blessings and dismissals
Tom writes some nice stuff about blessings, and a long but intriguing Blessing to use. One of his comments is that a Blessing is often a formal ending, but ought to imply something ongoing rather than closing down. That reminded me of one of the people who taught me the shape of the liturgy. Five sections, he said, and the final one is the sending-out (the blessing and dismissal). The liturgy is not complete, he said, until the people of God are out of the building and back into the world, disseminating the blessing to the world. The liturgy is not just for the Church, but for the world. We shouldn’t keep it to ourselves. I loved his idea. But I have to admit that I’ve never felt quite the same since about the trend for staying for coffee after church. This nagging voice in my head says – "don’t hang about here, get out there and get on with it…"
13 Responses to “blessings and dismissals”
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Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
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Maggi,
Although the church I attend wouldnt really acknowledge liturgy in a traditional sense, its the first church I have attended that has its coffee break after songs and before preaching, people still stay around at the end, but coffee in the middle is a pretty useful way of establishing community as no one has to run off to stop the lunch burning and then once the service is over you can “get out there, and get on with it”
Maggie
Thanks for the comments. Interesting about the coffee – I have tried to introduce the coffee as an integral part of the Eucharist – with the blessing and dismissal happening after that – but it did not work because some people did not want to stay for coffee!
It has worked at some conferences and special events giving a sense of fellowship, gatheredness and sharing as part of the whole – and then being sent into world to continue the life.
Tom
It kind of cheers me to imagine that those whom I’d assumed were either a)deeply unsociable or b)too discerning to tolerate church coffee might actually have been going with option c)and going out into the world in the power of the Spirit or similar.
I suspect that they mostly aren’t, but still…
Or maybe we should realise that “the world” is not only out there, but is also right here with us – and so ‘going out’ can begin with welcoming the stranger in our midst – including those who are familiar but feeling estranged, apart or alone. For me, (good) after church coffee is one way of showing hospitality – of course, it all fails if people choose to spend their coffee time with the same comfortable cliques.
On the other hand, maybe God is calling us to bless each other too…
Who says “the Coffee” isn’t “out in the world”? It can be, and perhaps too often is, only a sociable time with people you like. But it can also be a time to be concerned about the lives of fellow parishioners, visitors, the absent ill, and to plan what one might call Christian action. Going “out into the world” isn’t about going to a place; it’s about adopting an attitude towards others.
I remember going to a (non-denomination) church in which they broke for coffee and cake before the sermon, so that people could sip on tea as they listened… this seemed to work fairly well in their structure. Perhaps we could stick it somewhere around the Peace?
As someone who feels very much ‘on the edges’ of the Church, through disability, sexuality and past rejection by Christians, I see the coffee at the end of the service as a wonderful extension of the Eucharist. I look forward to it as much as I do to the rest of the service; it is very much part of ‘being Church’, for me. I find it hard to be part of the Body of Christ – but being accepted by the rest of my church in hospitality and community is a step towards feeling more of a part of it. It is the half-way point between the Church and the world. We are the Church, and we are the world, and we bring God’s love to each other before we take it out into the rest of the world. And for some of us, that’s as much communion as the Eucharist is.
That’s my take, anyway.
My church has lovely arched and windowed doors at the back of the sanctuary that open straight into the parish hall. As the altar party recesses down the aisle, the ushers throw the doors open, showing the table full of food and drink. This makes the after-service coffee hour, which can be dreary and hard to find in other places, a central element of our Sunday: moving from worship in community, to fellowship and mutual care among the community, to the final “going out into the world.”
On stuff before the sermon:
I did read about a (?17th/18th) Century priest who would always have a particularly long hymn before the sermon so he (inevitably) could go out into the village and round up the people who had not yet arrived!
And on topic …
The significance of the dismissal goes with that of the gathering, and it is good to note some creative interpretations here. The dynamic of the liturgy reminds us that the life of a Christian belongs in the world and is not confined to the activities of a partisan sect.
This connection also starts to unpick the compartmentalisation of life which happens in our ‘postmodern’ era – we resist in our liturgy the idea that our worship is only about a particular sacred space and sacred time, separated from the rest of our lives. And that connects with the incarnation, and our celebration of Christmas …
Hi, I’ve attended a Vineyard church where coffee and doughnuts were served before the service started. after the welcome and worship, sweets were passed along with the collection plate. Then they had the sermon followed by more worship and by healing ministry with the dismissal. You could also get drinks afterwards too if you wanted to stay for a chat. I think people at the church enjoyed their services and there was a solid body of people who ran this ministry of hopsitality and generosity.
Years ago when I was on the readers course (before I dropped out because of work-life inbalances) I gave out Loveheart sweets before the Peace which people enjoyed and are quickly consumed so didn’t disrupt the flow of the service. I gave out heart shaped biscuits with the Collection plate once too which was fun. Perhaps spontaneity or being in the moment is the key.
Mark, the 18th century priest was William Grimshaw, a rather intimidating evangelical bloke. His parish, strangely enough, was Haworth – later home of the Brontes.
In the book Maggi recommended ‘Leaving Church’ the author describes liturgy as ‘the work of the people’. This makes sense because it can be the work of God’s people and also the work of all people in the world. But maybe coffee can serve the two-fold function: it helps the people within the Church liturgy to spend time with each other and puts them in a better mood for when they go out! Also it would engage newcomers from outside who would welcome something they recognise as normal.
I agree however, because although coffee offers a good chance for organising important Church business for the poor souls in charge, it can unfortunatly also be a opportunity for gossip and complaining… And that’s definately not right.
Theology-student-to-be (fingers crossed) and big fan of Maggi’s blog.