Three days, June 25-28, that began on Wed. evening, outdoors in Wallenberg Square in the heart of downtown Montreal. Gathering in-between the neo-gothic Anglican Cathedral and a soaring office tower while standing overtop underground shopping, over 200 persons began a liturgy to open a conference juxtaposing Order & Chaos. Beginning on one side of the Square, at the Memorial to Raoul Wallenberg (the Swede who worked to protect thousands of Jews from German extermination) order and chaos were turned inside out. The Gathering Rite played with a well-ordered system for the transport, cataloguing and extermination of Jews juxtaposed to the chaos of the effort to protect and free them. Getting in to the theme: order is now evil and chaos is good. Worshippers were numbered off, addressed through megaphones, and reminded that the juxtaposition of order and chaos continues in many places today. From being numbered and segregated, it was a procession to the fountain on the other side of the square that brought them to a new place. The grace of being able to wash off the numbers and become one community. Now a people leaving the square, crossing the river, walking down the city street and around to enter the cathedral. But the Order of the neo-gothic was troubled by a setting of the liturgy that pitted Latin polyphonic chant against a mechanical, taped soundtrack of industry, war, TV-news, and sounds from creation. Now we were into the conference and the juxtapositions, tensions, and celebrations of Order & Chaos. Just to make it real, after the liturgy, it was back to the square for wine and a reception. And so it all began.

Plenaries, workshops, and exceptional experiences. These were the hallmarks of Anglicans and Lutherans gathering for Worship Conference 2008. It was the liturgy of the cosmos engaging the liturgy of our chaotic lives. The order imposed by the organisers and the chaos of 125 registered participants from across Canada and as far away as Texas. Plenaries that were loaded with information and alive with radical configurations of a worshipping assembly. Workshops that were skill specific and those that offered something sensual and filled with heart: Music, trends in worship, pilgrimage, architecture, contemplation, dance, and a chance to explore the theme in depth. And all of it very environmentally conscious. The organising committee got rid of everything from individual sugar packets and creamers to worship booklets and excess paper, but gave away water bottles, coffee mugs, and cloth breakfast bags (with the bagels wrapped in wax paper). Of course, the coffee was fair-trade and organic!

There was the Friday in Quebec City. Morning Prayer on the bus and a warm welcome upon arrival at the historic Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Anglican) in the heart of old Quebec. History, touring, an insider look at several historic churches, another plenary and then a liturgy beginning in the courtyard of the cathedral. This time the order of the Word and the chaos of the Word. “In the beginning….” And from there the experience of Logos. Not to mention an evening of relaxed socialising in the gardens of one of Quebec’s most historic venues.

Included at each Worship Conference is the conferral of the Lutheran Companion of the Worship Arts. At the Closing Worship, the Revd Karen Johnson-Lefsrud was made a companion. The very simple final liturgy with Taizé chant, dispersed the conference attendees into the world of Order & Chaos, but hopefully tuned to the divine Order and divine Chaos present at all times and in all places.

Going out into the world meant an opportunity to bring the order of love into the chaos of the streets and the homeless. Saturday evening the Sandwich Ministry from St. John’s invited conference participants to gather for making sandwiches and coffee and then distributing them to the homeless in downtown Montreal. Was this the Word becoming flesh or another commemoration of Wallenberg? There was great participation on this servant event.

The ELCIC Programme Committee for Worship and co-chairs Eric Dyck and Peter Wall thank the many sponsors and donors, especially Faithlife Financial for covering the costs for Gordon Lathrop. Special thanks for the support of the Eastern Synod and the Anglican Dioceses of Montreal and Québec.

See you 2010 in Vancouver!

- Rev. Eric Dyck

• As an Anglican, I am grateful for the ways in which our full-communion relationship inspires, challenges, and moves me.
• Great place to have a conference!
• Karen Ward is open yet introverted, quiet yet validating, a teacher but mostly an encourager. Bless her!
• I have learned to clothe the gospel in many colors, many styles and shapes, and most of all, to set the gospel free. Thank you, Order and Chaos team! - Randall
• There were several profound moments for me. Two in particular stand out: Karen Ward’s assertion that, whatever the idiom, ministry needs to be “whole-hearted” and authentic, and Gordon Lathrop’s assertion that “Christ is the sacrament.” I think I feel that everything else can build on that! - Karen J.
• A comment was made during Karen’s first plenary session in the Q&A section: “We have to consider, what is worship?” Without a good biblical understanding of what God desires in our worship, is it possible our litugy becomes too focused on “our” performance of it? - Jay D.
• It is helpful to have gained a much more useful understanding of the “postmodern” definition and the connection with the emerging church.
• Useful to experience the contrast in styles of the two main presenters and yet the strength of their similar bases of faith.
• Poignant and pertinent fresh images and metaphors of the elements of worship.
• I appreciated the two speakers. Quite different but their material and delivery complement on another. Good ideas to take home.

- posted by Lindsay Hognestad, Trinity Lutheran, Regina

- Photos by Rev. Paul Johnson

But beyond the order of agenda, speakers, workshops and worship is the fabulous chaos of relationships. It’s the sort of place where I meet friends from across the country, both Anglican and Lutheran – and even a UCC national staff person – and, most importantly, meet new friends. And that’s the stuff, the relationship building stuff, that is the glory of these gatherings. I’ve met and learned from Lutherans who are working in inner city missions and an Anglican “emergent church” mover and shaker, creative young people from both churches with the sort of passion that gives me hope for the future of our churches.

Karen Ward spoke this morning about the beginning of the Church of the Apostles in Seattle, how her vision grew out of the natural relationships that were the place that gave her life when she was working at the national office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – her pub friends, most if not all of whom were non-church people. But the relationships were real, friendships real, and in the reality of being in true friendship meant that naturally her faith was shared, and in ways that grew faith in others. No “missional programme” from any national office grows this.

But they could support it, by sharing stories, the real stories of ministry and mission. Like Karen this morning talking about the Church of the Apostles’ initiative where they held a ‘living room’ in a street store front, with comfy couches and tea and music and poetry and good food. Where they discovered that some of the regulars were homeless and needed from time to time to borrow a few bucks, and where they engage the big questions about God, self, community and world. A place where the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is talked about in the big, ‘so what’, questions about the purpose of life, what helps you get out of bed in the morning? What journey are you on, and who’s with you on that journey?

More later…

Eileen Scully

Karen reminded us today that we see signs all around us that people are spiritually hungry, yet one of the last places that many of them expect spiritual encounter is the Christian church. Gordon spoke to the heart of worship: in the meal and bath, word and prayer, Jesus Christ is with us! We who assemble in the presence of the risen Christ know this is a place of life! How does/can this truth come to those who are searching for profound experience? This and so much more to consider . . .

- posted by Carolyn Speakman

We’d checked in to our various residences and picked up our nametags and great conference bags, Montreal tourist brochures and conference itinerary information, and made our way to Wallenberg Square for the opening Eucharist and first gathering of the conference. Bit by bit we came from our various places, from the chaos and rush of travel, check-in, finding our places and directions to the conference site, to gather – and, as these things happen, these national gatherings, gathering meant seeing familiar faces, friends not seen perhaps since the last conference 2 years ago, or from much longer ago. Hugs and other warm greetings, shouts of surprise, new introductions being made, the marks of relationship being shown.

But also visible was a different mark. Upon entry to the public square each of us was greeted warmly by a volunteer who then wrote a number from 1 to 4 on the backs of our hands. Shortly we were asked to gather in groups according to the numbers. Each group was to be a ‘voice’ in responses to prayers offered in the coming liturgy.

It seemed that we were called to order at a certain point: called in to hear the liturgical greeting by the Bishop of Montreal. But we were called to a mix of order-in-chaos, and chaos-in-order that was to give us all a hint of what was to come. One might think easily of chaos as a negative, the mess out of which we are gathered into the formed order of worship of God. But from the first words that gathered us, any suspicions of “order-good; chaos-bad (or at least weird” were thrown upside down.

We were bidden to reflect , in Raoul Wallenberg Square, about the ways in which the human striving for order has been sin: the order of the trains that ran on time to the death-camps during the Second World War; the order by which military precision has been a servant of the death-idol; the order by which classes and races are kept apart; the allure of the ‘comfort’ of orderliness. After the reading of the first lesson, the story of Moses striking the rock, we were then invited to wash off the numbers on our hands.

From there we processed down Union Street and into the cathedral, marched in by drummers, and past amused and bemused Wednesday-night shoppers on the sidewalk.

The opening service was a lovely combination of congregational singing of familiar hymns and choir performance of an order of the mass by a young Canadian composer (sorry – will have to provide the name later!!) whose setting ordered choral SATB with a recording of what might to some at first to seem like chaotic noise. On close listening, we heard as the accompanying instruments environmental sounds of traffic , bells, various atmospheric wooshes and swooshes and things that normally are background sound and noise, whether noticed or not, in our everyday lives.

Powerful sermon, thank you to the Rev’d Dr. Gordon Lathrup. I hope we’ll have a text of his to post here because I dare not try to summarize it.

Sent forth, we went on to enjoy the hospitality of the cathedral and the local planning committee over glasses of wine and good fruit and veggie platters, back again in Wallenberg Square.

- post by Dr. Eileen Scully, Coordinator for Worship and Ministry, Anglican Church of Canada (ACC)

- blog post and picture from Rev. Paul Johnson

 Rev. Karen Ward addresses conference.

 
 ”Anyone remember one of these?” asks Rev. Ward.

- Photos by Rev. Paul Johnson

We began in Wallenberg Square, part of the Christ Church Cathedral (Anglican) in downtown Montreal. Gathering before the liturgy began, the assembly watched local break dancers and visited, happily renewing old friendships, Anglican, Lutheran, Prince George to Philadelphia, excited about the next few days. As the music died and the dancers faded away, we were invited to gather together for a time of prayer, remembering Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who worked hard to save many Jews from the Nazis during WWII, and is remembered as righteous among the nations by Israel. For his efforts he was arrested by the Soviets and disappeared forever in their injustice system. So we prayed mightily for never again, and then confessed that indeed it had happened again, in many ways, in many places, even now in some parts of the world.

We gathered around the fountain to remember and give thanks for the gift of baptism, receiving absolution, wet and graceful forgiveness, and then processed along the sidewalk to the sound of drums, drawing some curious looks from passersby and from young and old enjoying the cathedral lawn in the middle of that cement jungle. The opening Eucharist was a rich and diverse experience, containing many elements of both order and chaos combined in creative and very imaginative ways. The preacher was the Rev. Dr. Gordon Lathrop (from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Amercia – ELCA), a renowned liturgical scholar. The presider was our local host, Bishop Barry Clarke, the Anglican Bishop of Montreal, and the Rev. Dr. Mark Harris, from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC)’s Eastern Synod, was present also, representing Bishop Michael Pryse, our ‘local’ ELCIC host. The role of Assisting Minister was confidently and pastorally fulfilled by Bonnie Weppler, recently returned to Canada after ten years of service as an ELCIC long-term missionary in Papua New Guinea. The meal was wonderful, a deep sense of joyful community in Christ.

After the liturgical celebration of community in Christ we paraded once more, informally, but back to the courtyard, breeze ruffling the trees, fountain splashing happily, a long, leisurely time of healthy foods, beverages to suit the tastes of all, and rich, rich fellowship. It was all a great beginning to the 2008 National Worship Conference of the ELCIC and the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC).

- blog post and pictures by Rev. Paul Johnson, Assistant to the Bishop, National Office of the ELCIC