Making my Lord's Prayer choreography even more communal!

The revised movements showing the full range of forgiveness.

So, my video, Movement Meditations on the Lord's Prayer, is now obsolete, but that's o.k. I'm actually kinda excited about it. The choreography I developed for congregations to pray the well-known prayer continues to evolve: it's even better now!

In preparation for the retreat I gave in January for the Northern Illinois Chapter of the Christian Educators Fellowship of the United Methodist Church, I prayed the Lord's Prayer in movement by myself. Even when we pray the prayer alone, we are praying it as part of the community of believers. Alone, I was conscious of the communal essence of the prayer: the very first word is "Our" and the choreography is to hold hands. The "give us this day our daily bread" didn't feel as communal as I thought it could be. The movement was feeding ourselves and then reaching forward offering food to others. I thought, instead, let's go from side to side: receive from the right, partake, and pass it on to the left. Part of a continuous chain. Much better. The retreat goers agreed. 

The next question was how to make the next line communal: "Forgive us our trespasses." At the retreat, I taught the movement in the video: each person individually bowing her head with arms folded over her chest. We had a good discussion of individual responsibility within groups: one woman commented that it was good for individuals to feel their individual contributions to communal sins. We tried coming closer together in our circle, with our arms around each other, hands on the center of our neighbors' backs between their shoulder blades (over their hearts). We concluded that bowing our heads in that position was very powerful, but most appropriate for smaller groups where people feel comfortable being physically close. When we moved further apart, still touching, and bowed, it wasn't as powerful. We agreed that it was better to bow individually in larger groups.

In the retreat, I taught the movements to the participants without explaining the meaning that I had intended. Instead, I asked the participants what the movements evoked for them. For "as we forgive those who trespass against us," the movement I taught is in the video: putting hands up high in front with palms down as in a blessing. A woman brought up that she was really working to forgive a particular person and putting her hands up over him felt like she was lording it over him and that didn't feel good. She suggested reaching her hands out waist high with palms up as an offering. We explored that movement and decided to begin with it and from there move into the original hands high blessing movement. 

So, I'm excited because even though my video is now obsolete, the choreography is growing and evolving and getting better and better! Thank you to all the participants for communally choreographing this communal prayer!

This was a two hour retreat that I'd love to offer to more groups. Please let me know if your church or ministry might be interested in learning to move the Lord's Prayer. The gestures are simple and easily learned. While initially apprehensive, retreat participants ended up thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to pray in a new way. As one wrote afterwards: "I needed this! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Movement is not my most comfortable way of expressing myself, my feelings, or prayers. However, I felt very safe in this space."

Ribbon banners welcome all

Kay dancing the Pentecost tongues of fire!

It was truly the Holy Spirit at work. I was asked to lead ribbon banners for the entrance processional and ending recessional at the Inauguration and Installation of the Rev. Dr. Frank Yamada as the Tenth President of McCormick Theological Seminary. McCormick is Presbyterian but the inauguration took place at the Apostolic Church of God at Dorchester and 63rd Street in Chicago on Thursday, February 9th. (Long ribbons of varying lengths attached on a swivel hook to fishing or banner poles swirl beautifully in the air.)
   I brought all the poles that I have: three 12 foot banner poles and two short 2 foot ones, and, what do you know, there ended up being five of us -- one for each of us! I also brought all the ribbons that I had in all the colors I had.
   I am always concerned about sight lines when dancing in churches. On the ground floor, the shorter banners would not be visible to those seated in the back. So, we kept the three taller banners on the ground floor with the two shorter ones going up onto the raised stage-like altar area.
Kay and I had fun with the short banners. Her big smile exuded joy. We have a similar movement style, so for people who had not moved together before, we were well coordinated. And, the three tall banners looked great, gracefully moving up and down the aisles. The video begins with the entrance procession to the song, "All Are Welcome," by Marty Haugen. The banners appear in the video at 5:30.
   Another issue to work out was the ribbon colors. We made one of the tall banners in blues, one in greens, and one in lavenders. The two short ones were red and orange.
   I feel strongly that if the ribbon banners are bracketing the service in the entrance and exit, they should also emphasize a high point in the service itself. So, Kay and I brought the short red and orange ribbons out during the scripture acclamation, "Preparing for God's word," seen on the video at 21:15. And, the red worked great because the gospel was the story of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21). The photo of Kay really brings the Pentecost fire to life, doesn't it!

My prayer for dance in the church.

   After his inaugural address, the Rev. Yamada did something that he admitted was "unconventional." He asked people to share their dreams, hopes, and visions of theological education in the church via whatever method they felt comfortable: tweeting, journaling, talking out loud, praying silently. His prayer invitation begins at 1:51:50 in the video.
   I often feel moved to dance during worship services but I seldom act on it unless I've been invited, but this time with his invitation to pray in the form in which we felt comfortable, I acted on my impulse. My danced prayer that dance be part of future theological education is at 1:55:40
   The banner bearers appear again in the video for the ending song, "Going Forth in Song" at 2:04:15. I want to thank Mark Bowman of the worship planning team for inviting me to minister for this momentous occasion. I enjoyed ministering with such wonderfully gifted people: great music, and preaching, and praying! A good beginning for the new President Yamada!

Videotaping Movement Meditations to the Lord's Prayer

Sunday, August 30, 2009, 10:30am,

Sunday Worship with Congregational Movement to the Lord's Prayer

Learn to move through the Lord's Prayer and help others learn how to pray the Lord's Prayer through movement. Immediately after services, everyone is invited to be part of a videotaping of simple movement gestures for the Lord's Prayer. Participants will be asked to fill out a release form and will be named in the credits

New Hope United Methodist Church, Chicago, Illinois

The church address is 7115 W. Hood Ave. -- that's just east of Harlem, North of I-90, North of Peterson, South of Devon.
From the city: Take I-90 toward O’Hare airport. Exit N at the Harlem Ave. exit, go N. 1.5 miles one block past Peterson to Hood. Turn right (East). New Hope is at 7115 W. Hood Ave, at the southwest corner of Nickerson and Hood. It looks like an old fashioned country church painted white. NOTE: there is another much larger church also at that intersection so make sure you go to the right one!

I will teach the movement during the children's time, which is toward the beginning of the service. Children can then go to nursery care and Sunday School during the rest of the service. We will have snacks after worship and videotape more immediately after the service. I'm not sure exactly how long all this will take, but we should be done with most of it by 12:30. There's a park across the street so children can run around, and I hope we can videotape some versions outside, too.

Production of the video is supported by a grant from the Community Arts Assistance Program from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.