Other Voices
Starting in the spring of 2007, most OPC services have included Other Voices readings. These provide an opportunity for members of the congregation to share material that has special meaning to them. Readings to date have included psalms, poems, songs and personal reflections.
Minister Jon Bliss describes the importance of the Other Voices in our services, as follows:
" For as long as “ecumenical” has been part of the language—for as long as churches have claimed to welcome all worshipers regardless of creed—many of us in the Christian tradition have wrestled with a conundrum: Can you be everybody’s church if nobody crosses the divide between pew and podium? Can you really claim to be “open to all” if you are not open to all points of view?
About a year ago, without much fuss, regular participants in Old Parish Church services began crossing that divide. Instead of just talking about fresh perspectives, instead of just talking about being ecumenical, they started worshipping ecumenically. In a part of the service we call “Other Voices,” members and friends began sharing with listeners the words that move, comfort, and inspire them. And something shifted inside us all.
Since then, in the same worship service that includes the Gospel of Jesus, an Affirmation of Faith, and the Lord’s Prayer, we’ve heard the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and T.S Elliot; excerpts from essays by Annie Dillard, Marcus Borg, and Anne Morrow Lindberg; snatches of memorable sermons from Fred Buechner and C.S. Lewis, as well as many fine original pieces authored by the “Other Voices” readers themselves.
Listening to this remarkable stream of witness, I am more than a little encouraged about the future of Western Christianity. I am encouraged because it seems to me that when people care enough about truth to risk speaking out in truth, they do more to enrich the ground of faith and the soil of worship, than all the fancy words and grand claims set out by religious professionals.
One of my teachers in Divinity school was fond of saying that religion is the meeting place between reality and Mystery. I hope these words shared as Other Voices—bringing our reality and God’s Mystery together—continue to guide us and continue to help shape us into a true people’s church."
