Pastoral Message: “Worship as Evangelism – Some Thoughts” Week of the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost August 23, 2023
Pastoral Message:
“Worship as Evangelism – Some Thoughts”
Week of the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
August 23, 2023
Dear People of God at Faith-La Fe!
Our visitors’ main contact with and experience of the church in person is during worship on Sundays and other occasions, like Christmas Eve. Thus, our worship life as a congregation is for those who visit us from our incarnate public face to our wider communities. In that way, worship becomes an important form of evangelism, of making the good news known. Indeed, it is during worship that the gospel is explicitly expressed in the preaching of the word and in the celebration of the sacraments. Music is also integral to this gospel proclamation, and for Luther, music is second only to preaching as an effective means of communicating the good news. In short, gospel proclamation during worship is evangelism.
Happily, excellence in worship and music is one of our congregation’s hallmarks and special spiritual gifts, or charisms of the Holy Spirit. Both of our Sunday liturgies, in English and in Spanish, offer faithful worship and compelling music. At our 11:00 am liturgy in Spanish El Coro de la Fe, the Choir of Faith, weaves lively music into the entirety of the service from beginning to end, which itself is faithful to the church’s catholic liturgical traditions. And we are blessed with an excellent preacher and worship leader in Pastora Veronica. Likewise, our team of worship and musical leaders for our 9:00 am liturgy in English offers the Great Tradition compellingly. And the music of our Chancel Choir carries the day. They are comparatively small in number, but mighty in sound and musical quality. Jim Sage, Nick Pegelow, and I form the core of the planning team for the 9:00 am service to offer liturgical excellence – even if I do say so myself – and we are assisted by many others: altar guild members, ushers and greeters, readers and assisting members, and, of course, the choir members.
Thus, both at 9:00 and 11:00 am, the public face of Faith-La Fe Evangelical Lutheran Church is a faithful and compelling one and is a centerpiece of and focal point for our evangelistic presence in and for the sake of the world.
Then there’s the variety of other special worship occasions scheduled throughout the year both in Spanish and in English – special ethnic festivals and occasions, worship during Advent, and on Christmas, and during Lent, Holy Week and Easter, and so on. And now we add the other occasions beyond our usual routines, such as the service of Holy Communion this past week celebrating and honoring Mary, Mother of Our Lord.
I am drawn to reflecting on this particular liturgical occasion to call attention to the specific ways in which such an offering is an evangelical gift to the wider community, especially those segments of the population, though small percentagewise but surely also sizeable numerically in the fifth most populous city in the nation, who might be attracted to and fed by the ways we do liturgy.
What was particularly noteworthy about that service was the music, that the Ordinary of the Mass – the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei – featured 16th Century English composer William Byrd’s “Mass for Four Voices.” Again, this music was beautifully offered by a quartet which our musician, Jim Sage, convened. It was exquisite that this wonderful musical setting was offered not as at a concert, but as integral to actual liturgy, the way this music was intended to be offered 500 years ago.
But it wasn’t just this music composed half a millennium ago that made worship on Mary, Mother of Our Lord, so special. Rather, it was the sum total of the whole experience, where indeed, the whole was greater than simply the sum of its parts. They say that “the devil’s in the details.” While that may be true, I am fond of also retorting that “God is in the details, too.” Which is to say, attention to every detail of the service, itself a spiritual discipline and act of devotion, tilled the soil practically speaking for what became for those who attended, by God’s grace in the power of the Spirit, a deeply spiritual experience, a living encounter with the risen Christ known to us in the breaking of the bread and the proclamation of the word. Several persons who attended this service told me as much, in effect, that worship on Mary’s day was a truly transcendent experience.
So, to the musical beauty, add the visual beauty as well, the evocative lighting, the shrine to Mary, and the olfactory experience with the sweet smell of incense, the liturgical depth, and the classic order of service that has communicated the gospel so effectively and faithfully throughout the Christian centuries. All these details and each of the people who made it all possible add up to the raw material the Holy Spirit worked with to make for transcendence in word and sacrament. We all, in our stewardship of our worship life, became vessels for the Holy Spirit’s work.
I offer these reflections not so much pridefully to toot our own horns as a congregation and as worship planners and leaders, but more importantly to observe and reiterate that one of our charisms, one of the gifts we as a congregation offer our wider community, is quality worship and music of spiritual depth and gravitas. Again, these worshipful offerings are integral to our approach to evangelism in proclaiming the gospel of Christ to the world.
This service was well attended, but mostly by our regulars with a handful of visitors, mostly already well-known to us, from beyond our congregation. This service was reasonably well-advertised, particularly on Facebook, and it got some good attention on that platform. So, one of the main challenges and opportunities before us is to really hunker down and focus on our various communications strategies centering on the question: practically speaking, how best and how most effectively do we connect with the people unknown to us in our wider communities who might be profoundly fed by the kinds of spiritual encounters and experiences we offer as a congregation? That’s the thousand-dollar question before us now going forward as we will continue to offer worship and music on Sundays and other occasions that by God’s grace will share in God’s work of giving abundant life to the world in Christ Jesus.
Finally, thousand thanks to all who made possible worship on Mary, Mother of Our Lord – Jim Sage and the singers he convened, Nick Pegelow, whose attention to all manner of details is a great gift to us all, our liturgical ministers, reader, greeters, ushers, altar guild members and indeed all who came to worship with us last Tuesday. Thanks be to God – and to you all.
Basking in the privilege of being part of the worship team here at Faith-La Fe in Jesus’ name,
Pastor Jonathan Linman
Pastor’s Office Phone Number: 602-265-5860
Email: pastor@faithalive.com
Announcements
God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday on September 10
On Sunday, September 10, Faith-La Fe will share in “God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday,” an annual initiative of ELCA congregations across the country. This year, in particular, we will be part of an effort by Phoenix Lutherans Together and the congregations of the Capital Conference, to gather items to support a ministry of Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest called I-HELP Phoenix, an initiative which provides overnight accommodations to the unhoused. Currently, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church on Glendale is a site for the I-HELP program, and All Saints’ Church on 7th Street is planning to be a host site. As part of this program, breakfast is provided to guests.
To support the breakfast effort at Our Saviour’s, members of our local congregations are encouraged to bring shelf-stable breakfast foods on September 10, namely: cereal, juice boxes, fruit cups, pop-tarts, mini-doughnuts, etc. Men’s t-shirts (size L-2XL) are also needed. Additionally, and specifically, Faith-La Fe has been asked by the Phoenix Lutherans Together Working Team to donate packages of earplugs – a very helpful item when several snoring adults are trying to sleep in the same room!
Our local congregations are also encouraged to have a freezer-meal breakfast casserole making event as part of this “God’s Work, Our Hands” initiative. If anyone from Faith-La Fe is willing to coordinate this food preparation project before September 10, please contact Pastor Linman (pastor@faithalive.com).
Finally, also on “God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday” on September 10, we at Faith-La Fe will revive the tradition of “Noisy Offering” – collecting change, but also quieter dollar bills – to contribute to ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response’s efforts to provide relief to victims of the wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
Donated items and offerings will be placed in the chancel on September 10th to be blessed during the sending rites of our two services as we do “God’s work with Our Hands” in meeting the needs of those who suffer.
Celebrating Our Preschool’s 40th Anniversary
On Sunday afternoon, October 1 from 2:00 – 5:00, our Faith Lutheran Preschool will celebrate its 40th Anniversary. Current students and their families, alumni, staff and members of the congregation are invited to join in the festivities, details about which will be included in future announcements. But mark your calendars now and plan to join us for this important celebration in the life of our preschool and our congregation.
Autumn Rummage Sale
Mark your calendars because the date has been set! Faith/La Fe will be holding its next rummage sale on Saturday, October 21. You may bring your donations beginning Sunday, August 20. Please coordinate larger and weekday drop-offs with Carly Chamberlain at 269-267-4899. For any other questions about the upcoming sale, please contact Carly and/or Jan Hulin.
Mark Your Calendars Now for Upcoming Special Worship Services
Further details about the following special occasions for worship is forthcoming, but please note these special liturgies now in your calendars!
September 14 at 7:00 pm + Holy Cross Day, Evensong
November 1 at 7:00 pm + All Saints’ Day, Holy Communion
Upcoming Saturday Quiet Days at Faith-La Fe in 2023
Saturday, September 30 – on this day, close to the commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi, we will explore Franciscan Spirituality and what it might mean for Lutherans in ministry and mission in the 21st Century.
Saturday, October 28 – as we approach Reformation Sunday, this will be a day devoted to revealing key features of specifically Lutheran Spirituality, or Christian spirituality with Lutheran accents. We will discover that there’s a lot to draw from in our own tradition to take us ever more deeply into the spiritual life.
Saturday, November 18 – this day will be devoted to spending our time together in our beautiful nave doing “Stations of Our Stained Glass Windows,” a series of visual meditations on our stained-glass windows and the miracles and parables of Jesus they depict. We’ll explore in conversation the bible stories the windows are based on, and then look carefully at the windows to see features of the story which the stained-glass art highlights. Each station will feature a hymn before we move on to the next window.
The excitement is building! With just over two months to go before the Just Love Gathering kicks off, now is the time to prepare for in-kind giving.
Providing in-kind support for the people of our host city is always a major component of any triennial gathering. It will be true in Phoenix too. There are three primary ways to support in-kind giving: through quilts, knitted knockers, and particular items needed by local service agencies. Check out the full details at https://www.womenoftheelca.org/new-triennial-event-page/inkind and download the fact sheet. A copy of the fact sheet is attached for your convenience. Make copies of the fact sheet and invite the women of your congregational unit to contribute. Why stop there? Invite your whole congregation! Invite your family and neighbors!