How Do You Celebrate The Eucharist?
- Do you stand behind the pulpit and woodenly read the liturgy?
- If you stand behind the table, do you know what to do with your hands as you preside?
- Do you stumble through the liturgy, as if you have never even read it before?
- Is your presidential style sloppy, lazy, or unintentional?
- Are you uncomfortable with the language of the liturgy, and think that it doesn't apply to people where they are, today?
- Do you even like presiding at the table, or does it feel as if it were a meaningless ritual?
From these books, along with what I learned from worship classes in Seminary, through my participation in the Order of Saint Luke, and in worship with the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, I developed a sacramental style which I believe to be pleasing, meaningful, and authentic to my spirituality and to our United Methodist understanding of the Eucharist. In this section I will present some principles and guidelines, based upon my style, as well suggestions to help my fellow clergy to form a celebration style that will be authentic and meaningful for them. In the future I will also add a commentary on how to adapt various elements of a liturgical style of celebration to a non-liturigical or "Contemporary Worship" form of service.