For those of us who worship on Sundays (and plan Sunday worship) these anniversaries raise questions about how we should remember the anniversary during worship.
At the time of the four-year anniversary in 2005, many of my pastor colleagues were dismayed that the Gospel lectionary passage for the day was the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35. Was four years too soon to talk about radical forgiveness?, they wondered. I did my best to preach on the parable anyway, careful to stress that forgiveness is a journey.
The next time the 9/11 Anniversary fell on a Sunday was in 2011, and since that was six years later and the Revised Common Lectionary runs in three-year cycles, the Gospel lection was once again the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. I preached on the parable again and included a 9/11 remembrance litany in the Sunday worship.
Now that 9/11 falls once again on a Sunday, I notice that many of my pastor colleagues are of mixed minds about how much attention to give to the anniversary. It seems that several are including the anniversary in the sermon and pastoral prayers and special litanies, while others are planning only on making a brief mention in the pastoral prayer. One colleague noted how their church had had a special commemoration of the ten-year anniversary in 2011, and they noticed how attendance had actually dropped. People thought the service would be too depressing, one church member explained.
As I type these reflections our worship bulletins are in the final stages of proof-reading, so we've made our decisions about how to mark the date. (Brief mention in the sermon, but not the focus of the sermon. A brief litany with tolling of the church bell. Inclusion in the pastoral prayer.) But now I'm wrestling with questions such as, how brief a reference in the sermon? how brief an inclusion in the pastoral prayer? how best to acknowledge lingering grief and anger? how best to offer words of hope and new resolve?
Sunday also marks the beginning of our church program year, and virtually all of the children and youth in our church school who are 9th grade and younger were born after 9/11. (This astounds me, but I've done the math!) So, perhaps the 9/11 anniversary should not be as central to the worship service this year.
On the other hand, surveys tell us that our collective anxiety about terrorism is higher than it's been at any time since 9/11. So, perhaps we need to hear again how God walks with us in our grief, and we need to hear again the voices of the angels who repeatedly say, "Fear not!"
For those of you who worship on Sunday, what kind of 9/11 commemoration would be most helpful to you? What word are you hoping to hear?
Please feel free to respond in the comments section below, or by emailing me directly at kpcpastor@verizon.net
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jack
No comments:
Post a Comment