In the blog post before this I wrote about the Walls of Worship described in Constance M. Cherry's, "The Worship Architect." I wrote on the first two walls, the Gathering and the Word, but now I will address the other last two: the Table and the Sending. First, when writing about the Table, Cherry gives three other names or meanings to this term. Maybe the most familiar is Communion, but there is also the Lord's Supper and the Eucharist. Each has their own unique expression of taking communion and what that means. I am most familiar with Communion and the Lord's Supper, coming from a non-denominational, evangelical church background. Communion focuses on establishing the community and unity of the Church through the bread and wine, and the Lord's Supper focuses on remembrance of that night when Jesus was betrayed. The other term I was less familiar with was Eucharist which highlights thanksgiving or celebration in what the bread and wine accomplish for us.
I think all of these themes are good and there is not one that is the right way to take communion. I think that in the ideal worship setting, all of these themes and characteristics of communion should be expressed. I really liked how Cherry mentioned that, in dialogical worship, the Table is the Church's response to hearing God through the Word. That it should be a natural inclination of our hearts and of the service to respond with the Table. I do appreciate and agree with her statements about how the Table should be a part of regular weekly worship, but it a lot of Protestant churches it is not. I especially thought it important when she said that the Table should never feel like an "add-on," to a service, that if it is not weekly, it should never feel out of place. It is our response to God's Word.
To speak on the fourth wall, the Sending, one of Cherry's main points was that it must be intentional. When I think of sending out in a service I just think of a simple 2-3 sentence benediciton, whether that is directly from the Bible or something very similar. What Cherry expresses is that the Sending is blessing the congregation but also challenging them to go into the world and their lives continuing to be in dialogue with God. Something that she said about the movement of the Sending that really stuck out to me was, "The worship architect will be intentional in choosing a mixture of worshop elements designed to celebrate having been in God's presence and empowering worshipers to live in the kingdomg of God." I found it really helpful to see that there are more than just one way to go about the Sending.
While she said to keep the Sending brief, or at least shorter than the other walls, it does not have to be, and should not be, just a 2-3 sentences Bible verse. I may disagree with Cherry on keeping the Sending brief. I do understand that the service is ending so it can't be as long as the other aspects of worship, but I don't think it should be brief. I think that if the Sending should not be abrupt and basic, then there is a need for more emphasis on the Sending then there currently is in the Church. I think that we should really focus in on the Sending and emphasize it just as much as the other four walls.
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