By Sarah Hollier, Member of UCC Pilgrim Congregational Church and on the Worship & Spiritual Life Committee.
As society changes, and our community experiences change here at Pilgrim, including a new pastor and the effects of Covid, the Worship & Spiritual Life Committee is charged with the challenge and opportunity of thoughtfully responding to the new reality. Our mission, as a committee, is to assist and support our pastor in ministering to the spiritual life of the congregation. What does that look like in 2022?
On the surface, it may look like, and does include covering the nuts and bolts of Sunday morning: Who will greet people and hand out bulletins? Who will read the Scripture and opening prayer and give the weekly announcements? Who will bring the bread and juice on Communion Sundays and who will serve Communion? Who will make sure there is oil in the lamps and enough bulletins? Who will straighten the chairs in the sanctuary and coordinate the microphones for the musicians?
These behind the scene details are important, and make Sunday morning worship happen, along with Pastor Laura's leadership and sermons, and the efforts of Amy Leach's wonderful music and her recruitment of an astonishing array of gifted musicians who add so much to our worship services.
But the real heart of the committee's work is to support Pastor Laura in providing meaningful worship and spiritual support to the congregation and to offer a warm invitation to those who aren't yet here. This can't happen on automatic pilot. We can't just keep on keeping on, doing what past iterations of this committee have faithfully done for years. We need to figure out what meaningful worship is these days. Be assured, our core values have not changed, but the way we go about things today must meet today's needs and reality.
If you look around on a Sunday morning, you will notice that there are many generations in the room. The days of sending school-age children out of the room for Sunday School may be over. That is not necessarily a tragedy. But that is just the beginning of the challenge. In the room are committed Pilgrims who have been coming here for decades and like what is happening. There are Pilgrims who are not sure about things being a bit, or a lot different, and are questioning whether they still feel at home here. And there are new faces, seeking a community where they can find relevant meaning and connection in a world that is often overwhelming and disturbing. We can no longer take for granted that everyone here knows the vocabulary, the traditional prayers. It's important that we build in explanations, bridges to explain our rites and rituals. And that we don't just do things because we've always done them, without knowing why.
And then there are those who are not in the room. The people at home, tuning in online because they are out of town or have compromised health and can't be here in person. And people who are lurking online, seeking something, maybe taking a peek at our website or Sunday morning worship.
It's a tall order to meaningfully meet this wide span of needs. We've discussed, for example, why it makes sense to continue online worship – that it is not just a stop-gap temporary solution to the safety problem Covid originally caused, but an essential outreach tool. And further, how can we make online worship more meaningful so that those watching at home or later in the week feel genuinely included in the community?
If any of this makes sense to you and you feel moved to join us in our efforts to tackle these challenges, we would welcome your presence and input. As Susan Reisch eloquently said of the Social Justice Committee last Sunday, we can't do this alone, and we should not. We are a very small committee at present – Pastor Laura, Rusty Swingle, Terry Deal, Jim Cole and myself. We rejoice in the work of the AltarScapes team led by Valerie Cox and Colleen Brester, who will talk more about their work on a future Sunday. The beautiful Altarscapes they have created have added a rich visual dimension to worship, especially for those online, following the liturgical colors around the calendar.
Please talk to one of us if you would like to join our committee or have feedback or input about any of the above. And meanwhile, please consider signing up to be a greeter or a liturgist (one who reads the scripture and prayers on Sunday morning). We will support you and I know from experience that you will feel more connected by doing so.