Being an Agent of Liberation - A Belated St.Peter's Day sermon for St Peter's Bournemouth.

It is wonderful to be here in this place and on such a special occasion, as, finally, once more, we are able to meet for worship. I am reminded of what Jacob exclaimed when he dreamed the angels of God ascending and descending upon a ladder “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” 

I wonder when it was that you were last able to worship in a church building and was it here? 

Or somewhere else?

 It seems so long ago for me that I had to think rather carefully. I thought it would be Romsey Abbey where I usually worship, but then I realised that I avoided church the Sunday just before lockdown because I’d been to the Holy Land and I didn’t want to spread any germs in case I’d picked up a virus at the airport. We thought the trip would be cancelled, but it wasn’t, and we last worshipped in a church building on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. It was a service of sung Vespers with the music chanted by the monks of Dormition Abbey. Of course we can worship anywhere and God can draw close to us within our locked homes as he drew close to Jacob as he slept with a stone for a pillow, but humans need sacred space, places which are infused with prayer over the years, places where we too can feel like we are entering the gates of heaven for a brief while. 

It wasn’t very far away from that spot on mount Zion that the action in the first reading today happened. Peter is arrested, chained twice over, and imprisoned between two guards with more lurking outside the door. In terms of security it was completely over the top!  The Judean religious leaders really do not want him to escape. And yet he does escape, because the angel of the Lord releases him. Peter ends up wandering the streets, banging on the door of John Mark’s house, wanting to be let in, but, comically, Rhoda leaves him standing on the doorstep in her amazement. The Syrian church of John Mark’s house is also on mount Zion, a stones throw from where I was worshipping those long months ago.

And so it is that in these two readings we have chains, many many chains, and we have keys. We have agents of incarceration and an agent of liberation. Peter is gifted the keys to the Kingdom of heaven, and promised.  “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Peter is given the power of setting people free. And yet he also experiences incarceration as part of the terrible persecutions unleashed upon Christians in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. 

Like us, St Peter has experienced lockdown, a different kind of lockdown to the one we have had, but the feelings of shattered plans and dreams, sadness, and mourning for lost friendships were, I’m sure, very similar to some of those feelings we have experienced.
Peter has just lost James the brother of John, a dear friend who walked the dusty roads with him and Jesus, and Peter’s plans for a new loving community of believers are in tatters.

At the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles the early moments in the history of the church were really exciting. The group of believers were growing exponentially, and they had set up a community where no-one was in need, because everyone shared their goods with the poor and cared for one another. It seems to me to be like a tiny prefiguring of the welfare state, or the NHS which was born 72 years ago today. 

But then the hard hand of persecution swoops down and brings pain and destruction. Many of Peter’s friends flee for their lives to neighbouring countries and the church is scattered far far away. It looks like a disaster. These were uncertain and troubled times, no-one knew who would die next, nowhere was really safe. Who could they trust? Again, that anxiety is something we must all have experienced  in recent times, fear of strangers and even friends as we battle an unseen enemy and refrain from touching one another. 

If we go to our gospel reading this day we are reminded that Peter wasn’t always called Peter. He was originally a fisherman called Simon who makes an extraordinary, almost blasphemous sounding declaration to Jewish ears.  Peter does not only call Jesus the Messiah, but also the Son of God.

When we hear that word “Messiah” many of our minds are coloured by the Christian worldview of Jesus. We use the Greek translation of that word, Christ, almost as a surname. But the Jewish world thought differently. For them the Messiah was the anointed one, a king anointed with oil to liberate an oppressed nation.  King Cyrus of Persia is referred to as a Messiah in the Hebrew book of Isaiah because through him the Jews were liberated from Babylon. 

Thus it is that Peter proclaims Jesus as the King of Liberation, and not only King of Liberation, but Son of God Almighty. 

What are the first actions of this new unmasked liberator?

They are re-naming, and gifting. Simon is renamed Peter/ the Rock.  And the liberators next action is particularly interesting. He gives Peter a virtual set of keys. It is almost as if Jesus was saying “You call me liberator. Now you go and liberate some people for me.” 

Jesus wants Peter to participate in the very act of liberation launched by God himself , and I believe that those keys were not meant for his hands alone. The Messiah-Liberator, and Peter the Rock want to share those keys with the church, that is, us. We too are called to be agents of liberation. Jesus will build his church within us, within you and me, and also within those who cannot be with us because they are locked down: and the gates of Sheol - death, and the fear of death, and disease, plague and pestilence,  will not, will never, prevail against us!

If we go back to those turbulent times in the Acts of the Apostles, in the early church the very disaster brought about by their persecution was the very thing which spread the good news of Jesus far and wide. As the believers fled they brought their stories of Jesus, his life, his works, his death and his resurrection with them. They brought hope to those who had no hope, and a life of loving service to those wrapped up in the chains of their own selfishness. 

And the same seems to be happening on lockdown too. As Christians have met virtually, on You Tube, on Facebook, in zoom rooms, in prayers shared over the radio or television, over the telephone, prayer cards posted through doors, in the loving service of food parcels or those running errands for others, the church has grown and spread.

There have never been so many people in England publicly sharing daily prayer together in so many different ways. And I loved it when I heard a few weeks ago that so many Christians were sharing coffee or worship together over Zoom that they broke the internet! Or rather they broke Zoom. 

But in order to continue to be agents of liberation we need one thing. We need to hold onto the rock of faith. The level of need and sorrow and anxiety and pain in our world can be utterly overwhelming which is why we need to keep grasping onto that rock of faith so strongly held by Simon Peter that he was named Rock, and we need to stubbornly keep being agents of liberation whenever we see oppression of any kind. 

But we also need to be agents of incarceration, of binding as well as loosing, stamping down on prejudice, locking up hate, chaining down cruelty and selfishness wherever we see it, including stamping down on the selfishness within our own hearts when we discover it there. We cannot do it alone, but together, in the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ: through a well timed phone call, through a kindly greeting across a garden fence, through a letter, an email or in a million other ways, we can bring people to experience a spiritual freedom that reaches beyond the locked doors, and brings hope. 

Now to the Messiah, the Liberator who is able to keep us from falling be all might, majesty, power and authority, before all ages, now and for evermore! Amen.

Instrumental Music and Liturgy

Now that we seem to have been given the go-ahead to open our building for worship I imagine a number of ministers are scratching their heads as to the way forward with the use of music in church. We are not allowed to sing or use wind instruments which involve humans blowing into them, but music has always been an important part of our worship. With all these problems in mind, and because I have used instrumental music behind liturgy many many times, I thought I would give some pointers and options for using instrumental music in worship, whatever your church tradition or preferred musical style. Here I have given pointers for those churches which have no musical resources; those which have an organist; and those which have percussionists, a band at their disposal, or some classically trained string players. 

Please do bear in mind whatever local guidelines you have been given and the most up-to-date advice from the government. I note that current guidelines (I am writing this on the 29th June 2020) say that  'all services should be completed in the “shortest reasonable time”', but would argue that this does not rule out the use of music entirely. However, some of the ideas I have written about here may have to await a future easing of restrictions. 

Churches with no musical resources

Firstly, perhaps you have no musical resources at your disposal apart from a decent stereo. If this is the case then I do strongly encourage you to have a go at adding instrumental pieces behind your liturgy. Firstly you will need someone to operate the stereo. Do not try doing everything yourself! Be encouraged and reassured that, unlike streaming, for live worship you need no special licenses to use any commercial instrumental track (sacred or secular) in an act of worship, because Divine Office is exempt from PRS fees. (Projecting words to songs is a different matter, but as we are not allowed to sing anyway, this is irrelevant).  If your church PA is only designed for the spoken word bring in a decent household stereo system and hide it somewhere discrete. Place the speakers so that they are pointing towards the congregation but make sure that no-one sits too close to them (or they will complain that the music is too loud, whilst those further away cannot hear properly).

So where might be good places in the liturgy to add pre-recorded music for those who have not done this before?

1- Just before beginning an act of worship (an "introit").

2 -During spoken intercessions.

3 - During the Eucharistic Prayer. 

4 - During the distribution of communion. 

5 - At the end of an act of worship (a "voluntary").

Let's begin by thinking about beginnings and endings. It is good to have a rousing and inspiring piece to end and act of worship. I actually think it is harder to choose a piece to begin an act of worship as some pieces that would work very well in some contexts would not work at all in others. A good guide is to have a look at the upcoming readings. I am writing this post on the 29th June, and so the upcoming gospel contains these words "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Perhaps a version of "O rest in the Lord" from Mendelssohn's Elijah may therefore fit the theme and set the scene. I believe that in our current context we should be very wary of playing hymns because the congregation will be tempted to sing along. The RSCM publication "Sunday by Sunday" (which a member of your church, a neighbouring organist/director of music or your diocesan worship advisor may already subscribe to) has other suggestions of anthems that may be appropriate for the day. I do encourage you to join the RSCM if you are not a member though as the work they do to support musicians in church is more important than ever in these troubled times and if you join you will get "Sunday by Sunday" posted to you for free.  Do beware of using "showstoppers" at the start of your service - save these for the end. (By "showstoppers" I mean rousing pieces which it is very hard to follow without a sense of anticlimax). Test a piece of music at home by playing it, and then following it with the opening responses of your act of worship to see whether it fits well. One thing to beware of is the start and finish of any piece of music, including one played from the stereo system. Never simply stop a piece of music midway without fading it gently away. Never simply switch off a PA without turning down the volume. You do not want to disturb or distract others and an annoying "Clunk" will do this.You may also need to do some volume adjustment at the beginning of a piece if it starts really quietly, and then, gently and subtly, turn it down midway if it gets too loud.  If there is more than one track lined up on your CD or electronic device then beware letting it drift on to the start of the next track. Check your volumes in the building itself before the congregation arrives so that the volume does not cause feedback or distortion at the loudest part of the track. (Many classical pieces have large contrasts in volume so do be aware of this). 

Choosing a piece for the distribution of communion is a comparatively easy task. Although it is tempting to play a hymn, once again I would discourage this, as it will be very difficult to stop a congregation singing along. A choral piece, an instrumental piece, or a song that is not well-known may be more appropriate. Have a look at some of the works by modern (20th and 21st century composers) such as John Tavener, Jonathan Dove, James MacMillan or Kerry Andrew who write inspiring and mystical pieces.

If you wish to use music behind the spoken word, this can be really effective but it needs a little careful thought. As I have mentioned before many classical pieces have strong contrasts in volume, these are unsuitable for playing behind the spoken word as it generally drowns it out. Also most pieces with lyrics distract from the words being prayed (although if the song is in another language such as Latin this can sometimes work). Again, try out the piece in advance, speak over a track and see if the volume works and do a soundcheck in the building. Think about the "mood" of the piece. Does that suit the mood at that point in the liturgy, does it enhance the words or add a sense of mystery and Transcendence?  When I used to run the Transcendence services in York Minster we used instrumental music almost constantly to undergird the liturgy so it can work almost anywhere if the correct piece is chosen, but for those unused to blending music and the spoken word I would suggest being sparing and beginning with the intercessions and the Eucharistic Prayer. You will discover that having music behind words means that periods of "silence" (or rather periods of reflection) are more available to you without it seeming awkward. A pause may be made after the consecration, or after a bidding in the intercessions and time can be given for private prayer and reflection whilst the music undergirds the holiness of the moment. 

Churches with an organist (or pianist)

Once again I suggest a breakdown of places where organ or piano music would work well (which is similar to that of pre-recorded music, with one addition). 

1- Just before beginning an act of worship (an "introit").

2 - A "responsorial" psalm. 

3 - During the intercessions.

4 - During the Eucharistic Prayer. 

5 - During the distribution of communion. 

6 - At the end of an act of worship (a "voluntary").

Organists are familiar with playing introits and voluntaries, and most have a large collection of them. They may also have anthems in their repertoire which can be played during the distribution of communion. They may also be able to play variations upon hymns in such a way that the congregation is discouraged from joining in, but they still recognise the tune coming through at various points in the liturgy. 

Many organists will be less familiar with playing underneath the liturgy although there is a tradition known as the French Organ Mass which was popular in the Baroque period. In some of these Masses the organ played throughout the whole of the liturgy and in others it only played for some sections. However it is good to be aware of two things with respect to Organ masses. One is that in the times when these were popular the mass itself was in Latin and virtually inaudible, and secondly that the practice itself was banned by the church as being distracting to the liturgy. Personally I think this was rather a shame, but it is good to be aware that the organ music should be there to enhance the liturgy not to compete with it, and that the words themselves need to be audible. With this in mind, voicing needs to be thought about very carefully and only the quieter stops should be used. There are many pieces which can be played throughout the Eucharistic Prayer, and in this position it is actually possible to play a version of a hymn tune or song as the congregation will be less tempted to sing along because liturgical words are being spoken. This is also true of the intercessions, and short hymns, worship songs, or Taize chants could be used during the spoken biddings of a set of intercessions with the congregation responding with a spoken response (perhaps based upon the words of the chant or song used). 

This brings me to the subject of the responsorial psalm. These have been used in the Roman Catholic tradition for a number of years, and many Anglican parishes have also found them useful. A number of them can be found in hymns books and there is a section at the back of the New English Hymnal. Common Worship Daily Prayer also has a "refrain" printed at the top of each psalm so that they can be used in responsorial form, although no music is printed in this book.  In their more usual form a choir or cantor sings the verses of the psalm and the congregation responds which a short sung refrain which is easy to learn. This form of psalm singing has the advantage of being biblical but also visitor-friendly, as the sung response is short enough for a visitor to learn. In our current situation (July 2020) where we are allowed public worship but not allowed to sing a responsorial psalm can be led by an organist (or instrumentalist) and a reader. The reader can read the spoken response, inviting the congregation to repeat this each time (the printed text is therefore not needed). The reader can then read the verses of the psalm slowly and prayerfully with an organist playing quietly underneath them. When the verse has finished the organist stops and the reader and congregation read and repeat the response before continuing the music and speech for another verse. These psalms can be broken up in a number of different ways, but I would suggest that the longer texts in Common Worship may work better than short texts, and that fewer spoken responses and longer verses would also work more effectively in this context. 

Churches with a band (or string players).

At the present time (July 2020) some of the band will able able to lead music in worship, but not singers, and the instruments will need to be socially distanced. In this context it may be better simply to have a piano, guitar, or harp leading and please bear in mind, that, once again the sound balance of the music against the spoken word is important. Some of these suggestions will also be relevant for those churches with a choral or classical music tradition who have access to string players. As with my other suggestions instruments can undergird and enhance the liturgy at several points in the service, and they may indeed wish to play sensitively throughout (except perhaps during the sermon). For the beginning and end of a service perhaps an unfamiliar worship song from a different tradition or secular song with spiritual lyrics could be played on the PA to lead into the worship event. Places to look at for these may be Resound Worship, CJM music or Poor Clare/Lacey Brown. Classical pieces may also be used which invite prayer and contemplation, and some of these pieces may already be in the repertoire of band members. Once again I would suggest that band members avoid using the tunes to worship songs except at moments where liturgy is already being spoken to avoid the temptation for congregation members to sing along. Fragments and variations of tunes can be used and they can be taken both from the worship song repertoire, but also from appropriate rock and pop tunes and old hymns  Do bear in mind, that, even though the words are not being sung, congregation members will probably know them and start singing them in their minds. The words to "Bridge over troubled water" would bring to mind lyrics of sacrifice and help in a time of trouble, but (to use a silly example) "Bootylicious" by Beyoncé may not invite the right kind of prayer and contemplation. When we were doing a Fresh Expression in York a few years ago we often found the music of Coldplay to work very well as backing to liturgy, and their lyrics often have spiritual content. 

I would also encourage band members to consider leading a responsorial psalm, and Isaac Everett has an excellent setting of the psalter (the Emergent Psalter) which gives some suggestions and keys in which to improvise for those unfamiliar with this method. 

There are many worship songs written on the theme of Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross, and these would make an excellent backing track to the Eucharistic prayer. 

Use of Percussion 

Using percussion may be a possible way forward in introducing creativity within worship in those churches which are used to having lively and noisy sung worship. A song could be played upon the PA system and congregations (after being warned not to sing-along) could be encouraged to play along with drums and shakers. The volume of the song would need to be high enough to cover the use of percussion whilst not damaging hearing.  

Drums can also be used as musical responses to intercessions. For example a simple rhythm such as "Lord Jesus hear all our cries" and "Jesus hear us" (using the latter for shakers and the former for drums) can be used and improvised upon for intercessions. The leader raises their hands as a signal for the drumming to stop, and then guidelines of intercessions can be added before a further period of drumming and prayer. 

To avoid having to disinfect the instruments after use, the congregation could be encouraged to bring along their own drums (buckets, tubs, wooden spoons, placemats and plastic tubs of rice also work well). The congregation should also be warned not to swap instruments between family groups, but plastic shakers could be deposited in a bucket at the exit and easily cleaned with disinfectant. Do not damage drums which use real goatskin (such as djembes) by using disinfectant upon them if they do get contaminated in some way. Instead, wearing gloves, put them away for a few days until they are safe to touch once more. Plastic drum skins should be OK to use disinfectant or soap upon, but always check manufacturers instructions.

Rumours Of Hope

Last week I helped cut a video meditation for the Rumours of Hope Easter Vigil. It was a privilege to be part of such a historic event. It was also wonderful to have representatives of different parts of my life within the same vigil; cathedral Precentors and musicians, but also new monastic communities and those who have worked with the Fresh Expressions movement. To make life easier from a copyright point of view I thought I'd use a piece of my own music as backing, and then remembered "Vigils", which seemed rather aptly titled. It had originally been part of a planned seven piece ambient album; one piece for each of the ancient monastic offices, with the music reflecting the time of day. However, I ran out of inspiration and only Vespers and Vigils were ever written. Maybe one day I will go back and write Lauds and Terce and all the others!

The video itself contained many pieces of footage that I collected when I was still working for the Visions community in York, including footage of tourists leaving the South door of York minster which was taken from the offices of St Michael-Le-Belfrey opposite. It also contains images taken in Northern Ireland, Istanbul, Jordan, and the Holy Land. Visions began in 1989, and is one of the longest running Alternative Worship communities. They used to be connected to St Michaels (some members still are!), meeting weekly to hold worship in the ancient church of St Cuthbert in York, and working as a "small missional community", reaching out to the club goers of York in the 1990s, and later to the arts communities. In (2013?) Visions were asked to move out of St Cuthbert's to make way for a "house of prayer" but they do services in All Saints North Street in York from time to time... Now, after this virus, (like everyone else!) they meet virtually via Zoom, but they have, since 1989, also met midweek in each others houses, and it was their pooling of time, money and resources that enabled me to be employed by them in the first place, 

Anyway if you want to find your way to other pieces of music by me they are all on my Abbess site on Soundclick, although I haven't written any electronica recently. If you like any of the pieces they are free to use in worship (including your church online broadcasts). I may go back to writing at some point, but I am prevented from doing so at the moment because the computer I used to use with the synthesiser software on it needs fixing! In recent years, I have been working with choirs (helping to found the Winchester Cathedral Junior Choir) as I believe that singing is a great (and very natural way) to reach out in mission and help young people learn music. I've also been doing some work with percussion, and, had this virus not hit, I would have been planning launch events for my new Rhythmic Psalter. As things stand instead I have been editing videos and some of these will appear on my YouTube channel. The Transcendence trust website is also a useful portal for resources and events. I work part-time for the trust, but I am also on the lookout for a church job that would slot in alongside this...In the meantime, like everyone else, I am in lockdown, but I am grateful to have the time to explore lots of previously unreleased music and video footage.

This blog is normally used for my more traditional liturgy postings and my other blog (Canon Sue's Creative Liturgy Blog) is the one to go to for the creative stuff.