Faith & Writing Festival, 2024-Sunday, April 14, 2024
Church of the Servant
A Visit to Church of the Servant
When I told people I was thinking that I’d go to Church of the Servant they all warned me it’d be long—probably 10 - 11:30 am. And that is true. They have communion every Sunday so that definitely added some time since there are quite a few people. They have baskets and cups up front and the congregation comes up the middle aisle, then stands in a circle around the table. Four elders give out the basket of bread and then the cup of juice. Each person is invited to say, “The body of Christ, broken for you,” as they pass the bread, and then “The blood of Christ, shed for you,” as they pass the cup, into which the people dip their bread and then eat. I think it took 4 shifts for everyone to have their turn (plus elders came around to people seated if they wanted). It was very nice to have communion that way. As usual I got a little teary-eyed thinking of the “cloud of witnesses” having communion with us.
The service is very liturgical, which I knew and was curious about. The bulletin was like a little booklet, probably around 8 1/2-sheet pages. Everything was written out—what we said, what the pastor said, and all the songs, some with musical notation and some just the words (except the sermon which was just labeled in the liturgy). No “songs on walls.” I remember the fuss (uproar, anger, etc.) when we changed to putting our song words on a screen and having a praise band and mostly praise songs, although we in SJCRC did try to have at least one, preferably two hymns per service. Years of anger, complaining, and even some leaving the church. Crazy. I love and miss the hymns myself but there are many praise songs I love, too.
Anyway, I noted a few advantages of having the songs on screens. One is something I’d noted before, as many others have, which is that the singing is improved. Peoples’ heads are up and everyone is singing out, rather than down towards their bulletin or hymn book. I’m sure there’s also an effect from the acoustics, but I felt that even with all those people, the singing was not very strong. Plus, it kept me from using my hands because I had to hold the bulletin. I could not raise my hands the way I do sometimes during songs. At the benediction I finally set my bulletin on the chair because I wanted to hold my hands palms-up to receive the blessing.
I enjoyed the service, though. I did not stay to hear the report on the status of this church and others who disagree with Synod’s decisions about same sex marriage. I wanted to get on the road back to Fremont and I felt like I might be kind of discouraged by hearing it. The drive back was beautiful.