Creating your worship /liturgical scrapbook.

My posts put together for the purposes of exemplifying some of the kinds of things that can be included in a liturgical scrapbook are collected together under the category ‘liturgicalia‘. So if you click on liturgicalia and look at all the posts with that categorisation, in effect you have my electronic liturgical scrapbook.

What’s it for?

When it comes to assessment for the Leading Worship module, you are asked to produce a thousand-word learning-reflection guide to a collection or portfolio (‘the scrapbook’) you have made of evidences of worship occasions you have attended, planned or helped to plan and lead. The learning-reflection guide will seek to link the contents of your scrapbook with the topics, aims and objectives of the Leading Worship module.

You will be assessed on the reflection but the evidence to support the reflection will have been gathered in the scrapbook and you will need to guide the markers so that they can see by your reflection that your scrapbook evidences that you have engaged with the aims and objectives of the course.

The word count of the reflection is reduced to take account of the work involved in collecting and annotating the contents of the scrapbook.

What do I need to collect in my ‘scrapbook’?

In general terms, it should contain evidences of …

• services attended
• participation in planning acts of worship
• your remarks and thoughts about those services and worship events
• evaluations and self-appraisals both of services you have attended and services that you have led or helped to plan and/or lead.
• notes of books, articles or websites you consult during this period which relate to leading worship.

In more detail, your scrapbook should contain

• 5 or more service sheets or cards or other evidence of attending various services of at least 3 different kinds. At least 3 of the service evidences should have some informal evaluative comments or notes with them. The comments could range from legible annotations on a service sheet, for example, to a word-processed commentary on part or all of the event.

• 3 (or more) sets of planning notes plus any explanatory commentary for services planned.

• At least 1 order of service for an act of worship you have led or assisted at. There should also be explanatory commentary (to say why it was planned as it was) and your own assessment of that service. There should also be at least 3 formal evaluations from others of that service, (normally including one from a licensed Reader or minister -which could be the Formation Group tutor) and notes of the student’s response to and reflection on the evaluations. You can, of course, do this for several services and choose later which you earmark for your reflection guide.
• If the scrapbook contains more than these, then the ones that you want to be considered to support your assessment should be marked for easy finding by the markers. (I suggest that there could be a fronts-piece added for this purpose).

The contents should touch on all of these:

1. principles underlying liturgy

2. range of available resources for the enrichment of public worship

3. evaluation of own & others’ preparation and performance in leading worship

… and at least 5 of these issues:

1. the roles of leaders of Christian worship
2. the framework of canon law and shapes for liturgy
3. the Book of Common Prayer
4. the Christian year, liturgical colours and seasonal resources
5. vesture, robes and furnishings.
6. music
7. symbol and ritual
8. ‘free’ worship

There is a checklist-grid (Check-list for Worship Scrapbook) to help you collate and keep track of your materials in relation to what is asked for.

Just so you know: in the end, you will be aiming to show:

• how your collected material relates to the issues above -if that isn’t already evident in the scrapbook material.
• evidence of your meeting the module learning objectives.
• The theological as well as practical aspects of ‘principles informing liturgy’ and evaluation. Both of principles and evaluation should have theological dimensions to them and these should be clear in the collected material and noted (and, if necessary, expanded) in the reflection-guide.

The Check-list for Worship Scrapbook should help you to keep tabs on on the different aspects of this.

What form should or can my scrapbook take?

Your scrapbook can be physical or electronic.

There’s a sample (it is partial: it doesn’t necessarily have everything asked for above) electronic liturgical scrapbook online: https://andii.edublogs.org/183/ this also has a version of this guide to liturgical scrapbooking.

If you do create an online scrapbook (a blog is probably the best sort of format), remember confidentiality issues and either write carefully with possible public viewing in mind (including bishops, DDOs and potential future incumbents or parishioners!) or make your blog accessible only to yourself and those who have permission to view it (like the marker!)

A physical version can be ‘creative’ or straightforward. It can be a traditional scrapbook or simply a ring-binder file or similar. It can have pictures, words, diagrams, photocopies, underlinings, ringings, arrows, marginalia …

Evaluation forms for worship you lead …

These are kept in the academic administrator’s office. It is suggested that you give these to people attending the service and that at least some of these are people who can meet with you to discuss their answers at another point. Receiving feedback can be a delicate matter so do think about your self-assessment first, and leave some time, if possible, before viewing the forms and talking about them.

The forms ask for feedback under the following headings. The questions should give information to help you to reflect on the event.

1. Order of Service : How well was the service put together? What were the highlights? Were there any parts that you would have changed?

2. Extras : What were the parts of the service that were different from normal or were unusual? How did they go?

3. Understanding : Did the service flow together well? What would you say was the main theme of the service?

4. Personal : What have you learnt from this service and the way it was led?

5. Communication : Were the leaders audible? Clear? Confidence-inspiring? Did they give a sense of direction?

The “liturgical circle” begins by observing and listening to what the church does and says when it gathers for worship as the primary witness to what Christians believe, moves on to theological reflection on the meaning of these data, and then proceeds to reform worship ….

White, James F.. “A Protestant Worship Manifesto.”

Attending Worship: Some questions for reflection on an act of worship.

These questions are to help you reflect on services you attend. There may be other questions that are more important in some services. Some questions may not be answerable from the service itself. In some cases, you may want to ask people in the service or the leadership to comment.

What seemed to be the main aim/s of the service?

• Was there a difference between stated aims and actual events?
• What definition of ‘worship’ seemed to be implicit (and perhaps explicit) in this service?

What were the (main) components of the service?

• And how were they put together?
• Can you write down the elements of the service and how they flowed?
• What resources were used?
• Was there an exceptional element (a baptism or festival, for example)? If so, how was it integrated into the service?

Music, media and movement …?

• What music was used and how was it used? Was it integral to the service or ‘added in’?
• What movements were part of the service? How were they ‘choreographed’? What function/s did they perform.
• What body language was used by congregants and leaders (and when and why)?
• Were there any ceremonial actions?
• What other media were used? And how and why?

Who controls what in the service?

• What seemed to be the balance between preparation and spontaneity? (and how would you know?)
• What roles did leaders play? (conductor? Host? Mouthpiece? Curator? Guide? …)
• Were you aware of any ‘lead worshippers’ apart from the designated leadership?

What about context …

• Was there a sense of time of year or season or of some other larger context?
• What were the roles or effects of the building/auditorium, furnishings, decoration?
• welcome … ?
• Did leaders have special clothes or other marks of leadership?

What theologies were expressed?

The service as a whole or its parts embody theology:

• can you work out what theologies are at work?

• How was God conceived of?

• What I the place of human beings?

• What of sin and salvation? … ?

• mission ?

• The relationship of congregational worship to everyday life?

Leading Worship: some evaluation questions for you and others.

When you prepare and lead an act of worship, you could use these questions to help you to reflect afterwards.

What were the aims of the service/s?

And what theology underpinned them? What evidence is there that the aims were fulfilled? (From reactions, observation and any feedback or … ?)

What texts and resources were used?

and how did they ‘work’ singly and in the whole? Were there creative combinations? Think also about use of space, ceremonial, ritual, arts etc.

What factors impinged on the design and event of the service?

Things like liturgical norms, season, community life, power cuts …

What went well and what didn’t?

What ‘spoke’ to you or others? What might be done differently another time? Was the preparation adequate?