What are you missing about church?

One of the delights of the summer for me is the Music and Worship Conference at Montreat. This year it was virtual and my anticipation was…well, zero. Looking for opportunity in the situation, I convinced two people to sign up who would not have been able to make the trip to North Carolina. With the three veterans, our group of five set up camp on our individual couches and set out on the virtual highway.

The theme, A Great Cloud of Witnesses, was determined well in advance. The more dominant theme was how to worship in virus-time. To tell you more about this, I asked the question: “What are you missing about church?”.

Singing

Top of the list, there is no completely satisfying answer to this. All agree that there is no safe way to sing inside. Singers, well-distanced and outside, may work for some. Choir directors suggest sending links to favorite choral music to choir members. We found handbell music for four people and eight bells. How about a clapping choir?

2. Normalcy

Liturgy is our rock of normalcy. Going through the motions of the call to worship, corporate confession, prayers of the people, and reciting a creed and the Lord’s Prayer meets this longing for normalcy. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that.

3. Adventure of Worship

(Yes, whiplash from normalcy to adventure.)

I am amazed at what a visual artist can add to worship! We are well acquainted with the artist that arranges flowers, but there are many other mediums – fabric, metal, ceramics – that inspire us with color, shape, and motion. Who is the artist in your midst? Who has the skills to enable an artist?

Is this a good time to use different musical instruments? Many professional musicians are out of work.

Technology has been a sometimes rocky adventure. The message repeated from the conference experts was “Try it. If it doesn’t work change it.” Blessed are congregations that have tech experts at hand or those willing to learn.

4. Learning

I miss Sunday School. I miss studying and learning. My favorite sessions from the conference were those led by an OT expert (Suzie Park) and a hymnist (Mel Bringle) who led me to new ideas with their depth of knowledge and passion. The virtual nature of these sessions led to one advantage: They are recorded and I can watch the reruns.

5. Personal Contact

Are small groups the answer, or at least part of the answer? Our four-person bell choir wearing masks has little risk and a big payback in personal contact. We also met to attend the conference online worship services together. It felt a little like a movie night with the projector set up in the sanctuary. Many of our best ideas can be structured with a focused small group that meets in person or online.

We also have existing groups that will take some effort to maintain. Can we picnic with the choir, the PW, the Sunday School class? Is a zoom-like meeting worth the effort?

i conclude with an invitation to next year’s conference. The theme is “Gathered in My Name” and the dates are June 20-25 and June 27-July 2. We have some amazing people in the Presbyterian Association of Musicians (PAM) that plan and run the Music and Worship Conference. Whether virtual or in person, the conference represents PCUSA at its best.