May 15, 2024
| Worship: A Multigenerational and Shared Experience Suggestions for Living into the Grace of it All |
| Did you know? Worship is a shared experience. It is an embodied experience. It is meant to give us an experience of what God’s Kingdom, of what Beloved Community is like. In worship, we all participate. We get to practice the commitments we have to one another in community. We bring ourselves to worship honoring our different gifts, energies, and needs – especially when those things do not smoothly align. Ongoing conversations between the Rector, Rev. Dina and the Children, Youth, and Family Minister, Dana Hale, have led us to identify suggestions for how we can bring the best of our intentions to worship, not seeking perfection, but the commitment to make a continual and abiding effort. They are: 1. Pay attention to when we stand and sit and kneel – even if you cannot do these things. Notice. Consider why we have the movement. 2. Teach the youngest among us about how to be in worship. Our space is large and naturally invites a sense of freedom to run. Running in worship takes oneself outside of the experience of worship – out of community. It causes others not to be able to hear; especially the readings, the sermon, and the prayers. And it disconnects us from each other by breaking our promises to work together. 3. Choose a place to land that is comfortable. We have made special places and incorporated ways for children to be welcomed and made comfortable in worship under the care of caregivers or guardians: in a pew, in the soft-space, in the comfort room. We have activity bags and places that honor and celebrate the needs of our children to move and wiggle. We celebrate when children feel comfortable to lay on the floor, and to color, and to play with the items in the activity bags during worship. 4. If (or when!) children want to move to another area, please invite them and do so under the cover of a hymn or at the passing of the peace. And, ensure they walk to their next destination – either to another adult or with you alongside. 5. Pick key moments in the worship to teach children (your own or if you are helping other parents out) to stand and be still. Ideal places are the reading of the Gospel, the reading of the prayers, and the saying of the Lord’s Prayer. These suggestions intend to teach children how they are a beloved part (and partner) of a larger community. Their needs and the needs of others come together and are balanced and we are all honored as full companions comprising the Body of Christ. Worship, as the images show us, is one of the best places to experience, to practice, and to learn about being part of a loving community – one that cares for the youngest, the oldest, and all in between. If you have any questions, please contact either Dana or Rev. Dina. |
Do you have any questions for the Camel? Questions about God, or Jesus, or the Church? About how to be Christian? Submit them via email to clergy@epiphanyec.org. Your name will be kept anonymous.
And a response will show up in a future Hump Day Message!
| UPCOMING ACTIVITIES Sunday 5/19/2024 – Worship at 10am – Pentecost! Join us for a celebratory service: Wear Red! Bring a side dish that is red: strawberries? Apples? Raspberries? Anything! Sunday 5/19/2024: 6pm – Dinner before Contempletive Worship – at Community of Faith. Worship begins 6:45. Pot Luck!! Call the office to let us know you are coming! Sunday, 6/9 – Worship with celebration of graduates and Parish Picnic. |
