A Volley from the Canon, #67

THE SAME THING, ONLY DIFFERENT

Many of the undertakings I advocate in these little missives must make traditionalists groan aloud. I am often suggesting that foul, vulgar, proletarian drone-word—change. After one has achieved a state of perfection, one might ask, why would one entertain the notion of changing it? Besides, many Episcopalians do value the experience of being able to worship easily and comfortably as visitors in other congregations, even far-flung ones. In our own home congregations, we can spot at forty paces any first-time visitors who are Episcopalians. They just exude an air of confidence that they know what to do, and when to do it. A certain sameness and predictability has an appeal to it. The barbarians at the walls have not yet breached the gate. That’s a good thing to know early on a Sunday morning.

Fine for us. But, as troubler of Israel, I must ask:

1) Have we really achieved such a state of perfect harmony in our practice of common prayer? If so, where are the masses of eager participants? I don’t notice bus tours pulling up at many of our narthex entrances. Perhaps perfection in this instance is a moving target, never quite attained, always tantalizingly just out of reach? It may be that our hope for worshiping God magnificently, “in the beauty of holiness,” lies more in the effort than in the accomplishment. Doing things the same way weekly, or even annually in the liturgical cycle, is lazy worship! More imagination, more planning, more thought, more effort on our part may produce surprising and rewarding insights and experiences.

2) How can we grow if we are bored? How can we entice a short-attention-span culture, if we offer the same routine day in and day out? “Been there and done that” is not a high recommendation in our era.

It seems to me that the task of planning liturgy involves careful balancing of these opposite needs. We want enough familiarity to give us a level of comfort necessary to experiment, and enough innovation to challenge us to listen and truly participate. That applies to regular worshipers and to first-time visitors as well. Our worship needs to look and feel Episcopal, for our comfort. It also needs to rise somewhat beyond the sectarian, for any who are new to it. For all concerned, we hope our attention to be drawn to the challengingly comforting realm of the divine. That probably happens by chance, but as in so many instances, it takes a lot of planning and work to help a happy accident to occur.