Liturgy

I love the way that good liturgy puts words in my mouth.

The church I used to go to was deeply liturgical, but very little of the (spoken) liturgy was said by the minister. Instead, it was mostly said by the congregation as a whole, or by regulars who were assigned short parts that varied with the seasons. This created a beautiful sense of the liturgy being the "work of the people". Our attention was not held by a minister at the front, but was drawn through the whole congregation as first one person spoke, and we all responded, and then someone else on the other side of the room spoke, and we all responded again, and then yet a third person somewhere else concluded that prayer, and then there was silence.

One of the things I loved about this was that it gave me a chance to speak to or from or of God with beautiful, holy words rather than with my usual stumbling, mumbled prayers. Here I was, saying something so significant that it was worth saying every week!

It also meant that I really noticed when someone was not there, because as I began straining to hear Christine's slightly shy and rushed voice at "We are the body of Christ", I would suddenly hear Heather's careful clear tones instead. And I realised that others would notice when I was not there, too.