Candles of Joy and Sorrow

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Permalink Reply by jill herndon on August 9, 2009 at 8:16pm

Coming up to the front does help mix up the separation of the service from an us and them choreography -- who is "up" there and who is in the pews. But we do that lots of ways -- dancers, musicians, congregants participating in parts of the service.

More important to me is that it is a moment I take to bring someone else present into our community -- a sick friend, a friend with an upset, my Dad. To me it is a form of prayer where I don't have to know the words.

For those of us raised Catholic, we grew up processing to the front of the church for Holy Communion, and I noticed a calming connection between what we are doing and the old ritual. The idea of Holy Communion was to take on the body of Christ -- identify with his life and mission to reconnect to the highest idea of what is good/god. In a sense it was a "time out" from how I would usually be experiencing my life. Is that what you mean by a soulful connection?

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Permalink Reply by June Herold on August 10, 2009 at 10:09pm

Thanks for bringing this subject up. It seems to me that when we walk to the front of the congregation, that procession is in itself a sharing of joys and sorrows, regardless of whether we stand by a minister and disclose our motivation for lighting the candles. The covenant we share doesn't feel like it's reinforced when we walk "to the back" of the sanctuary. Also, given our attention is face forward for the hour, it feels physically odd to turn around and walk out, only to walk back in.

What is the reason for having it in the back of the sanctuary? I think it's been back there even when there isn't a skit, dance or performance that commands the space in front of the dais.

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Permalink Reply by Sharon G. Williams on August 11, 2009 at 5:48pm

Yeah - I did notice how many people are lighting candles.

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