Liturgists seek words for 9/11 anniversary

Christian Century, Sept 11, 2002

Daniel Benedict, a specialist in Methodist liturgy, looked ahead to the one-year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and saw a funeral. Sort of. Michael Burk, a Lutheran worship director, anticipated the year-later occasion and wasn't quite sure what he saw.

"These are the events that cause local worship leaders to think, `They didn't teach me how to do this in seminary,'" said Burk, director for worship for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "Or, `I don't know how to handle this.'"

As the anniversary approached, these ordained specialists in church rites--as well as thousands of pastors, rabbis and imams--struggled if or the appropriate words to comfort a still shocked and wounded nation. They grasped again for just the right words to mourn the loss, acknowledge the pain and look to the future.

Sue Ann Wasserman, a rabbi who is director of religious living for Reform Judaism, thought at first that she might have to reinvent the liturgical wheel. Then she had an epiphany. "What's important is that we don't have to create something new at every moment, that our tradition already has sources that are appropriate," she said. "We're not the first generation to suffer trauma and devastation."

Benedict, director of worship resources for the United Methodist Church, also started with what he knew already worked well. He recommended that Methodist churches use the outline of either a funeral or a healing service, or perhaps a hybrid of the two. He pulled together some of the old standby hymns, such as "It Is Well with My Soul" and "Amazing Grace."

But he wanted to acknowledge the uniqueness of September 11, so he added a prayer that begins: "God our hope and refuge, we confess that anger and hatred have held on to us.

... Healing has begun, but loss is still real.... We still want security, or the illusion of it." The United Methodist 9/11 service of remembrance also asks God to "remember this nation and those we call enemies."

Benedict said houses of worship needed to find a way for churchgoers to "plug in," especially for people who may not have attended since those painful hours one year ago. "It would be tragic if somebody showed up and the church was acting like nothing was going on in the culture around them," he said.

Many liturgists bristled at the notion of using the anniversary to rekindle the patriotic spirit of a nation still on a warlike footing. But that is just the spirit sought by many Southern Baptists. Gene Mims, president of the church resources division at the SBC's LifeWay, offered churches a patriotic video and anthem. "We're united in our victory, united in our cause; We'll stand against all enemies, Liberty has no walls," the song goes. A sample service produced by Mims's office includes "The Star-Spangled Banner" and recognition of veterans and emergency workers. He said Southern Baptists are "fiercely patriotic" and aren't afraid to admit that in their worship.

President Bush apparently agrees. A sample liturgy offered by the White House Commission on Remembrance includes "God Bless America" and the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as a prayer scripted by a navy chaplain. "Help us to cherish the freedoms we enjoy and inspire us to stand with courage, united as one nation in the midst of any adversity," the prayer says.

All that makes Rabbi Wasserman a little uneasy. There is room in Jewish tradition to pray for the larger community and the world, she said, and September 11 this year falls midway between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a period already rich in reflection and remembrance.

But she grows nervous when patriotism morphs into nationalism. "One of the things that was hard through this past year was to be patriotic but not to take it to the extreme where everyone else was the enemy," she said. "Making that balance, and feeling proud and good about America, doesn't mean we have to denigrate others or be suspicious of those who are different."--RNS