Wake, Now, My Senses

Embracing Participatory, Multi-Sensory Modes of Worship

In a previous post, I suggested that innovation in worship is important for congregations who are interested in (as Susan Beaumont put it) "living into your potential." For progressive congregations that want to not only survive - but thrive - into the future, transformation starts in the sanctuary.

New ways of worshipping can enrich the spiritual lives of existing members. Expanding our worship repertoire also holds the promise of drawing in and serving people who are NOT already in our congregations. We can better welcome in diverse people, and meet the whole person, with sensory-rich worship experiences.

In this post I reflect on two areas of worship experimentation in the church I serve.

Experiment 1:  Sensory-Rich Worship Series
 
This was my attempt to adapt the framework of Marcia McFee to be workable in my setting. McFee is a worship artist and consultant who has worked for decades to help churches create more engaging, multi-sensory worship experiences. Her worship planning process, summarized most recently in Think Like A Filmmaker: Sensory-Rich Worship Design for Unforgettable Messages, was featured at the Institute for the Learning Ministry, a bi-yearly professional development offering of the UU Ministers Association. That was winter 2018. I got stalled trying to apply her involved model whole-cloth in the church I served then, and determined to try again after attending an online retreat with McFee in summer 2022.
 
In the 2022-2023 church year, I developed three sensory-rich worship series in a modified version of the planning process McFee teaches. The process stretches over months and involves many people in the process:  “metaphoraging” for core images/ideas; developing an inspiration page (capturing anchor images, quotes, a series blurb); brainstorming with interested parties; collecting sources and multi-sensory “layers,” and selecting the ones that will bring continuity across the series; coordinating with musicians, artists, and story-tellers in the development process; writing a synopsis for each Sunday in the series; creating special promotions for the series, including video invitations and postcards.

One of our worship artists, Mary Kay, created this eclipse triptych. The banners hung at the back of our chancel throughout a worship series on “The Way of Not Knowing.”

For the curious, here are resources from each series:

• “The Way of Not Knowing”   inspiration page (pdf)   video playlist
• “Who We Are”  inspiration page (pdf)    video playlist
• “Our Living Tradition”  inspiration page (pdf)    video playlist

 
Reflection  How did it go? What was learned from this experiment?
 
There was definitely positive feedback – and some indication, anecdotally, that these services were reaching different people and reaching people differently than the typical service.
 
We got bumps in attendance with each series. That could be attributed to some combination of the extra promotion, interest in the topics, or coming back for more after liking initial experiences. I believe it helped re-engage more people from the congregation post-pandemic.
 
People were drawn into participation as co-creators of worship, most notably with visual elements. Interest in participating in brainstorming was higher for the first series than by the third series; the novelty wore off over time.
 
I ended up incorporating in some new ritual into one of the series, and overall often had more good stuff on hand than fit neatly into 60-minute worship services. Learning to curate in this new way was a learning curve.
 
It did not require any less of me in sermon-writing, and it added new work to create the theme, the multi-sensory elements, and the co-creation of it all.
 
I thought I might repeat this process occasionally – not turn into THE way of worship here, but do it once or twice a year. But it was hard to sustain the advance planning for these McFee-ified series, amid the planning cycle of regular services. So instead, I think the lasting effect of this experiment was to feed into Experiment 2.

Experiment 2:  Participatory, Multi-Sensory Culture Shift
 
This was less a one-off experiment and more an ongoing effort, one that got a boost from experiment #1. We have increased active participation in worship services in a number of ways.

One is incorporating more embodied ritual. As in many UU congregations, the liturgical year includes two touchstones that bookend the year, Water In-gathering and Flower Ceremony, with variation in how we do the rituals from year to year. The year before I arrived, our religious educator (the wonderful Christina Strong) brought a procession of gifts ritual that enacts generosity and interdependence through donations of food, winter gear for unhoused youth, and other items. We have continued it every year as part of the December holiday all-ages service.
 
I introduced three more new rituals that now happen annually here. The Honoring Our Ancestors themed service, with ritual of remembrance for ancestors, takes place around All Souls Day; it was well-received and has become a tradition here. That was true, as well, for a December ritual with wreath and ribbons that I created in a previous congregation and introduced here. It acknowledges those that may be particularly missed around the holidays. And in collaboration with lay worship leaders, we have incorporated a Fire Ceremony ritual around the new year into our annual cycle.

One-off rituals have been sprinkled in too, like dirt communion, and a procession celebrating volunteers. (Various ritual pics on this page.)

The ritual we do every Sunday – lighting the chalice – now expresses our belonging and commitment to the earth. My gift to the congregation at my installation service was a new chalice inspired by local rivers, flora and fauna. The chalice lighting we say weekly reinforces that connection to the land, as well as to each other and to the Spirit of Life.
 
Other ways of making worship more participatory include periodic use of responsive readings, turn-to-your-neighbor invitations to share on the topic in connection to personal experience, and even interactive handouts. From conversations and resource-sharing among colleagues, it would appear many churches are doing more of these kinds of things. Colleagues shared ideas I adapted for things like a shared church bingo card – with Love at the center, of course – and UU mad libs.

In a service on "Cults, Control, and YoUU," folks were invited to assess our congregation as I went through my Top Ten list of qualities of a high control group (aka cult). People had the opportunity to discuss their results with one another, too. I then shared a key to interpreting the results: 10-20 - barely a whiff of culty-ness... 21-30 - a few warning signs, nothing irreversible... 32-40 - lots of red flags, danger danger... 41-50 - impending tragedy. First Unitarian was roundly assessed as entirely benign. (Phew!) Although leadership styles of ministers varied a good deal in the past. Hmm.

One type of worship service that is almost always more participatory and multi-sensory is a story-based, theatrical service, as inter-generational services tend to be. This is a strong suit of our religious educator. It is fun for me or a worship associate to partner with her on the ones she develops and leads. I have made a foray into this myself once, with success (on Christmas Eve!) – which helped me appreciate more how much time, energy and care goes into such services. I admire clergy colleagues who have the talent to create and produce these, many of whom are generous in sharing. (People can also turn to resources like story services on Worship Web and Story, Song, and Spirit.)

​This movement toward waking the senses in worship has also involved visual elements, including curated installations and special banner hangings. Thematic props can also help convey ideas and feelings, evoke the feeling of being in a particular setting, and even involve people in the action – like gift boxes that were under our tree last Christmas Eve, containing readings for the evening that were read in the order in which children chose “presents” for opening.   ​

The butterfly banner carried our stewardship theme of Becoming one year. Another banner, with a milky spiral galaxy, evoked awe and interconnection.  What's in those presents under the tree?  Children selected gifts to be opened next and shared on Christmas Eve.

A cornucopia installation of abundance graces our chancel every November. ​

Some creations in the playdough gallery, made during worship in the pews.

Beauty is for the ear, as well as the eye. While much of traditional worship reaches the ear – the hymns, the spoken word throughout – there are additional, vivid ways of evoking meaning in audible language. Tapping diverse voices to deliver readings, and setting individual readings for multiple speakers – whether a few voices on the chancel, or the full gathered community delivering refrains together – can bring richness and depth to what is heard.
 
And then there’s music. To me, music is the heart of worship. Weaving music artfully into services helps create the emotional arc and resonance of effective worship. This includes special music from the choir, staff musicians or guests, as well as congregational singing. Music can set the tone for ritual actions of attendees. It can be melded with prayers or meditations to bring comfort, voice grief, or invite joy.
 
Let’s not forget tactile experience. Participants created playdough sculptures as part of a service on “Playing with Purpose.” More recently, folks were invited into contemplative braiding of yarns or pipe cleaners in a service on (re)building trust. Our Chalice Dancers have enlivened several services with motion and color, too.
 
On the audio-visual front, I am particularly proud and pleased that the congregation I serve now has a modern big screen. A group of lay leaders worked with me and our techies to develop options, gather input from the congregation, and select a course that would serve our mission through multi-sensory worship, while integrating into the look of its beautiful, historic sanctuary. This change was a long time coming because it needed to be handled with care and thoughtful communication. Kudos to all the people who led the way!

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Screen tastefully integrated into the sanctuary

​Installed in late 2023, the screen has been a boon in our worship life. Children’s stories, seasonal photos, response lines for readings, and video meditations have graced the screen. It’s been useful for business meetings, too… and enabled us to bring voices from the wider UUniverse into our sanctuary with their own faces and voices.
 
A recent example of a visually-rich service making the most of the screen’s worship-enhancing potential is on “Beauty Before Me.”

​Reflection  How has all this gone over? What have we learned?
 
My sense is that with any of these ways of increasing participatory and multi-sensory worship, most people are feeling ministered to by it. Individual feedback suggests that it is both serving the core well, and expanding to serve adjacent needs (including for existing members) as well as new people.
 
While positive feedback that I have heard comes from all demographics, it’s notably stronger among young adults and people with families.
 
Regarding intergenerational services in particular, appreciation seems to be growing broadly over the past several years – including from older congregants who have expressed a desire for more experiences of all-ages community.
 
That said, there are likely some individuals who don’t care for the occasional talk-to-your-neighbor invitation (it’s always optional); I doubt every last person is personally touched by more ritual opportunities; and there are probably some that could take or leave the use of banners, videos, and other enhancements. That's okay. Church is not a consumer experience, and there is something for everyone.
 
Between the shift to multi-platform worship and more participatory and multi-sensory worship, we have become more high-tech behind the scenes over the last several years. The impact on volunteers is the main down side I see - every increase in tech can make serving as a worship associate, or AV tech volunteer, more intimidating to some folks, as it does become more involved. (It has an impact on staff too – we HAVE paid tech staff now, and a minister these days has to have a certain degree of aptitude.)
 
All in all, this shift in worship culture has been a net positive for the church’s mission, both in serving existing constituents and the same needs as before, and expanding outward to adjacent constituents and needs.

Next Up    I’ll describe and reflect on two other experiments:  Soulful Songs Sunday, a music-rich service format, and another high-participation, multi-sensory mutation, Brunch Church.