Church for a changing culture: an introduction to alternative worship

13: Ritual

Most Alternative Worship services incorporate some sort of ritual or symbolic act.

Ritual got a bad name as something incomprehensible done by a man at the front, but Alternative Worship rituals, which can be anything between solemn and crazy, usually involve the whole congregation in something that sums up, consummates an aspect of the service. It takes the congregation from thinking to doing, talking to being, gives a space for response in more than words. A good ritual is empowering. It changes the person. It creates new perspectives that carry through into everyday life.

Rituals reframe complex issues in ways that can be understood and worked through. Alternative Worship groups try to produce new rituals that are relevant to contemporary life. At the same time historic rituals are looked at with an eye to their helpfulness, either as they are or reinvented in some way. By doing this the traditions of the Church are passed on and renewed. Those that take part find that historic Christianity can help make sense of their current experience.

Many Alternative Worship groups are experimenting with Holy Communion.

They are creating new liturgies and settings that explore different aspects of its meaning and theology. In particular, for many groups it has gained new significance through being taken back to its original setting in a meal with friends. To rewrite the rite is to make it one's own, taking one's place in the story, passing it on as a live tradition. Those who experiment have found that it becomes a vital and central part of their worship.