Evaluating worship ought not be like the evaluating we do in our politics. But too often it is.

I’m in Minnesota right now teaching a faithful group of Unitarian Universalist leaders from the Prairie Star District that stretches from the northern border of the U.S. down to Iowa and Missouri. Last night we talked about my concept of “M-M-Good” worship–that’s “meaningful and memorable.” This is what I believe constitutes the standard by which we measure, or evaluate, our worship. Did our faith story and life story intersect, creating meaning for our living? Will we remember the worship’s images, words, melodies, actions beyond the time and place of worship?

Did you notice something? None of the questions even remotely looked like “did I LIKE it?” Too often we think that worship is good if we “liked” the songs and the sermon. But this is not the mission of worship… whether we “like” it or not. Too often we begin to evaluate our worship by our preferences and we begin to caucus with others who think like us. But, as we’ve seen in this election and others, this is not necessarily good for the whole body. So let’s look at a different mission for worship by which to evaluate:

The mission of worship is to build up the Body for its work in the world through encounter with the Holy Living God.

And because the Body is inherently diverse (yep, EVERY congregation), there will be times when what we are doing in worship is not necessarily my cup of tea. But all I have to do is just look down the pew or the aisle. There is someone who is being filled in that moment and when one part of the Body is built up, it is good for the whole. AND if we have committed to our diversity of expression as a community, I can trust that we will get to “my thing.”

Evaluation is the process of finding out what we “value” so we can get more of it. Try this exercise we did last night in my workshop:  Think of an “M-M-Good” moment of worship… something you will never forget. Tell that story to each other as a worship team. Then collect stories of those moments from other members of the community. Analyze them a bit to get to the characteristics that underlie the memories (such as: visual element, sense of community, intimacy, beautiful environment, anticipation, embodiment, involvement of all generations). You will soon have a great list of things that are of “value” to the community that are worth working to incorporate over time.

Get ideas that are “M-M-Good” in the Worship Design Studio:  http://worshipdesignstudio.com