feasting on the word: lent 2010

What in God’s name, literally in God’s name, are we doing thinking about Lent when we have barely put Christmas behind us? You may be surprised to learn that worship is planned seasonally some months ahead of time. This year, because of our theme and our desire to include congregation members, we are eagerly looking at Lent early in our New Year.

we want you to consider being involved in these services!
but first, some background . . .

how do we plan worship?
Worship services are planned by the ministry team of Karen Dale, Abigail Johnson, and Ann Morwood, along with musical leadership from Douglas Brownlee, our Director of Music. We meet each week to look at final details for Sunday worship as well as to do long-range planning. We look at scripture readings suggested by the Lectionary, the seasons of the year, and the pastoral needs of our worshiping community.

what is a lectionary?
In the United Church we use a “Revised Common Lectionary” that organizes the Bible into four scripture readings each week, one each from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Letters, and the Gospels. The Lectionary is organized into a three-year cycle of readings with each cycle starting on the first Sunday in Advent. Some congregations read all four readings at each worship service. At Beach United Church we prefer to focus on one scripture reading that we explore in depth through hymns, preaching, reflecting, and prayer.

a church year has seasons?!
A church year is divided up into various seasons beginning with the season of Advent.

 
 
what are our pastoral needs?
in our worship, we take into account numerous and diverse needs of individuals and groups such as . . .

age: We balance needs of differing age groups from babies to children to youth to younger, middle-aged, and older adults. Each age category has developmental, educational, and spiritual needs as well as particular histories and stories.

life stage: We are attentive to life stages. Baptism is for infants, children, and occasionally adults. Marriage, death, physical, and mental health issues shape our perspective on our faith stories, in addition to transitions from childhood to adulthood, from single to couple or couple to single, from family to empty-nest, and so on.
 
gender justice: We are sensitive to gender balance and justice needs. We are a community that respects men and women and different sexual orientations.
ourselves and beyond: We are aware of ever-widening contexts: our local community of Beach, Toronto, Canada, and the world. We are also aware of the contexts of our congregation, our national United Church, other denominations, and other faiths.

just language: Attending to all these perspectives means being aware of language. We take “just” language seriously and use a number of resources to guide us. In addition to these language resources, we consider a number of biblical translations. Although the Revised Standard Version is a main focus, on any given Sunday we may use The Message, The Inclusive Language Lectionary, The Five Gospels, or the Jewish Scriptures called the Tanakh.

what is our vision for worship?
When Karen Dale and Abigail Johnson were called to Beach United Church, a vision was named by the search committee on behalf of Council. We were asked to create worship that is biblically based, relevant, and shaped to meet the pastoral needs of our worshiping faith community. This vision was based upon our Creed-in-Action created at the time of amalgamation as well as the Ministry-in-Action, a synthesis of the creed. Such a vision guides our worship planning. With colleagues, Ann Morwood and Douglas Brownlee, the worship planning team offers worship that respects the pre-modern tradition of our biblical texts, attends to modern interpretations of those texts through our church history and biblical scholarship, as seen through a lens of our post-modern context.

what does church mean today?
Church holds a very different place in society now than 50 or 60 years ago. While this statement may be self-evident, trying to understand what place church holds at present is far from clear. People still hunger and thirst for meaning and spirituality. And yet, families have complex lives. Two working parents treasure time with children as family. Adults are often caring for both children and parents simultaneously. Travel access means retired people are away summer and winter. Abundance of activities from sports to theatre, further education to community commitments, mean people’s lives are full. In our changed and changing society, church is often one option among many. Consequently, planning for worship as well as Christian nurture of all ages is challenging. Week-by-week we have a fluid community; we cannot count on who may show up. Rather than being separated into two communities, one worshiping and one learning, families prefer to stay together. Short-term rather than long term commitments are preferred in lives that are balancing multiple demands.

what is worship for today’s church?
A persistent question for our worship planning team is how to respond faithfully to contextual realities at the same time as attending to spiritual needs. To that end, we keep in mind the following goals:
• Celebrating rites and rituals that affirm a new covenant together as Beach United church
• Naming and experiencing the radical inclusivity of God’s grace and the gospel of Jesus Christ
• Respecting diverse theological thought and spiritual needs
• Thinking globally and acting locally,
• Honouring loved traditions while developing new rites and rituals that speak to new members and future generations
• Using clear and current language

rites and rituals: Two rites or rituals that are foundations of our faith and our tradition as a United Church are the sacraments of baptism and communion. In a sacrament we experience the invisible grace of God through the visible sign of water in baptism and the visible signs of sharing bread and wine in communion. This year, in Lent, we plan to explore the sacrament of communion with a focus on the worship planning goals listed above.

Lent is a six week period in the seasons of the church year that takes us alongside Jesus’ life and ministry and ends with his death on a cross and his resurrection to new life. Prior to his death, Jesus shared a last meal with his friends and disciples, a meal that we celebrate in remembrance in each service of communion. However, Jesus shared meals with numerous people in many ways throughout his ministry, such as:

• Turning water into wine at a wedding
• Expanding 5 loaves and fishes to feed 5000 people
• Eating with tax collectors and prostitutes
• Challenging hospitality at the home of a religious leader

Rather than limiting our understanding of communion to one shared meal only, this Lent, let us learn more about meals Jesus shared with people in his life and understand his message of radical inclusivity. As we learn and develop a deeper understanding of Jesus’ table ministry, we will also share communion for five Sundays in Lent in a way that reflects our insights and addresses our spiritual needs as a worshiping community. In the process, we hope to enjoy food with each other, learn more about what we believe and how we wish to express our beliefs. We wish to feast on the word of God as we eat together literally and spiritually.

SHALOM!