There was lots of crying at tonight's Good Friday service at Calvary Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, ND. Pastor Roger Dykstra, our new head pastor, brought this particular service with him from his previous church, and I gotta say: the man gives good church. All the windows of the sanctuary were covered in black cloth, and the lights were dimmed. They kept getting dimmer, and the candles were progressively extinguished, with each section of the service. Each section had to do with another part of Jesus' route toward death on the cross and consisted of a beautiful overview by Pastor Roger to introduce the reading of the accompanying Bible verse, which led into a singing of the "Agnus Dei" and a prayer . . . and another set of candles extinguished. Eventually, the church was dark except for a spotlight on one of the wooden panels above our altar--the panel that reads, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" Chilling.
The gradual movement into darkness and the hushed, contemplative tone to the readings and prayers were highlighted by the choice of music for the night. Several soloists, the choir, and a trio sang songs related to the events surrounding Jesus' death on the cross. The choir sang a song called "Agnus Dei" that featured our friends Kevin and Katie Brandt as soloists (and they did a good job). It pulsed with steady, surprising, and moody chord changes and was very moving. Our friend Allison Brooks sang a solo called "Why?" that left Abigail--sitting with me and Suzanna and Hillary in the pew (Susan was with the choir in the loft)--in tears. (She rested her head on Suzanna's shoulder, and Suzanna dabbed Abigail's eyes with a tissue--SO SWEET!!) The narrator of "Why?" is a little girl excited to ride beside her dad. They see Jesus being crucified, and she wonders why it's happening. By the end of the song, we get Jesus' perspective as he asks his Father why he himself must do this (die on the cross). God tells him to look at the little girl; she is the reason He must die. Allison captured the little girl's innocence perfectly and has such a gorgeous voice.
The final song, the trio's "Rise Again", had me in tears because the woman singing the low part sounded so much like Mom! I sat and wept quietly with my eyes shut in an effort to calm myself. Then I felt little fingers wiping tears away from my eyelashes and a tissue dabbing at my eyes. That made me cry all the more. People left the church in silence, authentically moved by the seriousness and sadness of the service. Pastor Dykstra certainly has a sense for the performance aspect and ritual of "church," and he capitalizes on it. Awesome experience.
Wow.
ReplyDelete