Bells in Worship

It was the beginning of a week that was brimming with energy. I arrived safely at Chapel Rock for a week of camp with youth of varying ages, and I was excited to be working with some of the same folks from the previous year when I served as one of the chaplains for Youth Camp.

I was making my way from dinner towards my room to grab the essentials for the opening Eucharist - a stole, the Chaplain Book of Secrets (filled with all the secrets one must know to be an effective camp chaplain), and the traveling Eucharist kit that The Rev. Ben Garren assembled for the chaplains of the summer to use during the different weeks of camp.

As I was making my way, our musician for the summer and I were wrapping up a conversation in which they said they would see me at worship. I immediately quipped, “I will be there with bells on!” Though I had not actually intended to show up with bells on for worship, I discovered quite by accident a jester’s hat that - you guessed it - had bells on it. Well, I simply could not resist wearing it to worship and to make good on my promise (threat?) to be at worship with bells on.

The truth is that I was hoping to set a rather silly tone for the week and to invite the youth to encounter God and God’s love through the silliness of things like human battleship (an amazing game that I think every person over the age of 8 should play at least once), the chill of hanging out on lake day, in the conversations they have with one another over the course of the week, and in our moments of prayer and worship. It was a statement being made with a single hat with bells on it: loving God is joyful, fun, and yes, sometimes it can even look rather silly and foolish.

If you were in worship last week either in-person or online, you might have noticed that I brought a little bit of the silliness of Chapel Rock (and of being elated to be free from COVID isolation) into our worship at Epiphany. It was hard to miss a priest sliding across the floor of the chancel as part of the sermon!

We have plenty of opportunities to have the serious conversations about God, and it is important that we continue to have those conversations that shape and form us in the image of Christ Jesus. But, it is also important to remember that following in the way of Jesus is filled with love and joy. Let’s make this summer a summer of joy, and let’s find the time to show up for worship with bells on.

In Christ,

Hunter+