Episode 2: Why worship?

Immediately after we finished recording the first episode of  After Church Coffee, Cressida, Alison and I got into a debate about the purpose of worship. It is a source of fascination that in Unitarian congregations we can worship together but have quite different ideas about the significance of what we are doing yet it still seems to work (most of the time).

In my lifetime, I have encountered many different perspectives on why we need to worship, some of which resonate more strongly with Unitarian congregations than others. Do we need to prostrate ourselves before an almighty God, declaring our unworthiness? Most Unitarians would not go for that, and might instead talk about the Divine spark within all of us and the worthiness of every human being. Even so, might we want worship to include some act of confession along with our celebrations of the thing we hold to be sacred? Might lamentation be a part of our worship, expressed in a good bit of Old Testament style wailing (or does the sound of your congregation singing already do that for you)? Does a person need to believe in God for the experience of worship to feel authentic?

Perhaps in this podcast we talked around the topic a bit more than we should. We focused on where we agreed and didn't go to the places of difference. Maybe we need to do more of that sometimes but perhaps one of the beautiful and strange things about worship is that it can be simultaneously a shared experience but experienced by each individual uniquely.

Most of us, it seems to me, need an occasional reminder of the need to broaden our definitions of what we mean by worship. Worship does not end when the chalice is extinguished, or when the coffee cups are drained or even when we go home. Hymn sandwiches have their place but worship is, in a sense, a way of life, a way of being. With this in mind, this month's podcast begins with some words from Jacob Trapp (whose 1968 book, Imitations of Grandeur can be downloaded here).

As you listen to the words of Jacob Trapp, you will hear in a few short lines the whole range of human experience. Worship is joy, sorrow, moments of illumination and an endless mystery. Worship is everything that gives life meaning, it is the miracle of every breath we take; it is life.

Listen to "After Church Coffee Episode 2" on Spreaker.

Welcome to After Church Coffee

Recently at Cheltenham and Gloucester Unitarians we made the decision to start a podcast. The chatting part has been okay and  if the technology works, you'll be able to hear each episode right here or via your preferred podcast player. The interweb bits, however, are proving more challenging but do bear with us as we try to iron out the creases and enjoy episode 1 (below).

Our November edition is coming very soon!

Listen to "After Church Coffee" on Spreaker.