When you asked me to serve as your Interim Pastor, you said that one of your special concerns was “the development of engaging worship services,” and you stipulated that I should “give special attention to broadening the appeal of Bethel’s worship services.”
As I talked with you, I learned that you were weighing the merits of traditional liturgies versus more contemporary styles, and that you hoped the choice of four or five different services each month would give everyone a chance to enjoy their preferred style.
I also discovered that those different services all followed the same basic format! What changed was the choice of hymns and the liturgical pieces, as well as the musical accompaniment: some Sundays with the organ, other Sundays with piano and electronic keyboard.
Since February, therefore, we have been experimenting with a different arrangement, a combination of traditional liturgies and less formal services. The first and third Sundays feature organ music and orders of worship—and most of the hymns—from the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book: Setting 3 for two months, followed by setting 4 for two months.
The other two Sundays have less formal services. One includes both piano and organ music and features old favorite songs, as well as Gospel hymns and spirituals from This Far by Faith, a collection of resources originally intended for African American Lutherans. The other has fresher, more recent compositions and praise songs, many from the Worship & Praise songbook, accompanied by piano plus guitar or keyboard.
Last month we distributed evaluation forms with over three dozen items to consider. I encouraged you to respond twice to each item. The first time you were to ask yourself, “Will this help my neighbors to worship with joy and integrity?” The second time you were ask, “What is my personal preference?”
Not as many of you responded as I had hoped; we received only nineteen replies. In most cases the marks were positive. In a few cases, not so much. It was about half and half on whether worship leaders should wear casual clothes. More of you prefer the Confession and Forgiveness to come at the beginning of the service, rather than after the Prayers, before the Peace.
The majority did not like the idea of offering Communion less frequently. Almost no one liked the idea of drinking the Communing wine from a common chalice.
When it comes to hymns, everyone agrees they should be chosen on the basis of both their words and their tunes. And it’s alright to learn new hymns from time to time, but there’s a distinct preference for the old favorites. Unfortunately, I’m not sure we could all agree on a list of “old favorites”!
The list you have submitted so far contains seventy-one different hymns! “Amazing Grace” got six votes; “O Day Full of Grace” was in second place with 5 votes; and “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” got 4 votes. “Jesus Loves Me,” “Beautiful Savior,” “I Love to Tell the Story,” “The Old Rugged Cross,” “A Mighty Fortress,” and ”God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage” each got 3 votes (the last two have the same tune). Eight hymns were listed by two of you. And fifty-two hymns got one vote apiece.
There’s obviously no great consensus here. Nevertheless, for the next few months we’ll let you know in the Sunday worship bulletin which hymns come from the list.
Your responses have not yet been reviewed in detail by the Worship Committee or the Mission Council or the Board of Administrators. So there’s still time to participate. Call the church office and we’ll email you an evaluation form. Or, if that doesn’t work for you, we’ll have paper copies available. Just ask.
Meanwhile we will keep on worshiping our Lord with as much joy and gusto as we can muster during these Summer Sundays.
