Total Worship

New Class Starting During Sunday Morning Bible Study

Father Don has been meeting with interested persons on Sunday Mornings between Services: 9:30-10:15 AM to discuss what all is involved in Worship of our Lord. Father Don contends there is much more to worship than we realize and that our understanding, awareness and planning can enhance worship not only for ourselves but for others.

And then, there is God.

Worship is So, So Much More!

Yes, this class between services is partly about learning what it takes and why, in order to help Don before and after Communion, BUT, true to Don’s devotional nature, he wants us to understand the symbolism, importance and practical relevance of what we do when we come together to worship God! WHY are we doing all this after all?

Before exploring with Don what he wanted to get across during “Bible Study” Sunday Mornings, I made the assumption that this class was about assisting the priest to prepare for and administer communion as in Altar Guild or Acolyte – something I have never felt called to do. But the more he expressed what he had in mind, I was curious. It quickly became apparent that what I believed was a lesson on liturgy and preparation for a Church Service, was so just the beginning. When Don clarified that worship on Sunday Morning begins with planning the night before to get up on time and go to church, I knew we were on to something deeper and inspiring. Right there I was intrigued by what we might call a different mindset, framework or “come from” when we think about what worship truly is. In my mind, I thought of it as “Total Worship.”

The Role of Tradition

Our Episcopal heritage is rife with all manner of symbolism — objects, rituals, movements, and flow that attempt to represent the mystical, elusive, unseen depths of the spiritual nature of God and our relationship with him. It is a tall order! It is a task that I believe the Episcopal Church especially, has taken on seriously and methodically over many years. All of this is meant to assist us in accessing our own spiritual response to our Almighty, All Knowing and All Loving God. Total Worship is truly a treasure to be explored and relished.

Our daily lives are full of so many responsibilities, conversations, thoughts, worries, activities, and many wonderful things, that time and space to plunge the depths of spiritual mysteries is, well, often last in line. God knows this and hence, he created our Episcopal Liturgy!

Giving is Receiving

Yet, Total Worship is still more than Liturgy and symbolism. It might mean different things to different worshipers. For me, writing is a big part of worship, as well as working on the website, and always, I look to gather people for a noble purpose. For others, it could be helping on the altar, opening the church, putting out salt on the sidewalks, bringing in food to share, baking for coffee hour, shoveling snow, organizing a work party before Easter or Christmas, cleaning the church, doing bookkeeping for the church, depositing offerings in the bank, washing the altar linens, participating in Bible Study, ordering supplies, making coffee, singing, reading the scriptures, leading the prayers, acolyting, organizing a fund drive, keeping the kitchenette tidy, vacuuming and dusting, cleaning brass, bringing flowers for the altar, cleaning up the pews after church, organizing for the Jazz Service, serving in your community in every way imaginable. We should all hold these deepest respect for each of these “services” that contribute to our ability to worship God together.

A Partnership

Total Worship means that the responsibility for Sunday Worship is not just what the priest does, or even those who assist on the altar. We each get out of it what we put into it. And what we put into it affects everyone around us, especially the other worshipers. The more we understand and appreciate our traditions and liturgy, and our own role, the more all can benefit. 

Right now as it stands, Father Don is doing more than his fair share — and he is looking to highlight opportunities for others to share in the benefits of Total Worship. It is all about service really. It may be said that we call worshiping together a Church “Service” because we come to serve God and each other. Serving helps to make our time together more meaningful.

Think about how the word “minister” comes from the Latin “servant.” We often speak of ministering to someone by serving their needs. In this sense then, we also come together to open ourselves to receive from God as he ministers to us spiritually, emotionally and even physically, through the Sacraments, the Holy Scriptures, and the Community of believers. God is indeed, the third party in this partnership of Total Worship. Jesus himself said that he “came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45, ESV). This is Jesus’ came as a divine service both to God and to us. And he continues to serve by being present in the Sacraments and the Holy Spirit. Read more on this view here. We are served and we go and serve as we are gifted and called. When we freely receive from God, we have something powerful to freely give.

Now, if God is by any chance waiting to serve you a cup of himself at a church service (or anytime, for that matter), he deserves our preparation, attention, our service, our open hearts, indeed, our Total Worship. Or, in the words of Oswald Chambers 100 years ago, our Utmost for His Highest?

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” ~ Matthew 5:16

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