Worship

Greetings, church family!

Every Sunday at First Pres, two of our middle schoolers put on white robes, process to light the candles, help with the offering, and then carry the light back out at the end of the service.  We call them acolytes, which means an “attendant” or “helper,” a role that dates back to the early centuries of the church.
Two of our core values at First Pres are liturgy that establishes gospel rhythms in the life of the believer and the cultivation of cross-generational relationships.  I think our acolytes are a really good example of what both of those values look like in practice.

Liturgy

There is a reason we do many of the same things in the same order each Sunday.  Our liturgy tells the story of the gospel and gives us a rhythm for worship.  We are called to worship, confess our sin and hear the good news of forgiveness, hear God’s Word, respond, are blessed, and then are sent back out into the world.
The acolytes have a role in that rhythm.  They bring the light into the sanctuary at the beginning of the service and light the candles, reminding us that Jesus is the Light of the World.  Fire is also one of the images Scripture gives us for the Holy Spirit, especially at Pentecost when tongues of fire rested on the disciples.  So light and fire are fitting symbols as we gather for worship in the presence of the Triune God.  Then, at the end of the service, the acolytes take that light from the communion table and carry it back out, just as we are sent into the world as the light of Christ.

Cross-generational

The other thing I love about our acolytes is that we are giving our kids a real job to do in worship.
We want our children to know that they aren’t waiting until they’re adults to be part of the church.  They are an important part from the time they are born and get hauled into worship in their infant carriers.  We want them to grow up knowing the words, songs, movements, and rhythms of Christian worship, not just because we taught them about those things, but because they have worshiped alongside us week after week.
And it’s important to note that having kids involved in worship is not always going to be perfectly quiet or predictable.  I’m sure I’m not the only person who has watched the children’s sermon from a subtly crouched position, ready at a moment’s notice to stop a candelabra from being knocked over.  Sometimes kids are loud in the service.  Sometimes the acolytes miss a cue.  But this reminds us that worship is not a performance. We are called by God to worship, and we respond to him with all that we are, young and old.

Laura Klenda recently described our acolytes as “representatives of the Holy Spirit coming alongside us to help us pay attention to God and worship him.”  I love that description because it brings both of these things together.  Our kids aren’t just learning the rhythms of worship by participating in them; they are helping the rest of us worship too.

Grace and peace,
Hannah Bradford
Director of Worship
First Presbyterian Church