Imagine this conversation: we’re midway into Lent and we’ve been hosting lunches for our new members and their sponsors Sundays after church. As a community we’re trying to design a Saturday evening Easter Vigil service that accommodates the needs of our few dozen new members.
Some households are in their retirement years and prefer not to drive at night. Other households have small children and there are bedtimes to consider. But on the other hand we all love the idea of a bonfire… and bonfires are cooler when it’s dark outside.
The Easter Vigil, the service we were planning together, typically has a “new fire” to begin the liturgy. The service begins outdoors, the community lights candles from the new fire and then proceeds into the sanctuary. The rest of the liturgy takes place inside. By the time the service is complete the “new fire” has gone out and everyone goes home in semi-darkness.
We’ve done this service before, and although it’s always been beautiful, it’s often felt like we were more beholden to the given tradition than we were responsive to the needs of our community…
We’re discussing the plan, and someone asks, “What if we had the bonfire at the end of the service instead of the beginning?” Which then set everything we had been planning on its head, and for the better.
I pastor in a tradition that has a received liturgy. That is to say, there is a LOT of thought and planning that has gone into a set “ordo” for worship. It’s all laid out in our hymnal, and the whole complex structure is (for the most part) entirely given/prescribed.
And when I say everything, I really do mean everything. In this sense Lutheran liturgy is not like oil painting or sculpting or jazz, it’s more like putting together a puzzle or painting by numbers. You “do” the things as given, and the work is to weave all the things into a coherent whole.
But even those parts that vary from week to week (like the Prayer of the Day or the readings from Scripture) are themselves designated. In other words, there’s an order not just for the particular way the service is constructed but also which prayers you do from week to week and year to year.
In a Lutheran worship service that operates according to the given liturgy, almost nothing is left to improvisation or extempore speech—the exceptions being the sermon, announcements, and the Prayers of the People.
Of course, not all Lutherans adhere so strictly to this structured liturgy, but by and large a philosophy of Lutheran liturgy (and this is true also for many Protestant denominations with which we share full communion) is that you start from the liturgy as it is given.
The Easter Vigil is a “given” service. It only happens once a year. It is an ancient liturgical service that—until the liturgical renewal movement in our denomination in the last couple of decades—had fallen into disuse.
We started hosting the Vigil about nine years ago in our congregation because we had so many new members arrive each year, many seeking baptism, many unfamiliar with our tradition, and it seemed wise to use a model like the catechumenate1 to offer a longer time for formation.
The entire formation process culminates in the Easter Vigil. Although it’s very “Easter-y,” it also includes quite intentionally the baptism of those new to the community of faith, plus affirmation of those entering or re-entering the church who have already been baptized.
The whole process leading up to the Easter Vigil (the catechumenate) is designed precisely for churches and people in such a process.
That being said, it’s appropriate to ask ourselves how much weight one should give to that which was historically done vs. that which is helpful for those doing it today. Bonhoeffer famously asked, “Who is Jesus Christ for us today?” We might rightly ask, “What is the Easter Vigil for us today?”
Once we asked ourselves this question, we ended up with a new shape that incorporates some of the old forms. So, this coming Saturday, we’ll begin with the baptisms and the affirmation of baptisms at the font. The fire will be outside and lit, but we won’t begin with it. It will mostly be lit so those who need to leave early can make pre-service s’mores if they wish. Maybe also for mood.
After the baptisms, we’ll jump into the set of readings assigned for the Vigil. These are rather unique. There are actually up to 12 lessons that can be read at the Easter Vigil, which if read in their entirety can take as long as 60-90 to read. I always think to myself, “People will think this is too long!?” But then, when I ask for volunteers to read, we always end up with 9-10 readings. There’s a kind of hunger for this, I think, to simply sit and calm and hear longer texts from Scripture.
Then, AFTER all of this, we’ll head out to the bonfire. It will be 8:30 p.m. or so, dark outside, and if the weather holds, perfect to sit around a fire. We’ll share a very simple communion meal, bust out the chocolate and marshmallows and graham crackers, and simply spend time together.
We’ll have the newly baptized to congratulate, new members to welcome, and each other simply to know and love.
I think I much prefer this approach to liturgy planning, and will likely implement it more frequently. Ask ourselves, “What fits? What will help us? What is the liturgy for us today?” all the while looking to the historic resources not as a pro forma guide to how to do it rightly but rather as important pieces we may, as we wish, assemble into the bricolage we call worship.
If you want to check out the Vigil, join us Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
If you’d like to learn more about the wider ecumenical movement recovering the catechumenate, visit
https://journeytobaptism.org
Thanks for the lengthy explanation of how the Easter Vigil will transpire Saturday evening. I have received via email the passages I’ll be reading and have thanked Jessica for the large print. See you at some of the evening services.
Nine years ago - our volunteer team committed to preparing a home cooked meal and a 45 min discussion of the gospel reading and sermon of the day in prep for this VIGIL. This was most Sunday nights from Jan- April ,which having teenagers and a busy schedule seemed impossible at the time-but it was so fulfilling and rewarding to really get to know the newcomers. I'm so glad you are about FUN and Flexible. So glad it's still happening with a gentle flow and different time and potluck style. So glad you reached out and got old timers for sponsors. I love that you take the time to pick up the phone and politely ask. Please teach the young ones to volunteer, to ask, to participate. I love how they help at church service. You are so good with them. Maybe encourage a few youth to help you with dishes and clean up next year and introduce themself and one cool fact about them to the newcomers? xoxo