Art in Worship
While hiking in the Cordillera Central mountains of Luzon, Paul and I hummed the tune of a family favorite, Christ Mighty Savior (you can find it to hum yourself in the United Methodist Hymnal on page 684). A French hiker about our age asked, “Is that a Christmas song you’re singing?”
I was a bit surprised and amused. While this is a Mozarabic hymn about the promises of God at the day’s ending, for the unchurched ear of the person asking the question, every hymn must sound much like a Christmas song! The familiar hymnic lilt and melody had punctuated popular culture, if only to be associated with that singular season.
Though our fellow hiker was not familiar with much about church or theology, they did have a sense that there was something religious or even sacred about the tune that Paul and I hummed.
“Worship depends on human arts to illuminate the mystery of God and give expression to the heights and depths of human experience.”
I think of Ruth Duck’s words often as I prepare our worship life together, especially as I think about all the many different experiences of those who come into the doors or happen upon the livestream. Especially for those unfamiliar with the traditions of the church or the theology we teach, art enables us to attend to the mystery, awe, and wonder of the human experience as we worship God.
Art can take many forms, including paintings, fabric arts, stained glass, object illustrations, spoken word, dance and other movement, and a whole host of music. “Art is the process of giving form to felt experience,” Ruth adds.
As many in our congregation have experienced, music in particular can carry us to places where spoken words alone cannot. Music has long held a central place in our Christian expression of worship, from medieval chants to bar tune hymns to Handel’s Messiah. As we join the disciple Peter’s wanderings this Lent, we are accompanied by music that gives form to Peter’s and our felt experience of our wanderings.
Just as poetry, art, stories, and metaphors can enliven our worship, music does not always need to be labeled ‘sacred’ to deepen a sacred experience. Throughout this season you may notice a piece or two that may not be part of the usual sacred choral repertoire, but nonetheless speak to Peter’s and our experience of being human amidst the sacred. The diversity of repertoire this Lent is intentional as we continue to explore the many different places where the sacred finds us in our wanderings.
As our musicians lead us through this journey, we also want to share more about the people guiding us through the music they offer. This week we have the chance to learn more about tenor soloist Erik Standifird who will be singing the offertory on Sunday.
Watch this video to get to know Erik:
Peace,
Pastor Karyn