In recent days, regular church gatherings, liturgies, masses, and services have ceased in, at least, their normal weekly (or daily) operations. Churches have proven flexible, and are finding alternative means of congregating and worshiping, whether outdoors separated by several paces, observing a broadcast from an empty building, or something more interactive. If there were an opportunity to experiment and learn about the regular weekly practices of various Christian communities around the world, now is the time. Here are some collected resources to drop in and appreciate other forms of mass/liturgy/service.[1]
- Anglican: https://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/worship-music/regular-services
- Presbyterian: https://www.redeemer.com/covid_information
- Eastern Orthodox: https://www.peterpaulpotomac.org/live-stream.html
- Catholic: https://www.catholic.org.au/prayathome
- Baptist: https://bethlehem.church/live-content/
- Reformed: https://www.sachapel.com/
- Catholic: http://www.stagathasparish.ie/
- Pentecostal: https://cedarpark.churchonline.org/
- Anglican: https://anglicantaonga.org.nz/news/common_life/online_ch
- Many others too…
It is interesting to reflect on what are the essential components of these regular gatherings? Can online editions replace them (the whole world could, in theory, tune into a single service)? Can a Christian safely ‘practice’ apart from a Christian community? Certainly Christians today follow their predecessors, as Christians (and, before them, Jews) practiced regularly meeting, the singing of songs (hymns/psalms), reading Scripture (the Jewish Bible in the earliest days), taking of the eucharist, attending to a message of instruction or encouragement, and whatever other activities take place. Are these important or required for the Christian life?
We can begin with prayer. Prayer — communication with god — has always been central to the Judeo-Christian tradition, with twice-daily prayer being commanded in the Law[2] and encouraged by the examples of praiseworthy figures including Nehemiah, Daniel, and David. The Jewish community heavily incorporated prayer into their weekly synagogue practices, while continuing to emphasize individual prayer (both standardized and spontaneous).
The early Christians inherited these practices, observing regular prayer.[3] Jesus instructs his followers how to pray and praises its frequency, even begging his disciples to pray with him in the garden. Paul likewise repeatedly insists in continued and regular prayer.
Can prayer be completed apart from the larger community of believers? Certainly! In fact, Christians are encouraged to pray individually — spontaneously or following standardized prayers.
Similarly, reading scripture (another regular practice in churches) is encouraged to be practiced independently as a daily habit, in addition to communal readings. One is encouraged to study the scriptures, and the popularity of ‘Read the Bible in a Year’-like reading plans is a testament to that practice. Why? Scripture is understood to be divine revelation: god speaking to humanity through certain individuals, as though through a burning bush or from a thundering mountain in the desert. Reading these texts, however, could not be done by all until the rather recent prevalence of literacy. Instead, the lector served as many Christians’ only access to these words of god, and so memorization was common. With higher literacy rates, reading the scriptures on one’s own is increasingly universal, though one misses the opportunity to hear a passage’s interpretation and any related application from a trained minister, but the prevalence of excellent popular (and academic) commentaries helps to alleviate that gap.
The practice of corporate singing praise to god has echoes across the Jewish scriptures and into the New Testament. Moses and the Israelites sing a song of thanksgiving after escaping the Egyptians, of Deborah and Barak after their victory over the king of Canaan, the collection of Psalms which were used in synagogue and the early church, the host of angels at Jesus’ birth, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and Paul and Silas in prison, among various others. The role of song, however, seems to merge the two categories we have so far considered: prayer and reading scripture (Psalms is scripture, and hymns and ‘praise’ songs borrow heavily from scripture). When gathering together, it helps to have verse, meter, and rhythm predefined so that all can pray as one.
The central practice of most Protestant churches is the homily or sermon, when a wise priest or pastor ascends to encourage and exhort a congregation. This lecture takes biblical texts and ideas and uses them to provide instruction. These were present in synagogue practice as well, and it is quite natural for early Christianity to adopt the practice. While one cannot have a homily or sermon apart from the church, the individual practices of extracting instruction from the scriptures during one’s own reading is a distinct possibility, as discussed previously.
At the last supper, in Jesus’ final moments before his death, he institutes a ritual replete with meaning, though with equal uncertainty as to its remembrance echoing through the ages. The eucharist, whatever its significance, however it is practiced, and regardless of frequency, is an important component of churches. The act itself requires fellowship — breaking bread on one’s own in many ways seems to miss the point when a shared meal is intended. This component leads into the importance of Christian fellowship and community. Nevertheless, you could easily break bread and drink wine in private or at each year’s Easter service. Among Christian groups that only see the eucharist as a symbolic reminder, the importance of its communal practice would seem unnecessary.
As with the major components of a church service we’ve looked at so far, other elements – teaching, giving of money, volunteering, etc. — you could probably also practice privately or individually.
All of the individualized components — prayer, scripture and application, singing, and even a eucharist — are good and should be encouraged. And while most could be completed in solitude, it is certainly efficient to get them all done at once – even the ascetics required communion! In addition, life becomes busy and having a weekly appointment on the calendar to reset one’s focus is immensely useful. How often might one intend to take care of these important practices, but without a designated weekly meeting would, perhaps, never get around to it, like many dreams and visions we entertain. In our current day, the online services can certainly help, serving both as reminder and an opportunity for fellowship. But the private practices, especially of prayer and scripture, should be nurtured.
- While I would encourage exploration, participating with others in their traditions, I certainly do not espouse all opinions/views which will be presented. You will certainly encounter things which may seem strange, peculiar, foreign, or even disagreeable. I think god can still be worshiped, even in a different/unfamiliar setting.
- Deuteronomy 6.4-9 stipulates praying the Shema.
- See, e.g., Acts 1.14, 2.42, 10.9, 21.5