More "Liturgical"?

So, you may have noticed we are doing some things differently this summer.  We are trying out new things like:

- drama to help set the historical context of the letter of Colossians
- video greetings from members of our congregation "out in the world" to remind us that "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places."
- added elements of interaction in the sermons
- visuals in the sanctuary intended to remind us of the themes we are engaging throughout the summer.

As with anything, some of this feels like a slam-dunk for some folks in the congregation and, for others, it feels more like a face-palm.  So it's probably a good idea to tell you that there is a method to the madness.
What we are doing this summer is not, necessarily forever.  It is taking advantage of three unique and particular elements of the season:

1) Summer means that there is no Sunday School, which means that the 9 o'clock hour is the only chance we have to learn all of us together.  As a result, our obligation changes somewhat.  We need to be "feeding" a wide swath of the population.  This means that not everyone is going to like every dish that is offered.  That's a reality I don't apologize for -- part of what we learn by worshiping together is making room for the needs of our brothers and sisters, as well as our own.
Now, if you leave a service thinking, "Absolutely NOTHING that happened in there has any relevance to my life," would you do me a favor? Would you make an appointment with me to talk about that?  But if your overall response is more along the lines of "Not EVERYTHING we did today is my favorite way of doing things," then I encourage you to take a moment to look around the sanctuary and wonder about the brothers and sisters for whom creative elements, participation and a variety of voices matter.

2) It's summer!  For some reason, that makes me think we should have the opportunity to be playful together and to try some new things, recognizing that not all of them will work and that none of it is, necessarily, forever.

3) I have been growing a lot as a preacher this summer.  This is the first chance I've had to preach straight through an Epistle text.  I am, more regularly, a narrative-style preacher.  When preaching narrative, the text contains the drama. It contains the imagery.  The whole thing holds together as a story.  My job is to add insight and implications.  An epistle, however, is replete with insights and implications.  What is is "missing" (if I may speak so boldly about Scripture) is the imagery, the thread that ties it into our lives. What I've found as I've been studying through the week is that the text is a wonderful tapestry of marvelous threads.  Looking at each thread doesn't help me to understand. But I can't see it as it was intended until it's been hung up.  The sermon, then, needs to serve as the hooks.  At least that's what I've been learning so far ...

What I have appreciated most in our worship this summer is that we have managed to be far more liturgical.  High church purists won't understand what I've said there.  We haven't had more responsive readings, more hymns or even more organ.  Aren't those elements what we mean by "liturgy"?

Liturgy comes from the Latin root and it means "the work of the people."  As we've invited more participation in the service, as we've been creative together, I think that we have managed to draw in the work of more people, thus we have become more liturgical!