To Clap or Not to Clap--WHEN is the Question!

There it was again. I knew it would happen, but I really couldn’t do anything about it. Besides, who was I to judge what was in someone’s heart?

They probably meant well, but more likely, they weren’t thinking about what they were doing, just functioning on automatic. I felt guilty for wondering if the ringleaders would be there today.

Then I reminded myself that worship was ultimately not about me, nor my carefully laid plans. God’s Spirit could work in people’s hearts no matter what I did or did not do. …Still, I wished our worship services could be different.

One of the delights of my job as Music/Worship Pastor is getting to plan and lead worship services, trying to “create space in which God might act.” I like creating worship segments that flow together meaningfully.

The plan that day was to lead a congregational hymn of praise followed by a Scripture litany from the Psalms, segueing into a meditative choral anthem followed by a pastoral prayer.

The worship segment was flowing smoothly, and the anthem ended on a beautiful pianissimo. The mood was set for the upcoming pastoral prayer.

But—as anticipated--as soon as the last note of the anthem ended, two or three pockets of “church clappers” in the congregation started up, effectively disrupting the flow. Aargh!

Clapping during worship is an issue for many churches. Clapping takes one of two forms: 1. rhythmic clapping, incorporated into music and dance, or 2. random clapping (applause), a universal response to or in anticipation of a pleasant experience.

Applause is found everywhere in secular society: sports events, musical/dramatic arts performances, political/patriotic gatherings, school/civic club meetings, graduations.

           

Most often, applause conveys one of the following meanings:

            • “That makes me happy!”

            • “I’m excited!”

            • "I enjoyed that!" or

            • ”I want to encourage you!”

Sometimes, applause is enthusiastic, perhaps accompanied by standing and cheering. Or it can be merely “polite”--something the hands do while the rest of the body does something else, like chatting with someone nearby.

Nowadays, applause is heard more frequently in American churches. Whether or not applause is welcome depends on where a congregation’s style of worship falls on a spectrum between informal and formal.

Congregations that prefer formal or contemplative worship experiences—liturgical or Taize--will not appreciate applause during worship services.

Congregations that prefer informal, boisterous, “noisy” worship experiences--contemporary or Pentecostal or African-American—expect to participate with verbal and bodily responses (rhythmic clapping, applause, shouting, swaying, dancing) throughout their worship services.

“Traditional” churches (broadly defined, with worship styles somewhere between formal and informal) are more likely to have issues with applause during worship.

The problem with applause is mostly rooted in a lack of understanding about what constitutes a worship service vs. a secular gathering.

Well-planned worship services are designed to help participants encounter God. They are not civic club or PTA meetings where people gather to be with their friends and enjoy nice, entertaining programs. Just mentioning God’s name a few times does not constitute a worship service.

Congregations are not the same as audiences. Audiences mostly observe (and critique) the “performers” on the platform. Congregations—authentic congregations--actually worship; they are participants in praising God and seeking God’s will for their lives.

Author Terry York says in Rehearsing the Soul: “The words congregation and audience are not interchangeable in a worship setting. We have learned that God is the audience, those in the congregation are the players, and the worship leaders are the prompters. …We play, then, to an audience of one. To perform for one another in the worship setting is to ignore God or reduce God’s place of prominence. …It’s a matter of the heart.”

God is not only the audience; God is also the “star” of the worship service, the reason we’re all gathered in the first place. Any applause should be directed toward God, not talented worship leaders. We are to celebrate the Giver, not the gift.

It’s often easy to tell if a congregation thinks of themselves more as an audience than a gathering of worshipers. From my observation, “church clappers” usually applaud after loud, rousing selections by a musical soloist or group (though some will applaud after all “special” musical selections, loud or soft, as if attending a concert).

“Church clappers” also applaud anytime children or youth do anything “unique” during the service—singing, playing instruments, presenting dramatic readings—mostly to encourage them. But worship services are not school programs, and constant applause for children’s presentations teaches them that they are primarily there to please adults, rather than to offer their creative gifts to God in worship. 

The dead give-away in identifying an audience-minded congregation is that, except for the two examples above, “church clappers” don’t usually applaud for anything else.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard applause after a meaningful litany, a scripture reading, a beautifully-worded prayer, a congregational hymn or a well-crafted sermon—except for a few “stem-winder” sermons at denominational rallies.

Lest I be misunderstood, there is nothing inherently wrong with applause during worship services—there are a few biblical references to people “clapping their hands” as they praised God.

But that’s just the point: they were worshiping God, not applauding each other!

I suspect that God is not delighted with polite applause (where one person starts applauding, then others nearby join in half-heartedly). More likely, God is disappointed at being taken so casually, at having people just go-through-the-motions of so-called “worship” while their thoughts and intentions are focused elsewhere.

Authentic worship puts the spotlight on God, not the worship leaders or congregation.

I am still affected emotionally when I recall two worship experiences where I was pretty certain that applause was for God alone:

One occurred in Georgia years ago during a preschool choir session at church. To introduce a new song to twenty kindergarten children, I asked them--at their level of understanding--to think of some attributes of God.

Soon they were on-a-roll. Momentum built as they eagerly raised their hands, quickly naming good things about God.

Suddenly, the whole group burst into applause. They were cheering God!

Another happened in Kentucky. The Southeast was experiencing a severe drought, and it seemed that the little bit of rain that fell in the area somehow kept skipping over our small town.

For several months, we prayed in desperation as rain clouds passed us by.

Then, during worship one Sunday, just as our pastor was stepping into the pulpit, a huge cloudburst suddenly began pounding on the sanctuary roof. There was an audible gasp from our grateful congregation, followed by spontaneous, heartfelt applause. We were truly praising God!

That’s the kind of worship God wants from us—focused, enthusiastic, grateful and sincere, with or without applause.

Personally, I think a robust “Amen!” is preferable to applause during worship, anyway. The word “amen” is used around fifty times in Scripture, and means “So be it!” or “I agree.” It does not mean “I enjoyed that.”

“Amen!” also is uniquely suited for use in worship services rather than in secular gatherings where an audience applauds performers. Using “Amen!” instead of applause leaves no doubt that the person knows, “I’m in church, where I worship God!”

Whether we applaud, say “Amen!” or just quietly think about God during worship services, only God knows the intentions of our hearts. Our worship will be authentic only to the extent that we focus on God rather than on each other. 

See you in worship this Sunday - Naomi

Baptismal Mishaps

Some faith traditions embrace infant baptism. These are memorable occasions for everyone except the child, who is too young to remember anything, and only later knows of the event's significance through photos, stories and certificates.

For Baptists, however, baptisms are always memorable for each candidate as well as family and congregation. Baptists only immerse those who are old enough to have confessed Christ publicly.

Sometimes Baptist baptisms are memorable for all the wrong reasons.

My maternal grandmother's church believed that baptism should take place as soon as possible after one's public decision to follow Jesus. Unfortunately, she chose the middle of winter to walk the aisle.

Her North Carolina church had no baptistry, so they used the local river for baptisms. The pastor broke river ice the day he baptized my grandmother.

The rural Mississippi church my dad pastored when I made a public profession of faith had no baptistry either, but at least they had sense enough to wait until Spring to baptize candidates. When the weather was warm enough, the congregation gathered at a local creek for a Sunday afternoon baptismal service.

After checking the area for snakes and other critters, folks stood on the small bridge overlooking the creek banks where others had assembled near the line of baptismal candidates.

First, everyone sang gospel hymns accompanied by my mother on her accordion. Then the baptizing commenced.

When the service was done the youth swam, swinging out over deeper waters on a tire roped to a tree limb. Country baptisms were always fun events.

The day of my baptism I was seven years old. There were several other candidates, so my dad put me at the front of the line, thinking that since I'd seen other baptisms, I would set an example of proper decorum for everyone. Wrong.

I didn't know how to swim yet and had never had my head entirely underwater. When he dipped me I got strangled and emerged sputtering and crying, generally disrupting the entire service.

Since then, I've seen many other baptismal ceremonies go wrong:

My current pastor once entered the sanctuary baptismal pool too early during the congregational singing, creating large shadow effects as he moved around behind the lighted stained glass window before it was rolled aside for baptism.

On another occasion he was late returning to the worship service after baptism because his waders had leaked, soaking his sock and pants leg.

Another of my pastors was nearly always wet when he returned to the service. Invariably, he rolled up the wrong sleeve of his dress shirt prior to immersing candidates.

On several occasions I've seen short children suddenly "disappear" from the congregation's view because someone forgot to put a stool or cement block in the baptistry for them to stand on.

My dad once lost his balance during a baptism, nearly dropping a morbidly obese candidate.

Several times choir members in the loft have gotten splashed during baptisms. At one church a candidate accidentally sloshed the baptismal waters enough to create a tidal wave, thoroughly soaking the back two rows of the choir.  

At another church the new baptismal robes were discovered--too late--to be extremely opaque when wet.

One winter we discovered during Sunday School that the baptistry water heater was broken. The candidate decided to go ahead with her baptism anyway, since extended family had come for this special occasion. The water was so frigid her teeth chattered as she proclaimed, "Jesus is Lord."

In my former church the opposite happened. The baptism planned for the beginning of the service had to be postponed to the end (after the ushers added ice) because the water was practically boiling. The candidate would've been cooked like a lobster.    

When the heavy velvet baptistry curtains finally opened, a huge cloud of steam rolled out into the sanctuary.

Several years ago a video made the rounds on social media. In it the pastor was shown baptizing candidates, then reaching for a young boy who was next in line.

Rather than taking the pastor's hand and stepping into the baptismal waters, the boy impishly did a cannonball instead.

It took several minutes for the drenched pastor, shaking out his microphone and soggy Bible, to regain any composure.

Sometimes I think God does a belly laugh at some of the mishaps that occur as we try to have meaningful worship experiences together.

Despite our best planning, things often go awry as we Christians attempt to balance celebration and reverence, spontaneity and ritual in baptismal services and other spiritual events.

When things go wrong, it helps to remember that God only looks on the intents of our hearts. It is our sincere effort, not our perfection during worship that is most important to our Creator.

After all, God does know we're only human.

See you in worship this Sunday - Naomi

Cave Song

During seminary around 1990, I served a Louisville, KY church as Associate Minister of Music. In addition, I had some Children's Ministry responsibilities that included assisting our on-the-ball Children's Sunday School Department director with her annual 2-day educational/fun trip for older children.

One summer her itinerary included a tour of Kentucky's Mammoth Cave. Our group of 30 or so gathered with about 70 other tourists for the historic tour of this national landmark.

As everyone began the descent down the long stairway into the massive rotunda, I covered the rear flank, rounding up any stray children from our group.

A friendly Assistant Park Ranger fell in step with me as we followed everyone down the narrow staircase. He began asking questions about our group, and at some point I mentioned that I was a seminary music student.

He immediately said, "Oh! Would you like to sing in the cave?" Oddly embarrassed, I quickly blurted, "No!", and we moved on to other conversation.

The Senior Ranger had already begun his narrative as we reached the bottom of the stairs. I quietly found my group and edged into the crowd, forgetting all about the Assistant Ranger. This was my first tour of the cave as an adult, so I became really engrossed in its history as an ammunitions warehouse and later as a tuberculosis hospital.

The Senior Ranger soon began telling a wonderful story about the gigantic "Methodist Church" boulder prominently featured in the rotunda. Long ago, a congregation used to gather in the cave for Sunday worship services, and the preacher would stand atop the boulder to deliver his sermons. No microphone needed, for sure.

As the Senior Ranger wrapped up his presentation, I noticed that the Assistant Ranger had circled down to the front. He leaned over to interrupt his boss, whispering something in his ear.

A moment later, the Senior Ranger announced, "I understand someone wants to sing." At first I looked around to see who it was, but after what seemed a long silence, one of the children poked me in the side, and I suddenly realized he was talking about me!

Within a split second, my thoughts moved from "How embarrassing!" to "I'm gonna git that Assistant Ranger!" to "Oh, my, what song would be appropriate?"

An instant later I thought of a hymn I had memorized as a child. I quickly reviewed the lyrics in my head. Then as the crowd stood silently, I inhaled deeply and began to sing a cappella:

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee…"

My self-consciousness quickly evaporated as I relished the experience of singing inside that wonderfully acoustical, historic landmark. I'm sure the notes are still resonating somewhere deep within the cave.

Afterwards, as we continued on the tour, I thought to myself, "You just never know when you're going to have an opportunity to do something special for God!"

We all prepare ourselves for God's service every time we fill ourselves with "spiritual things": Learning songs of the faith. Memorizing scripture. Praying. Reading books and articles about discipleship and Christianity. Discussing matters of faith with friends and family.

Observing master teachers and engaging ministry mentors. Taking seminary classes. Studying to teach Sunday School or Vacation Bible School. Practicing conducting or sermon delivery or…the list goes on and on.

Then suddenly, God puts a new opportunity right in front of us. And we discover we're ready!

Unknowingly, we've been preparing for this "God moment" all along. We are amazed at how the Spirit has been at work in our lives.

All that remains now is for us to step forward boldly with a resounding "Yes!"  

See you in worship this Sunday - Naomi

A Boy Named Chris

His name was Chris. I don't remember his last name. He was about 8 years old and lived a few blocks from the Louisville church where I served as Associate Minister of Music. I only knew him a couple of months.

Chris had the husky build of a future football player. His eyes shone bright blue, and he had freckles sprinkled on his nose. Wild sprigs of cow-licked blond hair stuck out all over his head—the result of a bad haircut made even worse by classroom scissors.

Chris' friendly smile and pleasant temperament were charming, and he was unusually comfortable with engaging adults in casual conversation.

I don't think Chris was ever really clean. He always had more than the normal childhood smudges on his skin and ill-fitting clothes. He never seemed fresh, often looking seedy and smelling bad.

There was no doubt that Chris was neglected. What was unusual was the absence of some typical behavioral problems for a child in his situation.

I first met Chris when he wandered into the church parking lot one day, little brother in tow. He approached some adults, and they steered both boys towards our children's activities.

On his own, Chris began to attend older children's choir, which I directed. He seemed oblivious that the other children were openly reluctant to sit by him. I'm not sure he ever sang on pitch, but he would smile and participate intelligently, and just looked "happy to be here."

Ministering to his family was difficult, despite our repeated efforts. We never could figure out the situation. Our impression was that they moved frequently.

During choir one Wednesday evening, Chris asked us to pray for his family because his dad was in jail for trying to kill his mom. (I hoped he and his brother hadn't witnessed it.) Their house was vacant soon afterwards, and we lost track of them.

A few weeks earlier, I was introducing a new song to the choir. When I asked the children to think of reasons why we love God, their responses were typical, mostly having to do with creation and God loving us first.

Suddenly, Chris' face lit up as he waved excitedly, gushing, "I love God because God gives us second chances!"

I thought to myself that if there was ever a child who was going to need a million second chances just to survive, it was Chris. He already had so much to overcome.

My encounter with Chris was brief, but God often uses my memory of this special child to remind me of the many grace-filled "second chances" I've been given.

By now—assuming he's still alive—Chris is all grown up. Odds are, we will never meet again here on earth. But I will always remember him. I will always wonder how he's doing.

Most of all, I will always wonder if our brief ministry to him—sowing the seeds of God's love--ever took hold in his life.

I can only hope that Chris has already experienced enough of God's abundant love and grace to overcome his adverse circumstances and grow into the fine young man that God created him to be.

"Jesus loves the little children, ALL the children…"

See you in worship this Sunday - Naomi

Soul Work

_{Soul music. Then sings my soul. Soul searching. I've anchored my soul in the haven of rest. Put some soul into your singing. Deep in my soul. Soul Train. [Wow, I've dated myself with that one!]}

_{We hear the word soul a lot in our society, but its usage has shifted somewhat. Nowadays, when someone says, "He's such a lost soul," we assume the comment refers to someone who acts confused and lonely, having no sense of purpose in life.}

_{Years ago, we might have thought the comment referred to someone who needed to be evangelized. Back then, gospel song writers penned lyrics such as "Lead me to some soul today." Today we rarely hear of a person referred to as a "soul."}

_{No matter how it's used, the word soul is hard to define. Describing it as "our personality" helps children understand, but that's about as inadequate as using a red paper cutout to illustrate "love" or "heart."}

_{Psychologists often use the word soul to mean "The Self," referring to the core of our being, or our unvarnished inner life.}

_{Jungian analyst James Hollis has a recurring theme in his acclaimed books (The Middle Passage, Creating a Life, Swamplands of the Soul): Our lives have meaning and fulfillment only to the extent that we live consciously, i.e., not on autopilot, buffeted by reactionary behavior because of unexamined assumptions about the world around us.}

_{Living consciously is the only reward of a never-ending process of self-examination ("soul work"), which requires honesty, love and courage.}

_{One would think that such an effortful process of self-discovery would at least result in our finding answers to our problems or getting relief from our suffering. However, consciousness (intentionality, meaning) is a greater reward, and is exactly what our souls long for.}

_{Rabbi Harold Kushner says that "Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth or power. …Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be . . . different for our having passed through it."}

_{If consciousness deepens our human relationships and self-understanding, how much more satisfying is our divine-human relationship when worship is experienced consciously. The Psalmist refers to our souls "thirsting" for God. Jesus said to "Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind" (Matt. 22).}

<sub>Simply going-through-the-motions on Sundays is not really worship at all. It is merely pseudo-worship, and its insincerity is disappointing to God. 

Authentic worship requires our being intentional. Being focused on God. Being "soul-full." 

W</sub>orship leaders may try to create space in which God can act, planning worship services that help people connect with God. But even the most user-friendly worship format will fall flat for individual congregants unless they are attentive to God's desires rather than to human likes and dislikes or distractions.

_{Function in worship is more important than form. There is no such thing as effortless worship. The word liturgy literally means "work of the people."}

<sub>So, what is the glorious reward for all our conscious effort at focusing on God during worship?

Transformation. A closer,</sub> deeper relationship with God. An awareness in our souls that God is both with us and for us. Which is what we are ultimately seeking when we enter the sanctuary on Sunday mornings...right?

_{See you in worship this Sunday! ~ Naomi}

Love God, Love Neighbor

The worship at our church is indescribable—i.e., there is no one description that characterizes our "style" from week to week.

Ours is a congregation with diverse backgrounds, talents and church experiences. Our corporate worship will forever be unique due to the makeup of our congregation. As members come and go, so will our worship services continue to evolve.

To say the least, the members of our church have never been shy about expressing diverse opinions about what should or should not be included in our worship services!

Labels like "contemporary" or "traditional" sometimes get tossed about (as if these were the only choices), but everyone defines these terms differently.

Through the years, when we've occasionally tried multiple Sunday morning services, we intentionally tried to make the services different from each other.  Generally, the earlier service had a more informal structure; the latter a more formal structure. We advertised them as "differently blended."

A few years ago I attended a music and worship conference. One speaker commented (sic):

"Blended worship makes everybody mad, because nobody gets enough of what they like in worship, and everybody hates getting so much of what they don't like."

Whatever a church's unique worship style, choices must be made each week regarding what to include in worship services. That responsibility usually falls on worship leaders such as myself.

While listening to the heartbeat of our diverse congregation, I am also mindful of William Willimon's admonition (in Worship as Pastoral Care):

"If we think about our worship at all, usually we think in terms of ''What do I want from our worship?' or 'What do my people want from our worship?' without daring to be so bold as to ask, 'What does God want from our worship?'"

Worship is more likely to happen when both leaders and individual worshippers work at keeping our focus on God, rather than on our personal likes and dislikes.

It is a misconception to think that our church's worship is always "the way our worship leaders like it to be." I, along with others, sacrifice many of my personal preferences for worship services all the time.

In fact, it is difficult to recall any worship service when every element was tailor-made to my desires. My delight is in trying to create services that enable other people to worship. The idea is to have mutual sacrifice.

As a young adult I was inspired by a Joni Eareckson Tada story about what she did whenever she found herself distracted or bored during part of a worship service, unable to focus on God.

Her practice was to observe people, especially strangers, one-at-a-time in the congregation, praying specifically that God would bless them as they worshiped.

I've often done this in churches where I was the worship leader, as well as in other churches where I was a visitor. My reward is always an uplifting feeling of heart connection with each person and with God—which in turn enables my worship during each service.

Jesus, when responding to a question about what is the greatest commandment, also touched on the two factors which are required for meaningful corporate worship:

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." ...And the second is like unto it, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'" (Matt. 22: 37 & 39).

See you in worship this Sunday - Naomi