What is Gentle Worship?

Today a group of churches in the area hosted a special event for families dealing with autism. A resource person from the Autism Society of North Carolina talked to us about the help that their organization can offer. Then we ate lunch before we worshiped together. The worship service was especially tailored after a style known as gentle worship.

Think about your family, friends, and neighbors who have children with some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Odds are they don't attend church. Christian worship services are places where one is expected to be quiet and still for lengthy periods of time. Many children with ASD are unable to do that, so when they grow out of the nursery's age limit the entire family stays at home.

Playing with sand

Today's gentle worship service was designed specifically with these families in mind. We met in a fellowship hall that allowed for easy coming and going -- no doors to open or slam shut. There was no expectation of participation or non-participation -- sitting still and outbursts were both welcome. The only thing no one was allowed to do was shush someone else!

Not too loud, not too soft

A worship band played at just the right volume: quiet enough to not overwhelm those sensitive to sounds and loud enough so that no one needed to sing if they didn't feel like it. One table was set up with tactile stimulants like clay and magnetic sand. Pillows and blankets were available for those who preferred the floor to sitting on chairs. Pastor Julia's 6-minute sermon was a story accompanied by photo boards. Prayer time was a period of 5 minutes when people could pray silently or seek out a pastor to pray with them. The entire service was finished in 30 minutes.

This was my first time to participate in a worship service like this, and I certainly hope it is not my last. There are many families -- not just ones dealing with ASD -- who could benefit from this kind of service. I hope more churches find this is a ministry they can offer to families who struggle to attend church.

Space vs. Place

place - noun: a specific area or region of the world : a particular city, country, etc.

Where are all the people?

space - noun: an area that is used or available for a specific purpose

Most of us use the words "space" and "place" interchangeably to talk about locations where things happen. In everyday usage these two words are synonyms -- the Merriam-Webster definitions above do not indicate much of a distinction. However, some people who study social theory like to define each term a bit differently. They see space as a raw material which people make into meaningful places by what they do in them. For example, philosopher Edward Casey wrote that place is more than a "mere patch of ground" -- an arbitrary space that happens to be inhabited by a group of people. Places are formed out of spaces by people performing and enacting a common life together -- places are to be seen as "more an event than a thing." Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan teaches that people make places via performances of spoken language and songs to create places out of their physical surroundings (see 1991 article called "Language and the Making of Place").

So how does this apply to worship? I have heard lots of talk about "worship spaces" but not much at all about "worship places." It seems to me that we often describe worship "spaces" using technical descriptions about the size of a building, its acoustic responses, amplification systems, and seating capacity. To use the framework of the theorists mentioned above, we tend to talk about worship spaces with antiseptic descriptions about the rooms. Rarely do we discuss how people speak, sing, and pray things that make a place meaningful. If you search Google Images for "worship spaces" nearly all the photos will come back without people in them.

Would we worship leaders do better to add "worship places" to our vocabulary? If places are formed out of spaces, then we would add the technical descriptions of the room to what people actually do in them. A worship place would be the materials and the activities -- the entire package. People matter in worship, don't they?

What is Easter Vigil?

Easter morning sunrise services have their roots in an ancient celebration known as Easter Vigil. The service happens between sundown on Saturday (which is traditionally the beginning of the next day) and sunrise on Sunday. It is the first service of Easter Sunday, and since it starts in the darkness some churches light a fire outside and carry lit candles into the sanctuary.

Candles lit for an Easter Vigil at an abbey in Austria

Easter Vigil was the time when the ancient church would baptize new Christians. After spending a significant period of time learning about the scriptures - sometimes for the period of 40 days we call Lent, sometimes for a year or longer - these new initiates would be introduced to the church's sacraments during the Vigil. They would be baptized and then receive Communion for the first time. In some cases they were told nothing about either ritual beforehand but were meant to experience each as a newborn would, symbolizing their new life in Christ.

Today's Easter Vigil services can remember each of these components by breaking the service into four parts:

1. The Service of Light
2. The Service of the Word
3. The Service of Baptism
4. The Service of the Table (Communion)

The Service of the Word narrates God's entire salvation history from creation to the resurrection of Jesus. This may consist of several scripture readings and songs to take the worshippers on this journey of God's work in the world. If you were being baptized on Easter, this would have been the culminating event of all the lessons that you had learned leading up to this day. Imagine how this might have worked in days when scripture portions were rare or not available: someone would have had to memorize the important stories -- such as the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt -- in order to tell them to the congregation.

These four parts can take place in one long service, or they can be broken up over two or three separate services from Saturday night until Easter morning. They took place at night for spiritual and practical reasons. It is true that Christ rose from the dead before dawn, but the first generations of his followers would have gone to work when the sun came up. Sunday was the first day of the week, not a day off.