The Many, a progressive, justice-focused Christian band, and its umbrella group Plural Guild had the opportunity to work with The BTS Center to put together a series of “Lament with Earth” events. These virtual experiences provided a sacred space to express grief for the losses to our planet and confess to the role we’ve played in that. Each was focused around a different element—Air, Fire, Water, Soil, and the last one was about the oneness of humans with Earth. We spoke with Lenora Rand, lyricist and liturgist for Plural Guild and The Many, about her experience putting these events together. Here’s what she had to share about the process:
One thing that I always find helpful when planning worship, especially when trying to do something more liturgically creative, is to begin with a creative brief. We worked with the leadership of BTS and developed creative briefs for this work we did and these documents helped us align on what we wanted to accomplish, what we wanted participants to feel, experience, or do as a result, and what sources of inspiration and information might help us as we created these worship times. Creative briefs are often used in advertising, but not so much in worship planning, but I think they can open our minds in a lot of ways to see how the same liturgical elements we always use (prayer, Scripture, confession and lament, praise and gratitude) can be infused with more meaning and creativity.
Going through the planning and creation process for these eco-grief focused worship experiences with BTS definitely taught me and all of us in the group a lot—about ourselves, our planet… and God. Focusing on the elements of creation—air, fire, water, and soil—meant we took a deep dive into the beauties of …and threats facing… each element. It also meant that I dove deeper into scripture that talks about each element. And that really opened my eyes and helped me see some very familiar passages in a totally different light. The specific focuses of the Lament experiences helped us go deeper into understanding our connections with the earth and with all creatures in ways that a more generic, “let’s love the earth!” focus wouldn’t have done.
This kind of specificity is, I believe, is one of the keys to creating worship that is powerful and engaging—that connects with people emotionally and sticks with them.
You can find more Plural Guild resources (like creation-focused music, liturgy, and worship videos, all available for use in worship) on their website.