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Any effort that claims to be churchwide is susceptible to the sort of institutional suspicion that is prevalent among North American Christians and is particularly pronounced in a church body that is still coming to terms with its own institutional identity. In an attempt to minimize the concerns of those who assume there is an inner circle of single-minded decision makers, or of those who are passionate about one particular approach to worship at the expense of others, or of those who are generally hostile toward anything the church undertakes, Renewing Worship seeks to be genuinely transparent. Comments, questions, and critiques are consistently invited and, in many ways, concerns are addressed. Listening to the whole church is an ongoing commitment. But listening does not mean incorporating every point of view. It means bringing as many perspectives as possible "to the table," and taking them seriously.5 Some representational voices are difficult to "hear." For instance, youth and young adults, whose perspectives are often interpreted by other generations on their behalf, have a rhythm to their lives that does not easily coordinate with typical ways of developing resources and strategies. And people new to the faith have a perspective that can be hard to assess. It is difficult to think about developing resources that genuinely reflect the multicultural church the ELCA hopes to be. There are so many obstacles to developing resources and providing guidance for worship practices that are accessible to most of the church and that seek to reflect and honor multicultural realities. Renewing Worship relies heavily on representative voices and multicultural experiences to inform the ongoing work. Finally, the resource development aspect of Renewing Worship is demanding, if only for the expectations that already exist. Books and compact disks. Leaders' editions and supplements. How do we develop the right combination of things? Renewing Worship has a management staff that directs the day-to-day aspects of the project—the ELCA director for worship, the general manager for worship and music from the publishing house, and the project coordinator. For broad oversight, there is one group from among the many groups that is charged with reviewing and responding to every aspect of the project toward the goal of crafting the proposal that will go to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 2005 (phase 5). The final shape of the array of materials is not yet determined. It is clear that it will include more rather than less when compared to resource development efforts that have gone before. It is clear that not every expectation will be met. And at a time when some people question whether primary print resources have a future, it is clear that there will be a new book. A Primary Common ResourceAt the center of what flows from Renewing Worship there will be a volume that is common in that it will be accessible to the whole church. Here, the "whole church" really means people in the vast majority of ELCA congregations. Since it is most likely to be an English-language resource, this common book will not be accessible to congregations that rely on resources in languages other than English. But it will seek to reflect a cultural diversity that substantively includes all congregations. |
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