Spiritual Nourishment

Music- and Food-Centered Worship Formats

​Why try new forms of worship? To nurture spirits and build community –  the raison d'être of congregations – in ways that connect today. Enhancements and new models in this area of congregational life can both serve existing constituents in powerful ways, and reach new people not already drawn into and fed by a church’s worship life.
 
In my prior post in this Worship Innovation series, I shared some of the ways I have experimented with more participatory and multi-sensory modes of worship. Here I zero in on two specific new forms of worship I have introduced where I serve, centering song and food, respectively.
 
Experiment 3:  Soulful Songs Sundays
 
It’s no accident that religious communities the world over sing and chant together. Singing is one of the most powerful ways to express ideas, process emotions, and find one’s spiritual center.
 
Singing has palpable, positive physiological effects. It helps to regulate breathing and calm the nervous system. This integrating activity draws on both the left and right sides of the brain. And when we sing together with others, tapping into our social biology, it can foster a deep sense of safety and communal care. Singing together is powerful medicine.

Image: gustavorezende / Pixabay

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​A few years ago I decided to experiment with a Sunday morning worship format that centers singing together. I happened to mention this to a local colleague, the cantor at the reform synagogue in our city. She shared that she periodically leads a song-centered service in her congregation, and invited me to visit one. The experience was inspiring and cemented my desire to play with music-centered worship.

In addition, UU colleagues from all over generously shared their own song-rich worship format examples, from vespers and Taizé-style evening services, to some hymn sings and other Sunday morning services rooted in communal singing. (You can check out this Brief Guide on Taizé-style Worship in UU churches from Rev. Aaron White, shared here with his blessing.)
 
My own spiritual experiences with chanting led me to favor simple songs that can be sung repeatedly, similar to Taizé, though broader in repertoire. I developed a template Order of Service and named the format Soulful Songs Sundays. (Current template here.)  Standard worship elements like lighting the chalice, the offering, and Joys & Concerns are retained. Chants or short songs may take the place of a keyboard prelude, opening hymn, and could even be part of a Time for All Ages.
 
Instead of a sermon, the heart of the service is a cycle of inspirational readings or reflections interspersed with songs and silence – generally three cycles of reading-song-silence. The readings and songs are curated or written, and arranged in a particular order, to create the emotional arc of the service. The tone can be soothing or energizing. It can invite calm and connection, or wonder, or commitment. While the goal is always to minister to people holistically, the form is flexible. It can be utilized to address many topics and foster varied emotional effects.
 
Were I in a sanctuary with flexible seating, I would have the chairs arranged in a circle or semi-circle. Such an arrangement would create a communal feeling, and enhance participants’ ability to hear each others’ voices, for rounds and two-part pieces as well as unison singing. That’s not an option in the traditional, pew-filled sanctuary where I serve, but I mention it for others who might want to try that.

Image: geralt / Pixabay

In preparing to pilot this type of service, I gathered up musical resources:  ordering and familiarizing myself with more Mary Grigolia songbooks; reviewing chants and songs from other sources (including some of my own scribbling); and going through UU hymnals and Worship Web to build a list of songs suitable for chant-like use. (My original compilation of potential songs is here. Please do your own due diligence re: copyright/permissions/honorariums.) Happily, we now also have Sing Out Love, the UUA virtual hymnal with ever-expanding songs – many suitable for this type of service. Squeeeee!
 
I scheduled three Soulful Songs Sundays the year that I started this, 2023-2024, introducing it to the congregation as something we were trying out that year. In 2024-2025, we used this format six times from fall through spring, with a song-centered service about every six weeks or so. This year, after returning from sabbatical, I am continuing to program a Soulful Songs service about every 6-8 weeks.

Following are some examples from the past couple years of Soulful Songs Sundays.

9-29-24  The Touch of Autumn
​Order of Service

   2-2-25  Strength in the Storm
​Order of Service

​11-9-25  Beauty Before Me
​Order of Service

2-8-26  More Joy
Order of Service

Reflection  How did it go? What was learned from this experiment?
 
There was some tentativeness in the congregation when I first introduced the Soulful Songs Sunday format. While one side of the bell curve dug the novelty and experiential nature of this type of service right away, others took time to acclimate, as the pattern of the service became familiar. Part of the learning curve for me was how to strike a balance of familiar vs. new songs that would be about right for most. (I do include some songs with verses now.)
 
Accompanists and music leaders likewise got more comfortable over time, following my lead in how many times to repeat a given song; I often want to be able to feel the room and follow my intuition, to achieve the desired physiological and spiritual effects. Sinking into the singing is where the magic happens.
 
In light of the framework from Susan Beaumont that I introduced in the first post in this series, I believe this service format is serving well the core of existing constituents and needs previously met. I also sense that it is reaching the adjacent sector – needs of current people not previously met, or met as well, plus serving new people who are drawn to a contemplative, artfully woven service.

(You can check out Beaumont's take on this.)

I am aware of folks who have a particular appreciation for Soulful Songs Sundays, both among our choir singers and the congregation at large – including some who were initially unsure and slow to warm up to that format. There are doubtless some for whom it is not their favorite format, as is true with any approach to worship. While there are people of all tenures in the congregation who indicate feeling ministered to by these services, my sense is that newer and younger people are especially likely to connect with Soulful Songs Sundays.
 
On a practical level, the model feels sustainable, with an ever-growing repertoire of potential songs. I have an ample set of stand-bys, from hymnals and songs already introduced, to balance with new songs. I’m excited to continue drawing from Sing Out Love, in particular.
 
I find much creative opportunity in how I weave together the elements of a Soulful Songs Sunday, sometimes adapting the format to connect on the particular time and topic.
 
I had hoped that this format, once established, would take less prep time than a sermon-centered service. I’m not finding that to be the case. It’s comparable in the time needed to prepare. It does involve a different sort of energy and effort than sermon-writing, and that brings welcome variation in my creative life and pastoral ministry.
 
All in all, Soulful Songs Sundays strike me as an effective new worship format where I serve. I anticipate continuing to program these every 6-8 weeks on our worship calendar.

Experiment 4:  Brunch Church
 
Like music, food is a focal point for people coming together, including in religious community. And like singing together, breaking bread together helps create a visceral sense of safety and belonging in community.

​I was interested in a worship format that includes a meal, for several reasons. It holds community-building potential that felt especially needed post-pandemic, and continuing into a polarized, alienated era. It lends itself to all-ages community, in particular, with the promise of including families in congregational life, and promoting connections across generations – something people of all ages have asked for in the church I serve.

Image: Christian Wiediger / Unsplash

Photo: PhotoEnduro / Pixabay

Food-centered worship also connects with the senses in a way uncommon in traditional worship – bringing in the flavors, textures, colors, and nourishment of food. I don’t remember how much this was on my mind at the beginning, but I am now mindful, as well, that food insecurity affects some of our members and visitors. Putting good food in people’s bellies meets a critical need even before you get into the community-building, aesthetic appeal and spiritual openings generated by sitting down to a meal.
 
This was a worship type that would need a team effort. Members of our Worship Arts Team, along with some other interested folks who agreed to serve, formed a task force to pilot a Brunch Church worship format. We consulted with Nourish, a UU community ministry serving our movement, to learn what worked well in their experience doing dinner church with a variety of Unitarian Universalist communities and settings.
 
Our team worked through logistical questions like where to hold brunch church – we do it in our Common Room (fellowship hall), with its big round tables and adjacent kitchen – and what foods to offer. Each Brunch Church service introduces a theme, and provides the opportunity for people to engage with that topic in discussion at their tables. Here’s our current template for this type of service. (I highly recommend talking with the folks at Nourish for rich conversation and resources as you get started.)
 
Since we introduced the Brunch Church format in June 2024, the Worship Arts Team has taken to scheduling one about every other month. That pattern continues.

​Reflection  How did this experiment go over? What have we learned?
 
Brunch Church is well attended and has big fans – including some folks less likely to come out for more traditional worship. There are also folks who stay home those Sundays, because the noise and commotion of a full Common Room with eating and talking is too much for them. (These may be folks who are drawn instead to Soulful Songs Sundays. Different strokes!)

From worship team and congregant reports, Brunch Church appears to be a success in building community, including across children, youth, parents and elders. There seems to be some variability in how deeply people dig into the conversation prompts on the theme vs. just chatting at their tables while they eat.
 
One surprise for me was that the Worship Arts Team likes doing this kind of service so much – and finds it easier to do than coming up with more speaker ideas or working with guests – that since the pilot, they have consistently been scheduled for Sundays when I will not be in the pulpit. I’m slightly disappointed, as I do not get to witness or participate in the goodness. On the other hand, this takes some pressure off the worship team – and that’s no small thing.
 
We have learned that doing this potluck-style leads to lots of people bringing food to share. So much so that over time, the team stopped planning ahead to provide staple foods, like the oatmeal and egg dishes provided at the pilot. With visitors and food insecurity on my mind, I am encouraging a return to having some breakfast staples provided by the church.
 
We learned it wasn’t worth trying to stream Brunch Church. We did it the first time, with plans for how to interact with and include folks on Zoom, and had virtually no attendance online. Nor have there been complaints about the lack of a streaming option on subsequent Brunch Church Sundays.
 
Considering Beaumont’s categories, my sense is that Brunch Church is serving our core – existing people and needs – as well as reaching adjacent people, and needs not already well met in traditional worship.
 
Time-wise, I do think that preparing this kind of worship would take less from me, if I were planning them periodically, than other kinds of worship. That may be true for worship associates too – part of why they have taken leadership of this form of worship.

Next Up    I’ll review an experiment with a UU sermon co-op undertaken with participating colleagues. And I'll ponder where to invest one's time in ministry, particularly in relation to the burning question of how spiritual communities can evolve to meet the needs of the present and future.