Worship As Entry into Church Life
The sign hangs close to the door of almost every church. ALL WELCOME.
A similar message of welcome will be on the church’s opening web page, usually accompanied by a photo of Christmas Eve worship—as if Christmas worship is representative of the whole church year.
We still expect our worship experience to be the entry point into community life within the Church. There may have been a day when this was true.
That day would have been when most people had some familiarity with religion and sought a new church community only when they relocated.
Today, however, a first-time visitor is often entering our doors totally unprepared for what they are about to experience.
Their first impression will be as if they were watching a foreign film with subtitles in a different foreign language.
- Liturgies and hymns are laced with words from Latin and Greek and tunes from ancient choral traditions.
- They will be asked to stand, sit and kneel with little explanation as to why. Obvious perhaps to church goers, but not to today’s visitors.
- They will juggle bulletins with papers flying out and hymnals that have two numbering systems.
And then comes Communion, where they won’t be sure if they are among those welcome or not. They may be unsure of the local customs and have no clue what this eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ is all about. (Many of those participating don’t know either.)
There is nothing wrong with any of this. Just realize that it doesn’t necessarily communicate to visitors. Although meant to be welcoming, it may be alienating or worse.
If a visitor is not welcome at communion, their first visit to church has been an experience of exclusion.
If communion is a weekly event, they will feel excluded weekly until they are made welcome through some form of initiation. If the Eucharist is a third of the worship service, the visitor has been excluded from a third of the worship service.
This is just something for the Church in a new age to think about as we practice our rituals.