Leading worship yesterday I took a risk. I know the idea was from God. The text for the sermon was Ephesians 5:19-20, "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks..."
So we gave the congregation a chance to sing and make music in their hearts - with a period of silence.
I was worried about this, because people (particularly small children) don't always understand stuff like this, and it is easy to have the experiment ruined - without malice, of course - by people who don't catch on. Also, you never know if the people are in the mood for a new thing when they come to church. We are creatures of habit, right? This was only a small, secondary concern, because our church is particularly open to the worship team's ... uh ... eccentricities. HA! So I prayed and left it up to the Lord.
So, we came to the moment, and there was a Holy Silence. It was awesome - in the best sense of that much overused word. And then, we started playing How Great Thou Art - no singing, just an instrumental. It was so sweet - thank you Lord!!
We so often think of worship as singing songs. But it is so much more.
Sue,
ReplyDeletegreat! The use of silence in worship is probably one fo the most overlooked elements -- especially in our sight and sound generation! We do not know how to handle silence!
We at WyoBC use silence every week. Sometimes, I am not ready to move on from this silent interaction with God, but I rush on, b/c that is what is planned. :(
Look at my site for a post this week (I hope) about a silence experiment that I did with the teens at camp!).
I tried an experiment myself at the end of communion service -- the chorus of THank You Lord with the Doxology acapella!
It sounded great and especially in our older accoustically designed sanctuary!
Keep experimenting with God in mind!
Mike