Last Sunday I went to my first Lutheran Church service. I attended St. John's Lutheran Church in Rochester, IN. They have two services every Sunday; a contemporary service and a traditional service. I wanted to get the full difference experience so I went to the traditional service. I really didn't know what to expect other than to go through a traditional liturgy. I assumed it would feel fairly different from a Catholic mass, that the congregation would be all older people, that I'd feel mostly comfortable, and overall be more familiar. However, none of those things were true.
I walked into the church and the first people I saw was a family with kids who looked like they were in middle school. Then, I immedietly was caught off guard by the pastor who was dressed like a Catholic priest. While I was caught in this shock of my surroundings I continued to look around. I saw other families with young kids, along with the older people I was expecting. I noticed the stained glass windows, the altar, the candles, and the cruicifix on the back wall. I must have looked really lost because one of the kids pointed to where I should sit and gave me their liturgy. Looking ahead through the liturgy I noticed a lot of familiar creeds and prayers from mass. The Gloria, Kyrie, Alleluia, it was all there. They began to chant and I knew that I was not going to be as comfortable as I was hoping. As the service went on, it reminded me a lot of mass with all the call and response, sitting and standing, and the chanting. So, I left the service confused and in need of reflection of what I just took part of (Maybe that sounds dramatic but it is how I felt).
This is what I learned: They care so deeply about their church body, they are comfortable with the liturgy, there are differences between their service and mass, and its simplicity is not a lack of God's presence.
First, it was very clear that they love their church body. This was evident through their inclusion of different people in the service, their portion of the liturgy directed to children, their prayer for the Church, and the fellowship after the service. During their prayer for the Church, they would specifically name every member of their church, pray for the persecuted church, and the community around them. I thought this was a beautiful inclusion that does not happen often in churches. The litrugy allowed them to do this. That is why they are so comfortable with their litugry. At times it almost seemed like they were too comfortable. Meaning, they were just reading through the litrugy and going through the motions. Not that everything felt meaningless, but some of the prayers seemed like they lost their truth and purpose. However, I could tell they were intentional about the words they said in their litrugy to seperate from catholicsm. Being caerful about who they are praying to, why they are claiming what they believe, and praying for other protestant churches. Finally, the simple reading through the litrugy, the short hymns and sermon all felt really simple. On the surface, it didn't feel challenging spiritually. However the Scripture that was read, the creeds, the prayers, and really the liturgy as a whole really revently postioned our hearts before the LORD. I thought that was a beautiful way to invite the congregation as a whole together into God's presence.
Overall, I appreciated my time at St. John's. It was definitely different than what I was expecting but it was inviting me into new perspectives. I felt welcomed into the service and lead into worship even when I felt uncomfortable.
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