wfn.org | UMNS# 04515-Group creates liturgy in Africana context

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Group creates liturgy in Africana context 

Nov. 2, 2004	 News media contact:   Linda  Green * (615) 7425470* 
Nashville {04515}

NOTE: Photographs are available with this report at http://umns.umc.org.

By Linda Green*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - A group of worship experts is creating the DNA for
new liturgy in black churches across the globe.

Seminary instructors, pastors, editors and curriculum writers converged Oct.
27-29 in Nashville to discuss how to write worship liturgy that is authentic
to "Africana" populations - people of African descent from a number of
ethnic, cultural and national backgrounds.
 
The gathering, convened by the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, marked
the beginning of formal conversation on Africana liturgy. The meeting
responded to a need in black United Methodist churches for liturgy that is
more specific to the congregations' context, life experiences, faith
expressions and history, according to the Rev. Safiyah Fosua, director of
invitational preaching ministries at the board.

The need includes resources that reach inner-city churches, churches that
should be filled with youth and young people, and churches serving "regular
people who work and sweat to pay bills and worry about keeping their children
out of gangs," Fosua said.

Liturgy, especially in the United Methodist Church, includes material that
everyone can say together, but one size does not always fit all. Liturgy is a
ritual way to move toward God, Fosua said. "It does not have to be trapped in
language that is unfamiliar or uncomfortable to speak, but be words, actions,
expressions, or symbols that move people toward God." 

How do we make it to God on Sunday? Fosua asked. There are times when the
rituals and forms of the church serve as a "fence instead of a door," she
said. "Liturgy should help people come into the presence of God and not stand
as a barrier between them and God."

"The worship liturgy that needs to be created has to balance a lot of flavors
and be contexualized more than it currently is," said the Rev. Valerie
Bridgeman-Davis, assistant professor of preaching and worship at Memphis
(Tenn.) Theological Seminary. 

One of the struggles in worship, she said, is that "we've bought into the
idea that worship has to answer questions. Worship should ask questions. It
should be an opening into people's lives," she said. "Today, it is
hermetically sealed when it ought to leave people with the awe and mystery of
God."

For three intense days, the participants studied and began the process of
producing resources for United Methodist churches worshipping in the many
traditions of Africana. 

"We are making statements of faith relevant to the present realities of our
communities," Bridgeman-Davis said. A need exists for liturgy that recaptures
lost culture, lost song and the voice of lost community, she said. "There is
no such thing as the African-American community. There are communities ...
there are different communities."

Resources are needed for the four parts of worship - the gathering, the word,
the intercession and the sending forth - and for special occasions and
observances. "The goal is to create resources that take seriously the bodily
experience of worshipping God," Bridgeman-Davis said. 

Worship should move people beyond one or two hours on Sunday to live out
their faith the entire week, she said. A problem with current liturgy is that
it often lacks the sound that comes from people's hearts, and it lacks
movement, ritual or rhythm, she said.

The term "ritual" goes beyond the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion,
she said.  Ritualized worship engages the body, soul, spirit and mind in a
way that enables people to carry the experience into their lives.

"We have the opportunity in creating new liturgy and resources to be the
vanguard and rearguard, to help African American churches bring about the
historic presence of the church, and help create a revivalistic movement to
have a lasting and prophetic voice to bring about God's kingdom," said the
Rev. Fred Allen, director of African-American resources at the United
Methodist Publishing House in Nashville.

For the Rev. Junius Dotson, pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in
Wichita, Kan., the liturgical gathering was sorely needed. He seeks liturgy
and litanies that reflect the experience of African people, he said.
"Something authentic comes out of the experiences of the people that you
minister to." 

Materials developed from the gathering will be available on
www.umcworship.org by the end of 2004.	 

The gathering also learned that the United Methodist Publishing House is
developing a hymnal for African-American churches. The new songbook, expected
to be released in 2006, will be Afrocentric and similar to the 23-year-old
Songs of Zion. It will contain about 250 songs from a wide range of genres
and will draw from Africana traditions. 

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer in Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Linda Green, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org. 

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United Methodist News Service