Essentials of Worship

In 1964, Jerzey Grotowski, theatre theorist and stage director, wrote an essay titled, “Theatre’s New Testament,” where he briefly attempts to describe what he believes is “essential” to theatre. First, he outlines the many different interpretations made by various people involved with theatre- academics see it as a written text, common audiences as entertainment, “culture seekers” desire to experience certain emotions to give them self-satisfaction. And then, of course, there are actors who think of theatre as all about them, designers who think it is about them, directors who think they are the most important, and producers who, because they provide the money, believe they are the essential element to theatre.

He then states, “the number of definitions of theatre is practically unlimited. To escape from this vicious circle one must without doubt eliminate, no add. That is, one must ask oneself what is indispensable to theatre.” He then goes on to eliminate those things which are not essential to theatre: costumes and sets, musical accompaniment, lighting effects, even a text (for theatre can be improvised).

Grotowski states, “But can theatre exist without actors? I know of no example of this… Can the theatre exist without an audience? At least one spectator is needed to make it a performance. So we are left with the actor and the spectator. We can thus define the theatre as ‘what takes place between the spectator and actor.’” The only thing required, is some common ground the spectator and actor share, “something they can either dismiss in one gesture or jointly worship.”

Can we do this exercise with Christian worship as well? What is essential to our worship? Scripts of bulletins, prayers, and creeds? No. Hymns and other songs? No. Vestments, beautiful spaces, religious images? No. We can, and Christians have for centuries, worship without any or all of these things. What is essential are worshipers, the performers in our analogy, our three-in-one audience, God, and the common ground being that of a story of salvation in Christ.

Woolsocks

In a brief break from memorizing irregular Greek verbs, I found these videos on youtube of the Woolsocks, the male acapella group at Rhodes College. I was a part of this group for four years while in college there. These are from our 2008 spring concert. Woolsocks began twenty-two years ago at Rhodes and started in large part because of Dr. Diane Clark's love of barbershop music. Dr. Clark, a music professor, started the group as a double quartet of men, and originally members received credit for the group. Eventually, though, the group decided to go more in the way of collegiate acapella music, converting popular songs into voice-only arrangements and expanded the numbers to twelve.

The Woolsocks primarily perform on campus and for Rhodes events but occasionally sing in the community as well (and the occasional Memphis Redbirds baseball game). The group is entirely student-run and on a volunteer basis. They also receive no direct funding from the college, but raise their own money through cd sales, which in turn go to create new cds. We're always looking to find some of those original members. If any of them happen upon this blog, let me know who you are. I don't know who recorded these videos and put them and put them online, but I thought I'd share them here.

"Artsy"

I have a confession to make: I do not like the word "artsy." While not an actual word to begin with, the connotations of this word are particularly troubling to me. Dictionary.com defines the word (though it admits that it is in face not a real word from a linguistic perspective) as "characterized by a showy, pretentious, and often spurious display of artistic interest, manner or mannerism." Before moving on, let's define these SAT vocabulary words used in the definition.

• pretentious: characterized by assumption of dignity or importance
• spurious: not genuine, authentic, or true
• showy: making an imposing display

This meaning of artsy, therefore, obviously carries some fairly loaded connotations. It seems to say that artsy relates to being a braggart, not being genuine, and resulting in large and ostentatious work. You can hear people using the word in this way already, "That's just the way it is with artsy people; they can't put their ego aside for one minute." Artsy people= loud, highly emotional (bordering on bipolar), impulsive, attention-seekers."

I would argue that "artsy" carries with it other connotations, however, not mentioned by dictionary.com. If anyone watches thirty minutes of HGTV, I bet you'll hear the word "artsy." Usually designers/clients use this word to describe something abstract that symbolically represents something else (or nothing itself). Artsy means confusing, beyond the understanding of the ordinary person. In many ways, these individuals use the word "artsy" in an elitist way. It means they can understand this thing (or at least enjoy trying to understand it), while you have no idea what it means.

(Below: images I found when I googled artsy)I believe that these two connotations of the word "artsy" prevent many people from admitting that they are indeed artistic. We have confused these terms. Artsy (apart from a pure defining of the word) connotes elitism, emotionalism, and confusion. This is different, very different, from being artistic. Artistic people express themselves through various media to share something with their world. They do not do it in order to be recognized (though this is a helpful result) or to appear more elite or to exclude someone. Instead, these folks wish to add something to the conversation about what it means to be human and to live on this place called earth.

Therefore, anyone who feels the need to express and share with their world, who marvels at the life around them, who desires to experience life more fully, is artistic. We can neglect this side of ourselves when we believe that "artsy" is the only way to be artistic. This is a lie. So go out into the world and make art, make life.

Things I like in Decatur (so far)

Rebecca and I have now been officially living in the town of Decatur for over a month and have discovered some pretty neat stuff going on here. For those who don't know, Decatur is an individual town, with its own government, police force, tax structure, etc located six miles directly east of downtown Atlanta on Interstate 20. The story goes that Decatur was actually founded before the city of Atlanta, but the town fathers, when offered the opportunity to have the railroad run through their town, refused because the railroad would bring about vagabonds and crime and such. Atlanta, however, accepted the offer, and you see what has happened as a result. Decatur folks, however, sometimes joke that Atlanta is really a suburb of their town, since they are indeed older.

Now for things I like:

#1 Figo Restaurant. A small Italian restaurant. Had GREAT ravioli here.

#2 Java Monkey Coffee. Java Monkey sells organic coffees and has a great indoor/outdoor atmosphere, located in the heart of downtown Decatur.
#3 Raging Burrito. This Mexican restaurant pushes the envelope with some of their offerings. I had a pineapple jerk burrito there, yummy!
#4 Crescent Moon. This restaurant we found on a request from some friends in Knoxville who lived in Decatur while one of them went through seminary. They got us a gift card, so we took advantage. HUGE breakfasts that mix potatoes, eggs, bacon, and cheese and bring it to you in a skillet.
#5 Sweet Melissa's. Located on the Decatur square, this restaurant serves breakfast and lunch only. We stopped by for a late lunch last weekend. Really neat atmosphere and very eclectic artwork on the walls, plus delicious food!
#6 Decatur Presbyterian Church. We've made three Sunday visits to this church and have enjoyed it each time. We met very friendly members in the congregation, have heard both the senior pastor and interns preach, and I have accepted a position as a staff singer in the choir (which a really good choir, particularly to be a church choir). In addition to being a wonderful place to grow in faith and make and develop new friendships, Decatur Pres is in downtown Decatur, within walking distance of many of the restaurants mentioned above!Decatur REALLY supports local business. Last Saturday Rebecca and I spent the entire afternoon milling through little boutiques and home stores along with restaurants and coffee shops. There are a couple of great local bookstores in the area too, but we have yet to purchase anything from them. While it is exciting to have unique places to shop and great things to eat, locally owned stuff is always more expensive, so we have to be selective about when we choose to support our local businesses. So far it is a wonderful place to live, and if you ever get tired of the "small town" feel of Decatur, you can always head to Atlanta!

Church as Art

I just received an e-mail about a conference going on in Atlanta this weekend about urban ministry/emergent church ministry. One of the leaders of this is Rev. Troy Brosnink, a graduate of Columbia Seminary and community organizer/songwriter/artist/public educator. He has a blog called Church as Art. It looks to be a fairly new site, with many of the pages linking you back to the homepage, but he has some interesting things to say. There is an article on him on the Creative Loafing website (he's listed as the 6th least influential person in Atlanta). It also provides a very brief introduction on the emergent church movement.

I'm just now becoming more familiar with what exactly the "emergent church" movement is. The new moderator of the PC(USA), Bruce Reyes-Chow, is a member of this movement which is seeking new ways of "doing" church in the postmodern world. There is also another blog that is helpful in finding out more about the emergent church (which is apparently a huge supporter of blogging...) in the PCUSA called presbymergent.

Worship and Theatre #1

The greatest interest I have in the life of the church is in the worship life of the church. My combined interests in theatre and religion guide me in this journey. Where do rituals originate? What purpose do they serve? Are there rules or guidelines from Christian worship? Is there anything to mandate or anything to forbid? How are ways Christians have worshiped in the past and how do Christians in other cultures worship God? Over the next three years, I will occasionally be citing moments in my theological education when these questions arise, and I plan on reflecting on them here.


I had a small revelation in worship this week at Columbia Seminary. My Greek School small group was in charge of planning and leading worship for the week, and have planned services that utilize the many gifts of our group. On Monday, our musical selections were of a wide variety. The congregation opened with a Call to Worship acapella and in four-part harmony. We sang a contemporary hymn to jazz piano, and we closed with a praise chorus with guitar and drums.

I was in charge of the Call to Worship song, a simple melody with the words, "Come all you people come and praise your maker. Come now and worship the Lord." I learned this song from Rev. John Bell at the Montreat Worship and Music conference several years ago. He taught the congregation four parts to this song by lining out each part, having that section practice, and then he built up the song one voice part at a time. I followed his example when I taught and led this call on Monday, and with a willing congregation and a acoustically live chapel, it was a wonderful means of focusing our attention on worshiping God.

Our hymn was a somewhat complicated tune that was unfamiliar to most of us, but our capable pianist quickly realized this, and on the first verse simply played the melody in octaves, and with each verse he added more of a jazz style as the congregation grew more familiar with the tune.

The praise chorus, however, did not go as well. The piano, guitars, and drum sounded great, and we had the lyrics to the song in our bulletin, but with no microphone to amplify the singers' voices, it was difficult for the worshipers to engage with the music and take part in this form of worship.

Now I will admit my prejudice against praise music, but I think I gained a new understanding of why I have never particularly enjoyed singing it in worship. It is simply because I am uncomfortable with it. I don't know the tune, there is no music in front of me, there are difficult trills and slides in the leader's voice that are difficult to mimic, and I feel "left out" of the service. It is not that I feel the music is inappropriate or the words insufficient, but that it can be exclusive, just as traditional hymnody can exclude people who do not read music or are unfamiliar with the pattern and verses of hymns.

The conclusion and solution seem simple: we need to teach our music for worship outside of singing it in church. A simple lesson before a service begins, or practicing it during another gathering would be sufficient. This way we maximize who participates in worship and how well we perform for God. As Christians, we must always remember that our worship is a performance for God, to which we come prepared and bring our very best.

Performance

Why do we, as human beings, feel a need to perform? I would honestly say that I believe that most living people, at some point in their lives, feel the need to perform. I mean this in the broadest of terms. Performing can be telling an adventurous story to family around the dinner table at Thanksgiving or it can be teaching in a classroom, performing for your students. Performance is hardly limited to actors and dancers on stages or musicians in concert halls and ampitheatres.

We need to perform. Here are some of my thoughts on why people need to do it:

1. Performance teaches. This one is simple. When we perform we learn both as the performer doing something which therefore helps that knowledge to solidify in our brains, but we also teach something to another person. Performance is a way of teaching people and a means of learning.

2. Performing feeds our ego. How many concerts have you attended where the conductor of a choir or orchestra feels the need to take several bows which often seemingly last as long as the concert? Or how about the high school drama teacher who gets invited on stage at each performance and is given a bouquet of flowers from her students? Or even the staging of a curtain call for a play? Sometimes these things are more elaborate than the rehearsal process. Good or bad, performing has a natural tendency to feed our egos, to make us feel important, special, appreciated. If we didn't care about recognition, we wouldn't bow at the end of concerts or plays.

3. On the other, more idealistic side of the spectrum, performance allows us to express that which is most "us." It is an offering up of ourselves to the world, our voice, our body, our movement, everything. Performing provides a way for us to express our experience as human beings in ways that writing or painting or sculpting or speaking cannot. A performance requires the whole self. It is risky, it is terrifying, but we must do it for we have something we must share with the world.

I know there are many other reasons why human beings perform, but these are three very broad categories that I have observed in my time in theatres, choirs, and churches (not to mention playgrounds, camping grounds, and baseball fields). I believe we all have varying combinations of the "ego-serving desires" of performance and the "offering of our selves to the world" side of performance. I'll admit I strive for the latter and much prefer to witness the latter when I see a production.

So the next time someone tells you, "I'm following my dream. I just have to perform!" Think about their motivations for this choice. Is it to learn something about the world or to teach something to others? Is this need driven more honestly by a desire to be famous, to be part of the in-crowd, to be considered elite, to be envied? Or might you be able to see a need of this person to share themselves with their world, to express fully what they see, feel, touch, taste, smell, and hear. To desire above all else to inspire wonder, fear, love, hate, action, questions, connections for others.

Let this be a our goal in all performance. I need to share this. I need for you to know this. I need to perform.

Marvels at Creation

Eugene Peterson, translator of The Message and pastor and teacher, opens his book on spiritual theology this way:

We wake up each morning to a world we did not make. how did it get here? How did we get here? We open our eyes and see that 'old bowling ball the sun' careen over the horizon. We wiggle our toes. A mockingbird takes off and improvises on themes set down by robins, vireos, and wrens, and we marvel at the intricacies. The smell of frying bacon works its way into our nostrils and we begin anticipating buttered toast, scrambled eggs, and coffee freshly brewed from our favorite Javanese beans.

There is so much here- around, above, below, inside, outside. Even with the help of poets and scientists we can account for very little of it. We notice this, then that. We start exploring the neighborhood. Before long we are looking out through telescopes and down into microscopes, curious, fascinated by this endless proliferation of sheer Is-ness- color and shape and texture and sound.

After awhile we get used to it and quit noticing. We get narrowed down into something small and constricting. Somewhere along the way this exponential expansion of awareness, this wide-eyed looking around, this sheer untaught delight in what is here, reverses itself: the world contracts; we are reduced to a life of routine through which we sleepwalk.

But not for long. Something always shows up to jar us awake: a child's question, a fox's sleek beauty, a sharp pain, a pastor's sermon, a fresh metaphor, an artist's vision, a slap in the face, scent from a crushed violet. We are again awake, alert, in wonder: how did this happen? And why this? Why anything at all?"

In addition to being a wonderful reminder of the majesty and wonder of creation, I believe Peterson speaks volumes to those of us who are called to be instruments of that "re-awakening." This can be anyone who is willing to take the time to marvel and wonder, to create and to share. Let us rejoice and be awakened to a world created for us! Let us celebrate those people, animals, words, songs, pieces of art, pieces of nature that awaken us, and let us respond with gratitude, "Thank you God!"

An Attempt to Return to the Blogosphere

I am going to be making an effort in coming days to resurrect this blog. The previous series of posts on this site began as an assignment for CODA (the Center for Outreach in the Development of the Arts) at Rhodes College. Having graduated from Rhodes in May, my requirement to provide updates on my life in the arts and my witty and insightful remarks into the arts world ended. Since graduating, I have gotten married, moved to Atlanta, Georgia (technically Decatur), and begun at Master of Divinity program at Columbia Theological Seminary.

Recently, though, I have felt inclined to enter this world of online conversation but with a different theme for posts. I still plan on contemplating the arts world as I attempt to remain in touch with it, but I also plan on discussing issues pertaining to my studies at Columbia, the Presbyterian Church, theology in general, and possibly local Decatur/Atlanta issues.

Be looking for post #1 soon!