New liturgy by isle Lutherans encourages care for the planet

The Lutheran Church of Honolulu is making environmental stewardship the focus of a new liturgical format.

Carol Langner, a volunteer publicist for the church, 1730 Punahou St., describes the liturgy as a “true work of the people” as it was developed in the past year by its parishion- ers, pastors and music director. It aims, she said, “to heighten awareness of the glory of God’s gift in Creation” and encourage people to take on a stewardship role “to preserve and sustain a planet fit for habitation.”

“Making a Way: A Liturgy for Care of the Earth” will not be used at every service. Rather, the church’s pastor will decide when, during the faith’s calendar, to present it.

Scott Fikse, the church’s director of music and liturgy, has composed new musical sections for the choir and congregation, and head pastor Jeff Lilley and retired pastor Fritz Fritschel provided the theological grounding for the service format. The liturgy idea came from members of the church’s Sunday Adult Forum.

The effort is a “heartfelt response to one of the most pressing threats to life in our world today — climate change,” Lilley said in an email. “Through confession, prayer and song, this liturgy seeks to lift up the challenges we face, name our complicity and proclaim hope for the future.”

The liturgy debuted Sunday and was “very well received” by the congregation, Langner said, noting that its music and lyrics — different from traditional Lutheran hymns and musical elements — were “easy to pick up.”

The format, though incomplete at the time, was first used April 24 in honor of Earth Day, when the congregation takes part in Earth preservation activities. Then, over the summer, various liturgy sections were finished.

Folded into the liturgy’s green-minded theme are “poverty and justice, two other current concerns … often entangled with environmental degradation,” Langner said.

Among the changes to the traditional format is a reworked Kyrie chant. The Kyrie in its simplest form presents the statement, “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.” The “Making a Way” liturgy instead presents a two-part statement. One group’s refrain is, “Making a way where there is no way,” while another group sings, “We hear the cry of the earth, we hear the cry of the poor, Kyrie eleison” (Greek for “Lord have mercy”).

During the traditional liturgy’s Sanctus section, congregants say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are filled with His glory.” The “Making a Way” Sanctus reflects the despair people feel when faced with the “hugely complex set of issues and problems (that) can cause all of us at times to throw up our hands” amid destruction of the earth’s resources and ravages of climate change, Langner said.

Sung responsively between a cantor and the congregation, the Sanctus asserts, “Through God’s covenant of grace, we are freed to live graciously. May we find a way where there is no way. Through God’s covenant of blessing, we are freed to bless our world. May we find a way where there is no way. Through God’s covenant of love, we are freed to live in communion with all Creation. May we find a way where there is no way.”

Faith groups of various denominations in recent years have embraced the environmental movement, Langner said. Citing the Rev. Peter Sawtell of Eco-Justice Ministries, she said, “If we see global warming as a moral and ethical issue that deals with the relationships among human communities, future generations and with the whole Creation, then we’re getting into religious territory.”