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by Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane
August/September 2006
If you browse a popular book retailer’s website, you will find over 20 titles by Marva J. Dawn, this year’s Annual Meeting Clergy Gathering speaker. In addition to being a prolific writer, Dawn is a theologian, musician, and educator, as well as a Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology at Regent College. “Given her many books on worship, she’s a very inspiring choice for this year’s Annual Meeting which is focused on celebrating worship,” said Susan P. Dickerman, Associate Conference Minister.
In the hour’s session, Dawn touched upon religious, cultural, and political topics and discussed diverse events encountered in her own transdenominational and international life. She was both serious and humorous during the gathering, quoting many scripture passages – some in the original Greek – and managed to elicit appropriate, well-timed silence or laughter from the crowd. Her talk touched upon topics discussed in her books about stimulating renewal in worship and the life of the congregation.
Elsa Marshall, a Commissioned Minister of the Maple Street Congregational Church UCC in Danvers took note of the audience participation. “I could tell by the faces in the crowded auditorium and the questions that were asked that the clergy were really impressed in what Marva was saying,” Marshall commented. “The answers she gave showed she knew her theology and the attendees respected her opinions and the way she lives her life.”
“She is really a woman who lives what she preaches and believes in,” says Marshall. Dawn donates to various charities all the proceeds from the many books she has written and the numerous lectures she has given.
“We live in a society that tells us we are what we do. Well, we are here to worship God,” Dawn reminded the audience. “Worship gives us a dialectical balance – I’m a sinner and God is gracious. Of course we can’t be too far off each end. ‘God likes to forgive and I like to sin; what a great arrangement,’” she joked. “But others may despair, ‘I’m such a sinner, I cannot be saved.’ Worship, which must include the prophetic word, should also incorporate absolution to let people realize that Jesus is looking at them and loves them.”
Dawn also advised that the worship space needs as much attention as the words. “Does the worship space have splendor in it?” she asked. “You can have splendor without waste and still be generous to the poor. Crafts and projects from the congregation can add beauty. Needlework can tell the stories in a visual way for those who learn better from pictures. The primary characteristic of God is beauty. Love and truth are beautiful. We need to show that in worship service.”
“In worship we are lifted into heaven,” she says. “We participate in the heavenly realm, so that when worship finishes, we bring heaven back down to our lives.” But she then reminded everyone, “It is important to recognize that worship is for God and not for us.”