Spirit in Partnership

Worship Planning Notes 

Focus text: Genesis 1:1-2:4a,  Matthew 28:16-20

Among the feast days or days of special focus in the liturgical calendar, Trinity Sunday may seem like the most abstract. Easter has a story—or stories—that we can grab onto. The same is true with Christmas, Epiphany, and Pentecost. Even All Saints and Reign of Christ/Christ the King are less ethereal than Trinity Sunday, a day we focus on the most difficult to understand—in fact, the paradoxically true yet illogical—doctrine of our faith. Thus, we may find ourselves orbiting around the how of the Trinity as we plan worship for this day. How do we make sense of God the Three-in-One? How do we explain the Trinity without falling into heresy? How do we make real a doctrine that has no direct reference in scripture? We can get so wrapped up in these “how” questions that we don’t stop to consider that maybe those aren’t the right questions. Instead of trying to find that one story or teaching or psalm to latch onto, we need to step back and consider that the whole of scripture, the whole story of God’s work among us then and now, is the story of the Triune God.

It seems fitting, then, that our focus scriptures for today are the first chapter of Genesis and the last chapter of Matthew—the beginning of all creation and the end of Jesus’ in-the-flesh presence among the disciples. Whichever scripture you choose to highlight today, I encourage you to read both in worship. Take your time with Genesis 1:1-2:4. Find ways to make this epic, cosmic tale of creation come alive. Undergird the reading with music, a drone from a deep organ pedal, perhaps, to evoke the sense of the Spirit/wind hovering over the waters. Display pictures on the screens as the scripture is read that depict the events of each day of creation. Have seven different people read the scripture, a different voice for each of the seven days. Let those voices represent different generations in your congregation, from the youngest to the oldest. Then, when you read Matthew 28:16-20, find ways to visually or aurally connect that reading to the creation story. Whether with images, music, or the same set of readers, help the congregation connect our commission to go into the world as bearers of good news with God’s acts of creation, because this is how we cooperate with the work of the Triune God.  

Author bio:  
Dr. Lisa Hancock, Director of Worship Arts Ministries, served as an organist and music minister in United Methodist congregations in the legacy Northwest Texas and North Texas Annual Conferences. After receiving her Master of Sacred Music and Master of Theological Studies from Perkins School of Theology, she earned her PhD in Religious Studies from Southern Methodist University, where she researched and wrote on the doctrine of Christ, disability, and atonement. Lisa is also the co-lead of Growing in Grace: Accessible Worship for All God’s Children.