{"id":1955,"date":"2012-05-06T14:52:52","date_gmt":"2012-05-06T19:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/?p=1955"},"modified":"2012-05-09T14:35:16","modified_gmt":"2012-05-09T19:35:16","slug":"redeeming-performance-or-performing-redemption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/05\/redeeming-performance-or-performing-redemption\/","title":{"rendered":"Redeeming Performance or Performing Redemption?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today’s post comes to us from Zanne Dailey, a credentialed Covenant pastor, attending Marin Covenant Church<\/a> in San Rafael, California. She’s also the founder of Triunity Worship Consulting<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

How often have you heard or been involved in this \u00a0discussion?<\/p>\n

“Worship isn’t about performance, it’s about participation. We need to craft a service where our people can actively participate, not one where they passively sit and watch our leaders up front perform.”<\/p>\n

Often this idea of participation vs. performance creates tension in planning worship gatherings, as worship facilitators attempt to craft opportunities through a variety of elements for congregations to fully engage in worshipping our Living God.<\/p>\n

Recently I had the\u00a0 pleasure to read the reflections of Todd E. Johnson<\/a> (Fuller Seminary’s William K. and Delores S. Brehm Associate Professor of Worship, Theology and the Arts) on this very dilemma. He made the point that\u00a0perform,<\/em> as\u00a0defined by Presbyterian Pastor Dennis Dewey, \u201c…means to be fully formed or to form fully. Who\u00a0wouldn’t\u00a0want the Word of God and its recitation to be formed fully into life in its reading? After all, when a\u00a0 surgeon performs surgery, we don\u2019t say that it\u2019s \u2018just a performance.\u2019 We want the entirety of the surgeon\u2019s skill, training, and attention in the execution of his\u00a0 work. Should we expect less of those who minister through the reading of God\u2019s\u00a0 Word?\u201d<\/p>\n

He then goes on to say, \u201cI was persuaded that worship and preaching were performances of our faith. They were both (or both should be) fully formed offerings of thanks and praise to the God of the universe, who so graciously fully formed us and all creation, and\u00a0 offers a return to this state of being fully formed through the redeeming grace of God in Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. This perspective shaped my opinions about worship for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a theater major myself, as well as a worship consultant, I\u2019ve been musing on and processing this idea of \u201cperformance\u201d in worship, and the negative press it\u2019s gotten over the last decade or so. Most notably in contemporary-styled churches, the idea of a performance as part of the worship gathering has become the b\u00eate noire\u00a0of worship planning. It\u2019s part of the conversation that flows around the idea of providing an opportunity for congregations to actively participate in worship rather than be \u201centertained\u201d from up front.<\/p>\n

If, however, we take the approach Johnson and Dewey suggest, that performance is a fully formed expression of our faith, then\u00a0performance\u00a0<\/em>can take its place as a positive and uplifting part of our worship experiences. After all, who hasn\u2019t been privileged to sit at a live concert and feel their heart moved and encouraged by the music? And, we human beings love to be told stories in such a way that they resonate with us, giving us access to deeper emotions, and new thoughts and perspectives, than we had before seeing a rich movie or play. These kinds of opportunities to be exposed to and, yes,\u00a0experience\u00a0<\/em>these depths through performance can help revive and expand our faith in ways that might not be available if we were to solely rely on participatory experiences. We do allow for this kind of presented experience through sermons, where one person speaks and the rest listen. But somehow, especially when it comes to other kinds of faith expressions in worship gatherings, we shy away from it. By doing so I wonder if we\u2019re cheating our congregations of opportunities to move closer to God through performance. After all, I don\u2019t play a musical instrument, but the experience of being present while people who are gifted and passionate play theirs allows me a special kind of entree that would be impossible for me otherwise. And a beautiful classical hymn sung by a skilled choir can create a \u201cpathway\u201d for me to awake to God\u2019s presence in a unique and glorious way.<\/p>\n

However, there are pitfalls for this kind of perspective. As facilitators of worship services, it\u2019s vital that we\u2019re aware and intentional about utilizing\u00a0performance<\/em>\u00a0so that it enhances and supports our people\u2019s worship, rather than being the be-all and end-all. In order to achieve this, it\u2019s helpful to remember a few points:<\/p>\n