Rochester, Minnesota
2021
To increase worshipers' awareness and experience of God's action in history and in the world by exploring the distinct gifts of the liturgical seasons of the Christian Year.
Provide a brief summary of the purpose and goal of your grant.
Our purpose has been to pay close attention to the distinctiveness of the liturgical seasons and how they influence our lives. Through presentations about church history, conversations around the gifts of each season, spiritual practices of music and art, and the ongoing study of the scripture stories and traditions of each church season, we are becoming more and more attuned to how the church year holds us.
What questions have you asked about worship in the past year?
In order to inspire, challenge and connect our community with the wider church and world, how can we incorporate more elements of the liturgical seasons into worship?
How can we faithfully innovate from the patterns of the past into 21st-centuiry worship life? What parts are not helpful anymore? What parts can be retained or developed?
Can we name Ordinary Time more distinctively? What would be the 8influence of a more unique name and flow?
What does it mean for our members to experience connection with the community and with the wider church?
In what ways has your project engaged your congregation so that it impacts the worship life and habits of the congregation?
The educational elements of our forums have teased out new ways to use liturgical colours in the worship space and around the church building.
Feedback from participants report a deeper understanding of how the movements of the church year are all connected, and how each year cycles the same year after year.
Many individuals reported a deepening of their worship experience when they ate "tuned in" to the seasonal flow-- including colors, hymns, prayers and sung liturgy.
Many also commented on a sense of renewal in spiritual life in understanding the cyclical nature of life. We love this!
What criteria have you used to evaluate your plan to foster vital worship?
The conversations in forums over the year have been inspiring, not only to individuals, but to members of our Music and Worship Committee who make decisions about decorations, Communion, festivals and such.
In the course of the year, some folks have paid closer attention to music, others to prayer, others to lighting and colors and textures. Wonderful to have people inspired!
What issues have been your greatest challenges (or challenging opportunities)?
COVID has meant uncertainty for who is able/willing to show up in person for gatherings. As the various waves of viral illness have come and gone, we've needed to cancel our reading club project, re-imagine the art projects, and be okay with most gatherings being smaller. Another challenge: our regular leaders have been weary as have been the outside keynotes we'd booked bring in.
We've felt pressure to accomplish the things we hoped for in our grant proposal and have felt bad some parts didn't go the way we thought. That said, overall, what WAS accomplished has been wonderful!
What would you like to share with other Project Directors?
Be flexible, pay attention to what is working and make adjustments along the way.
Embrace experimentation and improvisation through the course of the year.