Sunday, February 22

We had a good discussion today, touching on various aspects of the introduction and first three chapters of Mark Galli's book. Joining the conversation today were: Nancy and Stan Nevins, Marilyn King, Julia Smith, Jane Petrie, Laurie McKim, Brenda Laney, Fr. Gary, and myself. One interesting fact that emerged was the variety of worship backgrounds we all had grown up in: Pentecostal, Methodist, Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, Baptist, and Episcopalian, and the fact that we all felt so 'at home' in a liturgical worship setting.

We talked some about the basic structure of a liturgical service: Gathering, Word, Sacrament, Dismissal, and noted how easy it is to overlook the Gathering and the Dismissal portions while focusing on Word and Sacrament. It's an understandable tendency, but we all agreed that being mindful of the Gathering and the Dismissal was important, both in terms of welcoming each other, especially newcomers, and in terms of being sent forth with strength and courage to meet the challenges of the upcoming week as servants of God.

We touched on the value of the liturgical calendar and how it changes the way we experience time and perceive reality - "the meaning that is infused by the dance between time and eternity."

And finally, we spent a good bit of time commenting on how liturgy draws us into community: both the eternal community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit ("as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever") and the community of the local church, where we are drawn out of our independence and individuality into something larger than ourselves and where, at the same time, we recognize that even at our best we are deeply flawed.

"If God-as-Trinity is the core reality of the universe, that means that the core of reality is community." p. 31.

Everyone agreed we are off to a good start. We will prepare for our conversation next Sunday by reading the next three chapters of the book. Meanwhile feel free to add your comments to our blog.