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    The Worship Show

    Filed Under race, rants, religion, uu culture 

    I’ve been thinking a lot about the recent, online, post-General Assembly discussions surrounding UU worship and cultural appropriation. As a side note, I saw very little (possibly zero) public commentary from UU people of color.

    A few weeks prior to GA, a friend of mine - who participated in the closing ceremony - called to ask my thoughts about the planned use of a South African “freedom” or anti-apartheid song. I believe my first question for him was something along the lines of, “Why?”

    Eventually, I told him that so long as credit was given, the meaning was shared, yadda yadda, it was oh-kay. But not before asking him again, “Why?” And yet it was something of a useless question. He wasn’t planning the worship, and it seemed to me - perhaps I assumed too much?- that whoever was planning the worship wasn’t asking IF they should use the song, but how to make the use of the song acceptable.

    The larger question my friend could not answer for me was, what was the relationship of the song to the worship service and the worshippers? That speaks to a larger concern I have about UU worships in general. What I’ve seen is worships put together in the way one would put together a skit or play or musical production. Sometimes I confusedly wonder, is this worship - or is this entertainment? Let’s see … the congregants enter a big room containing a stage; they are handed programs by ushers; they sit down quietly to wait for the show to begin. And at my church, at least, the worship proceeds like a scripted performance.

    Well, as I told my friend on the phone, when worship is comprised of predetermined slots to fill, it is inevitable that well-intentioned planners will say, “Hey! I know a great [insert "ethnic" programmatic piece] that would fit in perfectly there!”

    And of course, as I mentioned to another, very excellent friend of mine more recently - even when the worship planner does have a personal relationship to a piece of “programming,” our audiences - ahem, congregants - may not necessarily share that experience of respect and/or collaboration. Glaring example: the long conga line that formed at the end of closing ceremony. The African song played was beautiful and rousing, and immediately I wanted to stand up and clap. I felt uneasy and annoyed not knowing what the lyrics meant (I missed the first part of the service so perhaps it was explained then), but I stood up nonetheless and clapped. However my joy was completely overtaken by dismay when I saw the audience’s reaction. What I felt from the crowd was not a vibe of “We shall overcome!” or even “We are one people!” but one that looked like, “All right! African music is on, permission to PAAAAAAR-TAY.” I saw lots of wiggling butts. I saw people bumping hips like it was a 1970s disco event. Then there was the mortifying embarrassment of the conga line. In these moments it was completely irrelevant what the relationship between the song and the music-choosers might have been. And at that point I just sighed and cringed inside because I knew that a spate of conversations and reprimands would ensue, all resulting in a lot of (mostly white) people still not understanding that horrible sinking feeling that I had felt; and asking themselves how on earth those black/brown folks can think some music is theirs.

    But anyway. That cultural appropration is a recurring issue in our community doesn’t surprise me at all because I tend to experience our worships as being more about performance, than spirit or love. This isn’t to say that the people who put them together aren’t acting out of spirit or love, but the final product is often lesser than the parts. And this kind of ‘presentation’ creates a HUGE opportunity for cultural and religious goofs, gaffes and offenses. Is this because we’re tied to formats? Because we’re unsure of our spiritual heritage and traditions? I don’t know. I attend church to be in relationship with my fellow church members and to keep up on the church news. I do not actually worship anything when I am there.

    Another note about my biases: I personally loathe to plan worships. You must know that I have never known Muslims to “plan” worships; we got together and we prayed, basta! Earlier this year I had no choice but to plan worships during an anti-racism conference I co-faciliated. Now, I’m a strong believer in spirituality, but I hate the idea of telling people that it’s time to feel holy now. My co-trainer, Toph, felt the same way I did, yet we managed to put together two very decent worships, one of which actually made me cry. But what?! We didn’t do anything! The youth and the sponsors present brought their spirits into that space and made it powerful and worshipful. I was in awe that first night - of them and the community they created. I do not think we would have had the same conference without that.

    I also remember Toph and I fretting about the “services” initially, and we half-jokingly said, “Hey, if we can plan a 15-hour conference, we can plan a worship, right?” !!! Exactly. Not.

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    7 Responses to “The Worship Show”

    1. Clyde Grubbs on August 3rd, 2006 6:55 pm

      Ah Hafidha,

      why don’t you hear of lots of people of color debating worship and cultural appropropriation?

      because it has been said, and said.

      too many white people (including too many UUs) think the whole planet belongs to them. So its ok to steal something and jitterbug to it.

      Why Native People dance don’t they, and so do we…..let me bring the cosmos back into being,

      I have six minutes in the program. I don’t like Ghost Dance —lets change it to Dance of the Rising Spirits.

      and don’t make me feel guilty ….its all about me and I can believe anything I want.

      ________________________________________

      Its called Soul Work because it isn’t easy,

      but one becomes deeper and deeper and more loving in saying No…

      It is a liberating religion, but some need more help than others in learning that liberation means all of us.

    2. Sarah G on August 4th, 2006 2:34 pm

      I think I saw that same Toph jump out into the aisle and break up the conga line during that closing ceremony dance. :-)

    3. seeking sophia on August 4th, 2006 4:45 pm

      Great post that raises many of my questions about what we do in worship. And the issue of appropriation is always among us.

      I agree with Clyde that the ‘it’s all about me’ climate we live in brings forth not only a ‘worship as entertainment’ ethos, but gives permission, seemingly, to forget the whole depth of worship in community and give in to personal impulses. A conga line! Glad I wasn’t there.

      I also wonder if the hidebound way many of our churches do worship (same rigid service week after week) promotes this kind of wild reaction when a more liberating form of worship is experienced.

      I really liked what you said about your trepidation of planning worship yet the healthy liberation felt in the worship that you co-led. You were obviously on to something important.

    4. LaReinaCobre on August 4th, 2006 6:10 pm

      One thing I’m thinking about, sophia, in reading your post is whether the closing ceremony WAS a worship? Maybe it wasn’t? Maybe it’s not supposed to be. Maybe that’s one of the places where there was a disconnect.

      I have to say that I did attend the Sunday morning worship that morning … and it seemed like pretty much the same format to me. Speakers and ministers, interspersed with music.

      The line is/was blurry to me.

    5. LaReinaCobre on August 4th, 2006 6:11 pm

      Clyde,
      You are too, too much. LOL.

      Sarah G,
      Oh yes! I didn’t catch that. *sigh* Gotta love that girl!

    6. DebW on August 7th, 2006 7:02 am

      Hafidha,
      I think you’re raising very important points. I wanted to respond from the perspective of a person who connects to our music ministry…
      I have heard despair from professional musicians who have been asked to select and present music in GA services and who are not invited into discussion about the context for the music, the scripts being developed, the texts that will be shared, the feelings that are hoped for, and so on. Just “choose some music.” In some cases, multiple requests for meetings and conferences - so that worship services or celebrations could be developed in close collaboration - have gone unanswered.

      And as one very talented, very committed and very frustrated musician who was charged with major responsibilities at this year’s GA told me, “No one can expect that these celebrations and events will be coherent and moving and meaningful if the leaders aren’t willing to talk with one another and collaborate.” That seems right to me.

      If we expect to get our messaging right - and I think there is conversation to be had to make sure we are on the same page about that - we have to also be willing to not take short cuts, and to sit down together to talk about what the desired outcomes are. And regretfully, I say that if we aren’t willing to go there, our end results will continue to fall short - and the hurts those results may induce will continue to sting us all.

    7. LaReinaCobre on August 9th, 2006 11:28 am

      DebW,
      Thanks for your thoughts. I really sympathize with the musicians put into those positions. How frustrating! And especially since they are right there, so visible.

      I guess I’m trying to figure out the answer to, “How can we make large-scale worships not be like business?” I don’t know. I feel in this area that I’m lacking know-how.

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