Monday • 7/19/2021

It’s summer, and it’s the first week of the last year of my sixth decade. Another break from the Daily Office seems to be in order. I’m offering, this week, yet more worship themes I’ve developed with my friends at Worship Leader Magazine. We’ll resume our reflections on the Daily Office Monday, July 26.

Participation Requires a Script

If there were an ESPN-like list of “Top 10 Plays” in worship leading, this event would be somewhere near the top:

The Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla had just been elected Pope John Paul II. Most of us think of the Pope as head of worldwide Catholicism, but being Pope primarily makes you bishop of the city-church of Rome. It was the first time in over 400 years Rome had been asked to accept a non-Italian as their lead pastor. When the new Pope walked out onto the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square, he was supposed to offer the thousands who were gathered the benediction “To the City and to the World.” It was a set script that everybody knew. 

Instead, John Paul opted for an older, little-used traditional Italian priestly blessing.

“Blessed be Jesus Christ,” he offered in Italian. 

Without missing a beat, the crowd roared back, “May he always be blessed.” 

Benefit of Surprise

The exchange was completely unrehearsed — entirely spontaneous. John Paul only sweetened the moment when he self-deprecatingly ad-libbed about the clumsiness of his use of “your — our — Italian language.” It was the beginning of a bond of affection that would grow greater and greater over time.

I have thought about that exchange often as I’ve sat in worship planning meetings where we’ve tried to figure out how to encourage greater participation among worshipers whom we’ve accustomed to having no idea what’s coming next. Too many times I’ve seen a congregational eye roll when they hear, “This week, we’re going to do something a little different.” They know 10 minutes of mind-numbing explanation will follow. Many of us are afraid that oft-repeated worship elements will become mindless rote. However, there are worship patterns that can shape hearts and give poignant expression to a faith that is both common and personal.

Indeed, there’s a certain extent to which a congregation can only join in when words and actions are so deeply embedded they come to the surface almost unbidden. 

Ancient-Future Participation

This past spring marked the fourteenth anniversary of Bob Webber’s passing on to the presence of the Lord and the saints above. Bob was a great friend to Worship Leader Magazine, and he has taught a generation of us to recognize that, as he so often said, “The road to the future runs through the past.” 

One of the reasons Bob championed “ancient-future worship” passionately was because the ancient Church’s worship was so participatory. Bob sensed that the 20th century Church’s embracing of broadcast media had transformed worship into a spectator sport. When his studies led him to ponder the worship of the ancient Church, he discovered a participatory sport. 

Whole congregations would gather outside their church buildings and “process” (pronounced “prə-SESS”) in. The ministry of the Word, governed by a lectionary, would consist of a worldwide (at least in aspiration) participation in the story of the world and its redemption in Christ. The service would be punctuated by calls and responses (“The Lord be with you” … “And also with you”) and by standing and kneeling. As a gathered kingdom of priests, the congregation would pray for the needs of their community and their world. As a communion of needy sinners on their way to the wedding banquet, the congregation would participate in a “Thanksgiving” (lit. “Eucharist”) of bread and wine. As a brotherhood of ministers, the congregation would be sent out into the world to love and serve in the name of Christ. 

Webber found the perspective thrilling. Returning worship to its dynamic heartbeat was essential, he came to believe, to the survival of the Church, in being and in mission. 

Adapting the Script

One thing Bob taught many of us is that churches can remain “free” as opposed to “formal” and still embrace the ancient call-and-response exchanges. When we do so, we find we greatly empower God’s people to participate in worship.  

Every time I heard the late author Marva Dawn speak, she began by teaching the exchange: “The Lord be with you … And also with you.” She would explain that this shared greeting makes the leader and the congregation fellow worshipers, rather than celebrity and audience. 

When a Scripture reader concludes the reading with the phrase, “The Word of the Lord,” and a congregation responds “Thanks be to God,” our listening becomes active rather than passive. Or, an otherwise mundane mid-worship “meet-and-greet” becomes an act of ministry when we look each other full in the face and share the ancient blessing: “The peace of the Lord be always with you” … “And also with you.” 

Worship leading is about helping a congregation find its voice. It’s not just a voice in song. It’s a voice in proclamation and acclamation as well. Sometimes great worship leadership requires a script — and, of course, knowing how to tweak the script. But first, there’s the script. 

Be blessed this day, 

Reggie Kidd+