Worship Committee Mandate
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posted Nov9/06 to cuc-worship-discussion@yahoogroups.com
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posted by Susan Stephens of UU Halifax: (Fall/06)
My favourite definition of worship is from Brian Kiely, who adopted it from Mark deWolfe. We liked it so much our Worship Committee adopted it as a goal statement (I've edited it a bit for brevity):
The Gifts of Worship offer us...
...the chance to re-experience being together in community
...the chance to find wholeness within ourselves...
...the chance to reflect upon life experiences and connect them with our highest values
...a space and time to hear ideas about living and dying, god, social concerns, ethics and morals, and to integrate them into our lives
...a space and time in which to seek serenity
...a chance to see and hear beauty
...an opportunity to find comfort for our pain
Good worship
-- provides sacred space and time...
-- inspires us to be our best selves
-- acknowledges the pain ... of life... not all those at worship will be happy
-- readies us to step back into life invigorated, reconnected, hopeful...
-- must be intentional...it must be based on a solid idea, have an articulated purpose and be executed with a sense of unity flowing through its elements.
Because this piece of clear thinking guides our committee as we move into being a lay-led congregation, I thought it might be useful, though much of it can be interpreted from different perspectives.
While I don't disagree with Beverly that how we are perceived is important, I think it is more important to act with purpose toward what we want. I guess I don't think people take the step of walking into a new church unless they're searching for something that is connected to religious ideas; we shouldn't be afraid of talking about what those ideas are, for each of us. I want a sense of sacredness when I go to church; I want a life lesson or an engaging idea about ethical living when I listen to a sermon. I don't care too much if god is around, but I don't really want a discussion group...it's bigger than that.
Anyway, a few thoughts.
Susan Stephen (Halifax)
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