Movement in Worship
One 2×2 reader responded to yesterday’s post about using tablets and mobile devices in worship with another thought. As we gather around these stationary devices, there is a greater need to move. Our bodies need movement.
Her email returned me to the 1960s.
I was part of a school choir. At Christmas, we crowded onto specially constructed risers and formed the Singing Christmas Tree.
Each year, towards the end of the concert, the boys at the top of the tree would start something to rile our director. It was an annual game that never disappointed.
“If you start to sway, I will pull the curtain. Mark my words. I will. I will pull the curtain.”
We acted appropriately chastised while attempting to hide our glee. We knew what was coming.
At the first strains of Silent Night, we started to sway. Every year.
She never pulled the curtain.
Back then, as a choir stemming from the culture of northern Europe, we were expected to perform like statues. The Singing Statues.
Today, with the infusion of multiple cultures and the relative boredom of watching the stiff performances of the Lawrence Welk singers on eternal reruns, movement is becoming expected. It is part of the delivery of the message.
It’s time to think about how these needs might change our worship. It’s nothing new. Miriam danced. David danced. It’s entirely biblical.
Not only do our bodies need motion but our souls need expression.
It’s all right. Go ahead. Sway!