“You
can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the
same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach,
because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.”
― Frederick
Buechner FaceBook post by Frederick Buechner from Mar 04, 2015
A
note on digital and livestream worship in the early days of the coronavirus crisis:
After
this first week of almost everyone being brave and creative in fast-learning how
to offer devotions, Bible studies, and even worship services online, most of us
pastors are reeling from the frenzy of acquiring so many new skills in such a
short time. I deeply appreciate our staff and my tech-savvy friends in helping
us to stay connected and take care of our people in new ways. I’m enjoying the response we have received
from our online experiences and am thankful for the availability of the technology
to help us reach out when we cannot be physically present to one another. It is
heartening to see so many of us finding new ways to be in ministry.
What
I am not enjoying is the use of the term “Virtual Worship.” Also, “Virtual Communion.” Hear me out.
I am
aware that for my computer-literate friends the word “virtual” refers to
something that exists in digital media or virtual reality, as in a virtual
classroom, but is still considered to exist. But for the rest of the civilized world,
the word “virtual” implies something that is not really real:
“vir·tu·al (vûr′cho͞o-əl) adj.
1.
Existing or resulting in essence or effect though not in actual fact, form, or
name: the virtual extinction of the buffalo.2. Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination. Used in literary criticism of a text.”
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Do you
believe in the communion of saints? Do you believe in the mystical body of Christ?
As a
Celtic Christian mystic, a bit of an existentialist, an old hippie and a pastor
who happens to hold a doctorate in spiritual formation, I believe in these things.
It matters less if you “believe” it intellectually/theologically than if you EXPERIENCE
it spiritually.
I
believe we worship a God who is not confined by space and time. I believe when
we come to the Lord’s Table on World Communion Sunday or any other Sunday, that
Jesus is present and so also are the Great Cloud of Witnesses from all ages, nations,
and places.
This
is why we are not going to pre-record our services and upload them later. I know,
we had some upload traffic jams when everyone was trying to “go live” all at
once; and it certainly is nice to be able to edit your work before sharing it.
But a primary spiritual practice we teach is that of Christian Mindfulness, the
art of being present in the present moment, which is really all we have and is the
only place to find God. Jesus spoke almost always in the PRESENT tense (“I AM
the resurrection and the life, etc.). There is something special about worshiping in
real-time with our parishioners and guests being aware that we are experiencing
the present moment together with them spiritually, if not physically.
This
is also why we will not be doing drive-by Holy Communion. Our Bishop has
offered a temporary dispensation allowing either to dispense the pre-packaged
units on a take-out basis or to consecrate elements from a distance and have
persons partake of their own bread and wine at home. We will do the at-home
option with adequate preparation for the worshipers beforehand. We won’t be using the pre-packaged elements
because 1) many hands will touch this; and 2) because that won’t be contemporaneous, and 3) people will have to get out and come get it, therefore
defeating the purpose of the CDC directive to STAY HOME.
We believe
the covenant community of faith is not bound by physical location, but that
Christ is present in the bread in the sanctuary and in the bread at your table
while you are saving lives by staying at home. It is not just our presence with
each other but the Presence of the living Christ that transforms an ordinary
meal into a sacrament. One aspect of this is as Will Willimon once pointed out,
that God reveals God-self to us in the “ordinary stuff of life” – bread, wine,
water. Christ is the unseen Guest at our meals, and when we experience that
together, he is both Guest and Host.
So,
call it an “Extension of our Table,” if you will, but please, let’s not call it
“virtual worship” or “Virtual Communion.”
This is really, really, real.
“When
you remember me, it means you have carried something of who I am with you, that
I have left some mark of who I am on who you are. It means that you can summon
me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between
us. It means that if we meet again, you will know me. It means that even after
I die, you can still see my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your
heart.”
―
Frederick Buechner FaceBook post by Frederick Buechner from Sep 11, 2016
