Worship Arts April May June 2022

Worship resources from cultures other than the primary culture of your faith community need to be discerned with the same criteria you use for any worship.

hymnal) and Come, Let Us Worship (Korean hymnal). Global Praise, a ministry of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, offers many global songbooks, all of which are available through Cokes bury. There are also interesting articles and downloads about global worship and music on their webpage. Many of these articles give practical suggestions of ways to incorporate a global song into your worship with integrity (www.globalpraise.org). Join the Global Praise Facebook page to be alerted when new articles or resources are in print. Discipleship Resources pub lishes the “Africana Worship Book” series. This collec tion of books is organized by the lectionary and also includes special celebrations in the African American community. The new Worship and Song Worship Resources (Abingdon Press) book includes worship resources from many places. Worship resources from cultures other than the primary culture of your faith community need to be discerned with the same criteria you use for any wor ship. Does it fit the theme/Scripture of the day? Will it enhance worship? Will it work where you are planning to use it in worship? How will you prepare the lead ers/choir to be able to lead this? If you are considering using resources from other denominations, study them carefully to confirm that they reflect the theology of our Wesleyan heritage. Keep track of the variety of music styles, worship arts, and global diversity that you use as you design worship. It isn’t about doing it all in worship every Sun day, but about creating balance carefully over a period of time. Look at your bulletin and welcoming ministries. A re your bulletins printed in church “code words” that only your church members understand? Are there persons who can help those whose language is not the primary language of your congregation to partici pate in worship? Do you truly listen to the “stranger” in your community to discern what their needs are so you can be in ministry together? Collect visuals from the world. Fabric is an easy way to include the cultures of the world in your worship.

Ask church members and friends who are traveling to bring home four yards of the traditional fabric of the area they are visiting. It is easy to mix and match the fabrics to create a worship table display. Kathy Toole, Minister of Music at Bon Air UMC in Richmond, VA, shares that “Gift giving is indigenous to places our people go in mission. It seems very natural for those people who go into other parts of the world to bring gifts back to the church. This is one of the means they have to share their experience with the rest of us. One of the gifts brought back to the church from our people in mission has been fabric, which offers a vivid representation of the culture. At the suggestion of our pastor, a seamstress in our church made paraments from the fabrics which we have used primarily on World Communion Sunday. While not incorporating the red associated with Pentecost, we have also used these on Pentecost as representative of the Spirit com ing to the global church.” Don’t stop at fabric! Members can bring home handmade baskets from the world to hold the com munion bread or glass/ceramic chalices and pitchers to use for the juice. Just ask them to check with the potter to confirm the glaze is food-safe. Tall baskets turned upside down can become candleholders. Any time you hear of someone traveling, go have a conversation with them about some of the needs you have. And you don’t have to travel to find wonderful cultural art forms. There are artists in every community that celebrate their cultural heritage. Consider asking them to bring several of their art works and hold an art show. Develop relationships with these wonderful artists so you can include them in your visual plans for worship. Listen and learn from the sister churches in your community whose membership comprises a culture other than your congregation. Call and ask the music director/pastor of that church to meet you for a cup of coffee. Ask about worship traditions that are important in the culture where they serve. Consider ways you can begin to be in music and worship ministry together. Listen to them and learn from each other. You will dis Use local resources.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14 April-May-June 2022 • WorshipArts • umfellowship.org