“You really ought to give Iowa a try.” This tune played on repeat in my head as we drove late at night from O’Hare airport in Chicago to Dubuque, IA where my seminary is located. We were going there for my (aforementioned) graduation and my daughter had been in a local theater production of the famed 1957 classic, ‘The Music Man,’ the setting of which is in the midwest (yes, there’s even a shoutout to Dubuque in the play).
Dubuque is lovely. Our AirBNB was in the historic part of town which is nestled on a hill overlooking downtown and the Mississippi River.
Since moving to CA from the midwest in the summer of 2020, I’ve noticed that - generally speaking - the style of Lutheran worship is different out West. It’s far more casual and informal. Which makes sense, culturally. But the formality of Lutheran liturgy (yes, you might call it ‘high church’) that I became accustomed to in the midwest is a big element of the Christian experience that brought me back into the fold. I’ve always been a fan of the smells and bells of catholic liturgy (if it’s done with heart and soul intact).
Well, having observed more casual Lutheran churches throughout seminary over the last few years since moving here, I’ve been wondering if I’m even in the right denomination. I find more liturgical resonance with our friends in the Episcopal Church (whom we Lutherans are in full communion with, meaning our priests can interchangeably serve each other’s churches, etc.).
But when I was in Dubuque, and we went to the Baccalaureate mass on the morning of graduation day, I was reminded of why I became a Lutheran in the first place. Not only do we have this beautiful sacramental way of worship (liturgy). We also have a sacramental theology that fuels everything we do, from hymn selection to how we preach.
I could say so much more about this - and I will in future posts - but for now, I just wanted to share some photos I just received from the baccalaureate mass. I think they’re beautiful. In them, you’ll see why I love being in a more liturgical denomination and why I think the Lutheran church out west should lean further into the timeless traditions we’ve carried throughout the millennia (no, not everyone wants super casual/contemporary worship - maybe we let the mega churches and Presbyterians do that 🤪).
In closing, I want to mention something you can only partly see in the photos. The people in robes leading and serving during the mass are my deer classmates whom I’ve shared classes with for the last few years. I’ve seen them mostly on a Zoom screen in their daily garb (often pajamas) and sitting tired and haggard in their disorganized living spaces, much like I am in those same classes.
In class, and in daily life, we muddle through. But during mass, when you don the robes, carry the cross, sing the hymns, and serve the Holy Eucharist, a new life shines out through your eyes (yes, you can see this part in the photos). When you are in a liturgical worship setting, you are in an otherworldly space where you are removed from the slog of daily life as you participate in a liturgy that exists eternally in Heaven; this reality of all realities that hums like a base note around, in, and under this one. It is far deeper than a casual hangout with friends or a local Rotary meeting. Sunday mass is a thin place where the veil between our false reality and Reality gets pulled back. It’s an honor to be able to steward this mystery as I take next steps into this vocation.
Congratulations on your continuing journey through the clerical life. This notion of informality I relate to. Raised Catholic, we often had Jesuits perform mass. The formality of the entire experience seemed to elevate the worship and underscore a divine commitment, whereas I found the informal services of many modern Protestant churches felt too commercialized, with their rock bands and folksy sermons (friends sometimes invited me). I recall some of the Jesuits were too stern and they frightened me as a boy, but I can’t deny that those old Catholic masses (especially when performed in Latin) held a kind of sobriety and stature that makes other church services feel like an informal social gathering or music concert.