank you for your patience. We will be finishing soon and getting to your questions. I plan on leaving lots of time for our discussion together.
So far in terms of looking at specific practices we have considered ideas for how to do the “take” and “bless” part of the four-fold action of Communion. Let us now consider “break” and “share” and do some a little more briefly.
(slide 72) How can we do “break” in a fitting way for a contemporary service? Let us start by taking a look at the essential activities as found in the denominational sources and in history. It looks pretty straightforward. The presider takes the bread, breaks it if it is big enough, and says something like “Because there is one loaf we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.” The presider then takes the cup if there is one or a cup if there are many and says something like “The cup over which we give thanks is a sharing in the blood of Christ.”
And so, what is going on? Ostensibly “break” was about breaking the bread to reflect Jesus Christ’s historical action. It was a little bit of historical drama played out to connect our supper with the Last Supper and resurrection appearances of Jesus. But it was also about the pragmatic act of preparing the bread for distribution among the people. (It is more seemly to separate pieces of a loaf for multiple worshipers rather than asking all of them to take their own bite from an unbroken loaf.) Attached to each acts of presenting the bread and cup to the people was an act of naming: this is the body of Christ; this is the blood of Christ. This is all pretty straightforward, if handling the deepest mysteries of God’s economy of salvation can ever be considered straightforward. This third act of “break” is about presenting by naming as we transition from praying to receiving.
But let me suggest that something very profound is happening at this moment and that this moment is one of the underutilized opportunities in all of Christian worship. I have found that, rather than being a kind of throw-away, passing moment, (slide 73) it is actually a pregnant moment to connect the boldest Gospel claims to something that is about to be handed to every worshiper who wants it. This is the moment when we can pull back the curtain, when we can open the door, when we can invite people to step into the immeasurable depths of God’s grace, all found within the simplest of foods reminiscent of the simplicity of the Incarnate Savior, Jesus Christ.
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What I think is a good thing to do is to take the specific aspect of the Gospel and its promises as heard, preached, and celebrated in that service and attach it to the consecrated Communion elements. (slide 74) “What you have heard of the Gospel earlier in the service,” we have the opportunity to say while breaking the bread, “is now made available to you right here and now.”
Do that naturally, directly, informally, and colloquially and you have the way to do that in contemporary worship. Sometimes I use the words as provided in the official service, not varying them at all but always making sure I am looking the people in the eye as I am naming the wonder before them. But more commonly, just so the given words do not become just rote, I will find a fresh, yet brief, way to speak of the wonder of what God is offering to us in Communion.
Of course, if the moment is so pregnant with opportunity and meaning, what is the most natural partner for acting and speaking in a contemporary service? By now, you know the answer: it is music. And so consider using some small piece of an earlier song which has celebrated what God has accomplished in Jesus Christ.
(slide 75) Finally, let us consider “share.” I have only two points to make. The first deals with music. It is commonplace across Protestant worship to have music while the people are actually receiving the Communion elements. Doing so is part of a natural tendency to want to support liturgical actions that have very little speaking with music. That occurs quite often in traditional Communion services and it can occur in contemporary ones, too. The key is the type of music chosen. Generally, let the songs be simpler and more familiar in order to increase the level of participation. The harder the song—either in terms of lyrics or structure or melody—the less likely you will be able to get people to sing during the sharing of the elements, especially if they are asked to walk, move, stand in line, and eat. The songs should also be familiar. Let the people sing from their hearts as much as possible, without having to look at lyrics someplace, especially if you are asking them to move, slide down pews, and follow closely in lines. Finally, with respect to music, please set aside that all music played at Communion needs to sound like it has been borrowed from funerals. An overly sad or penitential approach to Communion took a long time to develop in Christian worship history. For Protestants to continue to do is a carryover from late Medieval piety. I think it best—and is imminently more fitting for Communion in a contemporary service—for the tone of the music to reflect what praise feels like. Praise and thanksgiving is inherent in contemporary worship; praise and thanksgiving is historically the core of Communion. It is a natural place of overlap. Let our music reflect what the praise of God can and should sound like.
Allow me to comment, too, on any final prayers the denominational, printed Communion liturgy might provide for the end of receiving Communion. Find a way to do by a song what those prayers say and do. This is actually a general rule as you have seen me emphasize. (slide 76) Aim to sing texts in unison. Avoid saying texts in unison. Singing in unison, good and okay; speaking in unison, no in contemporary services.
My final point with respect to sharing the bread and the cup points back to the very first biblical feature I highlighted with respect to gaining a good perspective on Communion. Remember that according to the Bible Communion is the sacrament of community. (slide 77) As much as you can in Communion make it a true communal experience. Singing together can do that. Giving the people a chance to pray for each other during Communion can do that, too. It can be as simple as taking a moment before asking people to start receiving to have everyone pray silently for the person on their
16 left and on their right. Perhaps you are in a congregation in which people can gather quickly in their seats in small groups and share prayer concerns.
Pay attention, if you can, to emphasizing the unity of community in the types of elements and how they are distributed. This desire to bring out the Communion elements as symbols of the community is one reason why whole loaves are bread are advocated as well as practices like intinction where the bread is dipped into a common cup. Of course, during the pandemic, such practices have been rightly suspended and avoided.
You have been very attentive. I thank you. I have almost completed my presentation.
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We are almost done. In our progress through EPPP, we have done the E and the first two P’s. (slide 78 with animation) Now let us go quickly to the final P, which is preparation. How do you prepare to preside at Communion in contemporary worship? There are two aspects of preparation. I will cover them briefly.
(slide 79 with animation) The first is something that I have mentioned before: you must be deeply familiar with the liturgical text for Communion. I think that involves memorizing it so that you have internalized it. If you will do this, it will pay untold dividends and make your leading of Communion feel much more authentic and true. I make all my students do this and after graduation they regularly tell me it has been the most useful and impactful part of the class when they are serving their churches.
And I do not mean just a rote memorization in which you know all the words, although that is a place to start. I am talking about a memorization by which you have chewed on the words and extracted their significance and profound meaning. For me that has come by using the text for the Communion service devotionally over and over again so that I can truly pray it as words I have absorbed and agreed with inwardly.
(animation) The second act of preparation is to develop a very serious way of being playfully childlike at Communion. The two must be held together in tension. Become too serious and the sacrament becomes stuffy. Become too playfully childlike and the sacrament becomes silly. It is in holding these in tension that I believe we can approach the table and truly appreciate the seeming absurdity of the moment: that in receiving the simplest of foods, held in our hands, we are actually encountering the most profound human who ever lived, the Incarnate Savior who fills both heaven and earth, Jesus Christ; or that in gathering for Communion we are joining in a worship that occupies the full attention of the heavenly host: angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, martyrs and saints. They all turn their attention to our little tables when we gather for Communion.
For me to achieve being serious playful at Communion has come for long devotional use of historic Christian texts from masters who are already there. (slide 80) Let me recommend one: the 166 hymns on the Lord’s Supper from one of Methodism’s co-founders, Charles Wesley. If you will google Wesley + Duke + hymns Lord’s Supper, you can find them. Download them and go through them
17 devotionally, one by one daily, over half a year. You will never approach Communion the same way again.
I am eager for you to do this and hope my presentation on how to preside well at Communion in contemporary worship has been helpful to you. Contemporary worship is here. Those who opposed it in years past have lost. It is not going anywhere, but it needs to mature. (slide 81) Specifically, contemporary worship needs to develop a stronger sacramentality. It has relied upon music—usually music alone—to help worshipers experience the presence of the living God. And, indeed, they have. But the reliance upon music ultimately has its limits. Continually trying to increase the creativity, intensity, novelty, and literally the volume of sound—all trends I see in contemporary worship—ultimately cannot convey the mystery of a God who takes on the tangibility of a human body in the Incarnation. Jesus had a human body which actually and physically suffered, a body which was raised from the grave, a body which was still able to be touched after the Resurrection and a body which still handled food. That dimension of the Gospel—the bodily tangibility of heaven’s grace and saving—is what the Lord’s Supper (along with baptism) provide in Christian worship. (slide 82) We must find a way to do the Lord’s Supper in a way fitting to contemporary worship so that contemporary worshipers do not ask music to do something that it ultimately cannot do: witness to the physicality of the Incarnation still experienced in Christian worship.
(slide 83) Thank you very much for your attentiveness. I pray something I have said has been helpful to you. (slide 84) Let us move to a time for discussion as I address your questions.
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