Early Christian Worship

It feels good to return after a day off. I've had a pleasant surprise this summer in terms of the way I am worshipping. Originally I expected to visit a different worshipping community each week in order to experience as many different worship experiences as possible. While such an approach might have sounded good in theory, I realized early on that it wouldn't do much for my soul. Given the fact that many of the emergent experiences and gatherings take place at various times throughout the week, I decided early in my sabbatical to find one community which would be my primary worshipping community during my time in an area. While in Spokane, my community was Westminster United Church of Christ. This morning, I found my Denver worshipping community. For the sake of privacy (mine and theirs), I'll leave the community unnamed until the end of summer. Needless to say, it feels great to have a spiritual community to call home for the next 2 months! This afternoon I added a new dimension to my sabbatical studies. I started Paul Bradshaw's book "Early Christian Worship". I've only finished the first two sections on Baptism and the Eucharist, and I've already come to deeply appreciate the book's wisdom. As a pastor serving an ecumenical church with members from a variety of faith traditions, the book does a beautiful job explaining how factors like geography (East vs. West), history (pre- vs. post-Constantianian realities), and culture shaped the evolution of sacramental practices. I particularly liked his discussion on the emergence of the practice of baptizing infants. This discussion will be of great help in better explaining the practice to folks from Baptist traditions. From an emerging cultural perspective, I especially like his discussion of the Eucharist. Bradshaw does a nice job of explaining how the deletion of a meal in conjunction with Communion altered the nature of the sacrament (i.e. "There is a world of difference betweenenjoying fellowship around a table at an evening meal and rising early in the morning in order to engage in a hasty ritual act before setting out for work" - p 43). This discussion helped me better understand why so many emergent worshipping communities have come to incorporate a meal in conjunction with their worship gathering. I'm looking forward to enjoying the last third of Bradshaw's book which covers practices involving the observance of liturgical time. On a personal note, while my father remains in ICU, there are postive signs today as his vital signs continue to stabilize. Thanks for your continued prayers. Til next time...