by Ann Graham Price
STURGIS, Mich. (MC USA) —
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
in the beauty of holiness, in the beauty of holiness.
Oh, glory hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah,
O come before his presence and glorify his name.
(No. 124, Hymnal: A Worship Book)
Art is so beautifully open that worshipers can put themselves into an artistic work — a dance, poem or drama, for example — and the Holy Spirit can honor each individual response to it, Sally Morgenthaler told her audience the weekend of April 25 for the annual “Art of Worship” program at Amigo Centre.
Yet a long-standing suspicion of incorporating the creative arts in worship is deeply rooted in some aspects of Anabaptist traditions, said Marlene Kropf, director of the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board Office of Congregational Life. She is also associate professor of spiritual development and worship at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart.
“In certain religions, there is a certain resistance to the idea of beauty in church,” said Kropf, who led a workshop titled “Behold the Beauty of the Lord.”
“Zwingli’s reforms led to a devaluing of the visual. Another piece of that resistance is the tradition that human attempts to mimic God’s beauty can lead to hubris.”
Kropf recalled that in the simple, unadorned Mennonite church of her girlhood, she used to watch the shafts of light that streamed in through the plain glass windows as the congregation sang the traditional Mennonite hymn “O Worship the Lord” (quoted at the beginning of this article).
“For me, that was the sound of holiness,” she said. “We were singing about beauty, but we never talked about it.”
The debate surrounding the appropriateness of using the arts in worship dates back to the earliest centuries of Christianity and has peaked at various points in Christian history. At different times and in different settings, the debate has zeroed in on the visual arts, including paintings, sculpture and architecture; the use of musical instruments; and liturgical dance.
The most recent significant peak of this controversy, which ultimately contributed to the rise of the Anabaptist movement, was the Protestant Reformation that swept Western Europe in the 16th century. The topic continues to be widely debated in many Christian circles.
“There’s a philosophy out there that the arts can only inspire; they cannot teach,” said Morgenthaler, the keynote speaker at the weekend’s activities and a noted worship consultant, teacher and author.
Quoting from A Primer of Visual Literacy by Donis A. Dondis, Morgenthaler said that of the more than 3,000 languages that exist in the world, there is only one that comes close to achieving universal understanding, and that is visual language.
“Apparently, when decoding any visual message, the brain takes the scene in as a whole while unconsciously ‘syncretising’ the individual parts that make up the complete image. It is the most natural and accessible form of language,” Morgenthaler said.
For Morgenthaler, the omission of the arts in many worship services has led to a substantial loss of the majesty and awe of the incarnated Christ that is possible through artistic creativity.
“The word became flesh, and the church has turned flesh back into words,” she said. “Because we’ve chased all the artists out of the church, we don’t have the visual vocabulary any more; the vocabulary of the visual arts.
“We’ve got the vocabulary of Precious Moments,” she added dryly.
There is another important advantage to the use of artistic works — particularly cutting-edge technologies such as PowerPoint presentations — in worship services, she said. It will attract and engage young people, and they are the population that is most likely to possess the training and skills to create and produce such pieces.
“If you get young people participating and co-creating, then for one thing, there’s the simple issue of the time that’s involved in collaborating on a project such as this,” she said.
“There’s the initial concept meeting, then you’ve got a couple of other meetings at somebody’s house over pizza and pop to coordinate the project. That’s time they spend together, and that time — that process — is at least as important as the product that will be viewed on Sunday morning. Maybe even more so.”
Morgenthaler and Kropf were among given speakers, from both within and outside of the Anabaptist tradition, who led workshops on various aspects of worship as evangelism, with the arts as a common theme throughout the weekend.
Art in Worship is co-sponsored by the retreat center in partnership with Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary and the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board Office of Congregational Life. This year the event attracted some 87 worship and music leaders from Mennonite and non-Mennonite congregations from the immediate area and beyond.
For Art Smoker, pastor of North Goshen (Ind.) Mennonite Church, Morgenthaler’s message challenged him to look at the issue in a new way.
Smoker’s congregation has incorporated more contemporary styles of music into its worship services. Because the church building is situated in a working-class Hispanic neighborhood, the congregation has also used more Spanish in its worship services.
Each year, the church hosts a block party in its parking lot. The neighborhood is invited. Entertainment is provided by several local hired bands and is paid for with money that comes from the church’s regular operating budget. There are activities and games, and prizes are school supplies for neighborhood children. The parties are always well-attended.
“I’m intrigued by the idea of how we get people to focus on the mystery and awe of God,” he said.
“This experience is stretching me to think beyond the traditional ways of using music and words in worship … to consider the visual and emotional, and to try to help people understand what contemporary people are crying out for: for God, for centeredness, for a depth that our world isn’t offering.”
Several other speakers provided input during the program. June Alliman Yoder, associate professor of communication and preaching at AMBS, led a seminar on how to tell Bible stories in compelling ways. Mike Zehr, associate pastor and leader of worship and of the worship band of North Clinton Mennonite Church in Wauseon, Ohio, invited people to think about their underlying assumptions in planning worship.
Rebecca Slough, associate professor of worship and the arts at AMBS and member of the North American Academy of Liturgy and the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada, led a seminar titled “Selecting the Right Songs for the Right Place and the Right Time.” Photos available.
Ann Graham Price of Elkhart, Ind., wrote this story for Mennonite Church USA news service.