11. Worship Observations

Basilica worship notes
Amy GF
8/12/01

9:30 Traditional service

We (Amy and Todd) arrived at 9:30 but didn't get into the sanctuary until well after that - parking was exciting. They have their own security people who help with it!

People continued to arrive steadily in the worship space until 9:50.

Demographics:

• Approx 900 people attending
• Mix of ages and colors
• Primarily white people under 40 years old
• Lots of singles, young couples, single parents with kids

Leadership:

• Ushers were mostly older gentlemen, with two older women and one man age 30-40.
• Kids (18 and under) in the procession/recession served as crucifer (carrying the cross), thurifer (carrying incense), and scripture bearer. Others included the priest, the assisting minister (20-30 yr old man), and lector (late 30s early 40s woman).
• Communion assistants were all ages, sizes, both genders, still primarily white. The youngest person looked about 10 years old.
• Cantor was a middle-aged man.
• Organist was a middle aged woman.

Sermon:

• Given from the top level of the nave (not from the pulpit, but still raised from the floor level of the pews)
• Rev. Joseph Gillespie, the Basilica Vicar, preached using no notes
• Talked about "belief systems" and referred to Kelci Stringer's recent interview about the tragic death of her husband Korey (a MN Vikings player who died of heat stroke at pre-season practice the week before) with NBC's Katie Couric. I.e. - he used current events to bridge to the gospel text.
• Spoke of faith as the treasure we build up in our hearts - it's not about money, it's about having a faith that God is with you that will hold you up in times of testing
• Named particular times of testing - depression, divorce, loneliness.
• Brought the gospel and other readings into the sermon several times

Worship service:

• No hymnals to be found anywhere
• All hymns and liturgy sung by the congregation were printed in the bulletin and led well by the cantor.
• Prayers and lessons also printed in the bulletin but not word for word.
• No invitation to or exclusion from communion either verbally by the priest or printed in the bulletin.
• Prayers were for the middle east, northern Ireland, and other war torn countries, the city of Minneapolis/St. Paul, leaders in the church, the basilica community. Comprehensive and well written.
• Gospel procession, plus full procession and recession at beginning and end of service.

Between services

• Social hour in the fellowship hall (downstairs in the undercroft)
• About 20 people standing around or sitting at tables. Most visiting with each other
• Priest who led 9:30 service was there by the door visiting with people
• Large information booth (with someone there to give info), and sign up stations for upcoming Basilica events

Karen at the information booth:

• Member 17 years
• Joined at age 23 when there were only 400 envelopes (family units) and liked it!
• Grew up Catholic
• Came to the basilica because she was looking for "a place to come home to every weekend"
• Is a member of a Catholic congregation in Mendota Heights, but lives 2 miles from BSM, so she attends there
• Has been involved with the Basilica Block Party since it began - 1st as the financial person, now coordinates the VIP section.
• Got married 5 years ago at the Basilica, her husband is also Catholic but only attends every 2-3 months

11:00 Contemporary Service

Demographics:

• ¾ full
• 4/5 young adults, 1/5 gray hairs
• behind me 2 single women, beside me a single woman, in front of me 2 single women; around me farther out were several single parents and kids, and groups like grandma/grandchild, or mom/grandma/grandchild, plus lots of couples in their 20s-50s with no kids.

Leadership:

• Father Michael O'Connell (BSM Rector) and one assistant (looked like the same man from the first service) were vested. Others in the processional (lector - middle aged woman, scripture bearer - a younger woman, and crucifer - teenage girl) wore black.
• Band led music - all were in their 20s-30s. Woman vocalist, man vocalist/acoustic guitar, man euphonium/vocalist, and another woman on piano/vocals (she introduced herself as the minister of music at the beginning of the service).
• Communion assistants mostly came up from the congregation and were a wide variety of ages and genders.

Sermon:

• Given from the center in front of altar by Father Michael, who used notes
• Spoke about faith, how God's love and care come through the love and care of the community
• Addressed the genesis text where Abraham is asked to sacrifice Isaac, talked about the faith that fills the time when you think your child is lost to you
• He used the family two pews in front of me - a drunk driver had hit the mom and kids and the 3 yr old son was thrown out of the car and suffered head trauma. He was pronounced dead at the scene, but was revived on the way to the hospital and is now home after 100 days. God gave them the gift of faith to get through that terrible time, and now gives them hope for each day.
• The family was obviously touched, and so was Father Michael
• At the end of the service, as part of dismissal, Father Michael urged those who have a problem with alcohol, drugs, anger that turns to rage to please get help - "We want to protect our kids!"

Worship service:

• Same as 9:30 with these exceptions/additions:
• Used alternate psalm that was printed in the bulletin for this service.
• Band taught the congregation a new hymn before the service by singing through the chorus and verses a piece at a time and having the congregation sing it back.
• Band led all music from the front
• Sharing the peace - Father Michael invited all to greet someone they didn't know and introduce themselves, and several people around me did just that!

6:15 Contemporary Service

• Service was pretty much the same as 11:00 (same band, same songs, same prayers and Bible texts), but Father Joseph preached and the other assistants were different people.
• Sanctuary was again mostly full, with about the same demographics.
• Half as many communion servers as previous two services
• More stereo-typically Catholic than the first two services. There was a lot more dialogue between priest and congregation that life long Catholics know by heart - none of which was printed in the bulletin.
• Same bulletin from a.m. services.

General comments (hospitality stuff, mostly)

• Both priests made a point of inviting people to fellowship after the service
• Tours of the BSM were offered after the morning services
• People felt comfortable staying after the service to pray in the pews, or move to one of the side altars to pray and/or light a candle
• Greeters are at the back in all services handing out bulletins, but people come in through all the different doors.
• Security force eased my fears about leaving my car parked under the freeway during worship. Also, nice to have their help with the traffic jam after the services.
• People came in all styles of dress - shorts and sandals, jeans, suits, dresses, skirts - there seemed to be no dress code. Everyone I saw was clean, so maybe that's the only rule.