Along the Road podcast makes a stop at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

In the Feb. 12 episode of the Along The Road podcast, the host, the Rev. Manuel Silva-Esterrich interviewed Dr. Marcus Hong, director of Life-Long Learning and Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Director of The Sun-Walking Fellowship, and Chapel Worship Coordinator at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. As part of the podcast’s ongoing theme of Presbyterian identity, the conversation focused on why worship is central to Presbyterian identity.

Image

As part of his introduction, Hong described an early formative experience as a Youth Advisory Delegate (now called Young Adult Advisory Delegate) to the PC(USA)’s 215th General Assembly in 2003. That gathering included heated discussion and votes on several divisive issues, Hong said. But then those who had been fervently debating from opposite sides would participate together in prayer, communion and other aspects of worship. The juxtaposition resonated deeply with Hong.

“I remember going to General Assembly as a teenager … and encountering people who cared deeply who also disagreed, but then who disagreed and worshiped together and prayed for each other and were able to resolve their differences through genuine conversation.”

Hong went on to acknowledge that such experiences are not always possible today, even among Presbyterians, but said that experience was still the moment that solidified his own sense of Presbyterian identity.

“We are pulling further and further apart to where we cannot care for someone who disagrees. But I think it’s core to who we are as Presbyterians,” Hong later said.

“I think that’s crucial to our denomination,” Silva-Esterrich echoed.

Hong rooted his perspective about the significance of worship in the writings of John Calvin, who said, “Prayer is the chief exercise of faith” and the PC(USA) Book of Order, which says, “Prayer is the heart of worship.” He emphasized that prayer is an element of worship that all people can participate in, as opposed to preaching and presiding over the sacraments, which are traditionally done by clergy.

“When you think about worship from that perspective, it becomes something different than a focus solely on word and sacrament,” Hong said. “It becomes a focus on our emotions, the experiences we’re going through. It becomes a focus on being honest and truthful with God.”

Hong cited Calvin again, describing the way Calvin wrote about his own relationship with the psalms, which he called “the anatomy of all human emotion in our souls.” Calvin believed the psalms helped people learn better how to speak to and hear God, and how to understand each other.

For Hong, this understanding of prayer and worship exemplifies why they are not separate from, but rather crucial to the Christian call to work for justice. He described it as unfortunate that justice work has been juxtaposed with worship, as if Christians must set aside worship when there is justice to be done.

“That vital care for others that emerges from praying together, that emerges from that interaction of people, that fellowship that comes through communal worship, for me lies at the heart of the work for justice,” Hong said.

Later, Hong also emphasized that this mutual care and understanding that arises out of communal worship also undergirds our call to be part of an ecumenical and global church.

“God listens to us, so our response should be to listen to others,” Hong said, “and the deepest part of that listening is listening to people who might be very different from you.”

For Hong, the work of learning to listen to one another and recognize the God-belovedness of one another is part of our call to listen to and follow God.

“How can we hear God rightly if we’re not listening to each other?” he said. “If we’re not listening to people radically different from us? Because if I believe God is truly present, then of course I have to listen to these people from across the world.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Silva-Esterrich and Hong discussed the balance of spontaneous and pre-written worship in the PC(USA) tradition, as well as how expansively worship can be understood to include group art and acts of service.

The podcast also lifted up work that Hong is doing at LPTS with the Sun-Walking Fellowship, which according to its website “facilitates creativity in youth ministry that emerges out of a collaborative, co-creative, and embodied way of being together inspired by the ideals and practice of community-engaged art.”

As the conversation concluded, Hong reflected again on his experience at General Assembly as a teen, and how it exemplified worship as a vehicle through which Presbyterians might transcend what divides them and find a common identity.

“People would disagree during this very difficult work of making decisions on issues that were polarizing then and are even more polarizing now, but then we would take communion together. We would pray for each other,” Hong remembered. “Our gaze would be cast beyond the moment of the committee meeting, to praying for something happening in the world. And suddenly, I may still disagree with you, but you are a human again and somebody I need to work with, not just have to work with.”

Along The Road is a weekly podcast consisting of alternating “Nourish” and “Encounter” episodes. The former are shorter episodes intended primarily for Presbyterian ruling elders and deacons, while the latter are longer conversations aimed primarily at church and mid council leaders. Other episodes released in February included interviews with young adult labor rights activist Galen Zabala Sherby, Chaplain Educator Satoe Soga, pastor and former director of the Office of Theology and Worship the Rev. Dr. Barry Ensign George, and the Rev. Kerri Allen, who serves as deputy to the president of Princeton Theological Seminary.

New episodes of Along the Road are typically released on Wednesdays and can be found on all major podcast platforms.