Think Globally – Worship Locally
by Corey Nelson

A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to worship in a local congregation in which the choir sang an arrangement of the South African song, “Siyahamba.” As I looked around the sanctuary I saw some smiles and even a few toes tapping while people enjoyed this apparently unusual contribution to worship. However, when the service had concluded and I reflected on the entire experience, I just couldn’t help but feel that the anthem seemed very out of place. I wasn’t just considering the now redundant observation that Presbyterians don’t move or clap or (God forbid) dance in worship. It was something deeper that seemed to be missing, but I could not find words to describe the hollowness I felt. Several months later, as I began to explore ways in which we might assist local churches in “globalizing” their regular worship life, I had this fear in the back of my mind that we might be recreating the same problem for others as the one described above.

I taught a three day course at a conference the following summer entitled Global Worship in the Local Church. During our first session we talked about general issues around global worship. Some of the participants expressed concern that using music, prayers or symbols from other cultures can sometimes feel like token gestures – lacking integrity. I agreed, remembering my previous Siyahamba experience. The next segment of our workshop addressed the desire to lift up the needs of the global church in minutes for mission and in prayer, both spoken and sung.

As an example, we talked about Northern Ireland. We read a brief overview of the civil war and talked about possibilities for interpretation during worship. I had planned for us to sing, “Canticle of the Turning,” a contemporary hymn by Rory Cooney set to a Northern Irish traditional tune. But, before we sang, we gathered in a circle to pray for Northern Ireland as a part of our Prayers for the People. I had made previous arrangements to have a telephone set up in our workshop room. We called Doug Baker, a PCUSA missionary in Belfast for the past 15 years. Doug joined us by speaker phone and shared the latest news and prayer concerns with us. We bowed our heads and began to pray. Doug began by offering thanksgiving for all that God had already done and intercession for the coming weeks of predicted violence. Soon, others around the room began to pray. Some prayed for Belfast and for the church and its members there. Some prayed for the Bakers and their continued ministry. Prayers were mentioned for the conference that we were a part of and its leadership. At the end, Doug closed with a prayer for peace that was going to be read in every Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland the following Sunday. When we all finally said, “Amen,” I raised my head to see many misty eyes around the room. As I wiped my own tears away, I thanked Doug for joining us and we said good bye. Everyone gathered their music and we began to sing The Canticle of the Turning with a passion and energy that had not been present just a few moments before. I looked around in amazement. “So, this is global worship,” I thought.

I was reminded of a report that I had read recently from the Lutheran World Federation. It said, “True cross-cultural sharing is motivated by the desire to know and love Christian brothers and sisters from other cultures. We share in each others cultures in worship as a means of embracing the people of that culture and to gain new insights into the Gospel. God calls us into koinonia with our brothers and sisters in Christ from various cultures and not into koinonia with cultures and cultural components extrapolated from those who embody them,” (Lutheran World Federation Worship and Culture report – Nairobi, 1996).

Some of my previous experiences of “global worship” had felt empty because either a) the focus had been entirely on what our local church gets out of it. In other words, we use these songs or prayers almost as a novelty to “jazz things up a little bit,” but without the intention to actually lift up the people from whom these resources come, or b) the focus is entirely on “those people over there” during times of prayer and singing as if we were not all part of the one body of Christ and as if our actions and lifestyles did not directly affect the lives of those people. Global worship can not be about us here or them there, but must affirm our membership in the global, ecumenical, organic, dynamic and transforming family of God. Can I get an Amen?

After September 11, 2001 there was some concern for staff about traveling in general and a re-evaluation of the necessity of some kinds of work in particular. I was scheduled to lead a global worship workshop for Heartland Presbytery, hosted by Second Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, on September 22nd. I called Rev. Catherine Price, the primary organizer for the upcoming event, and asked her if I should still plan to come. “Do you think people will show up?” I inquired. She responded, “I think this event is even more important now than it was before. You should certainly come.”

During the days and weeks that followed, I realized that Catherine was right. For better or worse, many people began to realize in a new way on September 11th that we are all a part of a global community. The news media, educational institutions, and our society in general have been working to help us to understand what it means to be a faithful citizen in a ‘global village.’ However, I have begun to wonder, “Who helps us understand what it means to be a faithful Christian within this interconnected world-wide Body of Christ?”

I believe that many Presbyterians receive the majority of their spiritual faith formation while they are sitting in the pews on Sunday morning. Of course, it would be ideal if everyone was involved in Christian Education, committee work, Bible study, mission and outreach programs, conferences, etc., but that is not true for many. In other words, if people don’t get it in worship, they may not get it at all. As a result, I wonder how those of us who plan and lead worship can do so in a way that nurtures and sustains globally-conscious, mission-minded, culturally-inclusive Presbyterians. This challenge is exactly the one that we are trying to address in our Global Worship workshops, worship planning and leadership and our collection and distribution of international resources.

If you are interested in sponsoring or hosting Global Worship workshops, retreats and worship services for your congregation, Presbytery of conference, please feel free to contact me at: Corey Nelson, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202, 502.569.5308, cnelson@ctr.pcusa.org.

Corey Nelson is a mission educator and the creator and director of the Thuma Mina Mission Theater Company. A former high school music director, he has worked as a Young Adult Volunteer in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Ghana, West Africa. Corey received his B.A. from Whitworth College and M.Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary.