It was bound to happen eventually, and it should have happened so long ago. But here it is now. I am on the parish Liturgy Committee.
I’m guessing there will be three reactions.
1. Wow, I’m so pleased for you. You will have great time and be of good service.
2. Oh, no! Who roped you into that? You poor thing!
3. What’s a Liturgy Committee?
I suppose there are a plenty more responses, to be fair:
- You’re not qualified
- You don’t have the time to do a decent job of it
- Aren’t you old enough to retire from all this?
- Isn’t your life a poor example to others?
- But can you push back when required?
- I’ve been waiting for you to step forward into a substantial leadership role. Better late than never, I suppose.
We’ll, maybe it’s just me asking these questions, pushing back with these concerns, and offering these slivers of praise and thanks and encouragement, hidden as they may be in back handed compliments. Maybe it’s just me.
But, here I am. Engaging with the committee behind the liturgy. At last. So what does a Liturgy Committee do? I’m still getting the hang of this. But it involves: paying attention to whether the rosters make sense; understanding that people desire to be responsible for enough to be challenging and engaging, but not so much as to be overwhelming or unsustainable; supporting communications between constituents of the parish; supporting communications with those external to the parish; paying more than lip service to copyright and licensing; coming to grips with being liturgical while honouring our checklists; pastoring the pastors who like it the old way; lamenting our pain in reaching all these goals; and seeking ways to do so anyway.
Sure, but I know many of you are asking what I mean by liturgy. Liturgy is our communal worship time. Liturgy is the the work of God and the work of God’s people. In my faith tradition, it includes annual, weekly, daily, and occasional gatherings of our faith community to give service to God and God’s people, to mark our liturgical year, to proclaim God’s Word, to be with one another in community, in God’s community. We rejoice, lament, listen, respond, pray. Liturgy is the public expression and nurturing of our communal and personal relationship with God and each other. The Liturgy Committee helps this to be the balm that it could be, we do what we can to facilitate the people of God in mediating God to each other.
Well, that’s what I pray that it is. Stick with me, and I’ll let you know how we go.
... thinking allowed ... 