On Contemporary Christian Dance Worship

Christian worship is an amorphous, ever changing form. It is, as Dr. Lester Ruth describes, a cloud upon whose surface we can identify features. Just as quickly as we have pinned down a pointer-state however, it will shift into another form – both reminiscent of the old and reimagining the new.  This metaphor leads my inquiries into Contemporary Christian Dance Worship. To understand and engage in thoughtful discussion regarding the current form, one must venture back into the history of Christian Dance Worship, which I will briefly outline. Then, I will analyze three Contemporary Christian Dance Worship manuals. I will compare the manuals, which detail corresponding dance ministries, to find base qualities for Contemporary Christian Dance Worship and contrast the manuals to identify features of the subsections of Christian Contemporary Worship and subsequently categorize the ministries accordingly. Finally, I will assess to which other historical Christian Dance Worship method are these three manuals most similar.

A Very Brief History of Christian Dance Worship

We can find examples of Christian Dance Worship in every era of Christianity including the Early Church, Medieval Church, New England in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century, and America in the Nineteenth Century.

The Early Church worship space was minimally furnished, save a few benches around the circumference for those who needed them, which made it an ideal space for movement.  In his article Involving The People In Dancing Worship Historic And Contemporary Patterns Doug Adams writes, “The key to leading the people in dancing during hymns is the knowledge that the word ‘rejoice’ in Aramaic (which Jesus and His companions spoke) is the same word as ‘dance.’ Of course, Jews knew that relationship; but for the benefit of Greeks, Luke makes this connection clear in rendering Jesus’ saying in Luke 6:23 as ‘Rejoice and leap for joy.’ When we read of ‘rejoicing’ going on in New Testament scenes of prayer and worship, dancing probably was the medium of that rejoicing. (Jesus thus danced ‘rejoicing in the spirit’ as noted in Luke 10:21).”[1]We can surmise movement was a big part of celebrating the imminent New Creation in the Early Church Era with an emphasis on worshiping God together. We can clearly see dance as a present method of communal worship in the Jewish culture and, as Christianity sprung from Judaism, it carried over the jubilant dance of its Jewish brethren.

Priests in the Early Medieval Church would dance on specified days. “The priests would dance but only with fellow priests; on other days the deacons would dance, but only with fellow deacons, and on other days the people would dance but only with others of the common people in worship. The bishop sits above all”[2]. This was a move towards a more calendar-based, ritual-based expression, rather than the ecstatic expression in the Early Church. Unfortunately, dance became more and more limited and was finally wiped out due to rising hierarchy but made appearances at funerals and graveyards.[3]

Thankfully, dance in church was not eliminated for long. In America, religious physical expression slowly began to reappear in churches in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century in New England in a subtle way. In early Puritan churches congregants began to raise their arms during prayer. By the nineteenth century, we see dance appear in Shaker and Methodist worship. The Shakers would push all the benches to the circumference of the room and begin to dance specified steps, like the square order shuffle. Those who did not dance would sing and clap along. These steps are markedly constraining in contrast with the extemporaneous dances at the Methodist Camp Meetings. These dances were,” a spontaneous outpouring of spirit and movement” and therefore we not so explicitly choreographed like their Shaker counterparts.[4]

Now, dance is more clearly pronounced in some Western Christian church denominations. Contemporary Worship has two subdivisions: Praise and Worship – which focuses particularly on spiritual gifting - and Contemporary Worship[5] - which focuses on the techniques for reliability and increasing church attendance.

Comparing the Ministries

Jane C. Wellford, author of Moving Liturgy : Dance in Christian Worship, A Step-by-Step Guide, Saara Taina, author of Dance Pastor: A Practical Manual for Equipping Dancers to Release the Kingdom of Heaven, and Tramona Ford, author of The Fragrance of Dance, offer compelling contemporary manuals for launching and maintaining dance ministries.  Analyzing these texts side-by-side has revealed three compelling similarities: the importance of prayer in a dance ministry, the pursuit of excellence, and the goal to bring parishioners closer to God. Taina’s ministry focuses on the development of authentic community amongst the dancers. Prayer and intercession through dance, she writes, “is one of the most powerful ways of building connection and unity amongst the dancers”[6]. Further, prayer before, during, and after dance ministry provides covering for the dancers and the worship band. Similarly, though much more tactically, Ford writes, “You can ensure ministry effectiveness if you diligently seek the Lord in prayer”[7]. Here Ford seems to credit the success of her dance ministry to the practice of prayer and the favor of God. Wellford, however, takes a slightly different route. She likens a dance to a prayer. A parishioner who views the dance participates in the prayer as well. She writes, “Somehow in the seeing of ourselves through another’s shared prayer, there is often a sense of shared commonality”[8]. Like Taina, Wellford makes the connection between prayer and community building. In all three manuals, we find that prioritizing prayer has a staggering effectiveness for the dancers themselves as well as the respective church bodies as a whole.

The pursuit of excellent dance is also a priority found within all three manuals. Both Wellford and Ford discuss, at length, the recommended costuming, poses, and gestures one could employ in the development of choreography so to create a community of precise, reverent dancers. They also share choreography they have set to specific written prayers and hymns one might commonly find on a traditional Sunday service. For example, Wellford even provides choreography to “The Lords Prayer”[9]. This choreography is practical, requires little formal training, and produces a dance that can excel in unity and decorum regardless of the dancers technical skills. Taina, on the other hand, emphasizes excellence in a slightly different manner. Taina writes, “excellence is so much more than just developing our skills. We need excellence of heart, excellence of attitude, and excellence in hosting and carrying the presence of God and communicating His heart to others”[10]. Note that Taina is not disregarding skill (she quite frequently repeats her consistent encouragement of her dancers to take class). Rather, she is redefining excellence that must include heart posture and prioritizing the mission of the dancer to partner with God and reveal His heart to the parishioners. This, too, reflects her heavy, almost exclusive use of lightly guided or entirely extemporaneous dance. All three manuals implicitly recognize that their worship is imperfect but that the pursuit of excellence is far more effective than a sloppy or haphazard performance.

Ultimately, and most importantly, Taina, Wellford, and Ford agree that the priority of a dance ministry should be bringing the congregation closer to God. Wellford, who notably prioritizes the visual experience of encountering dance worshippers expresses that their purpose is found in,” worshipping God and bringing those viewing into a closer communion with God“[11]. For her, the act of viewing itself inherently brings the congregation closer to the Father.  Ford writes, “Worship is showing the creator our adoration and reverence”[12]. In showing God our affection, both dance worshiper and congregant alike can participate in a performance that reminds all of the importance and majesty of the primary Creator. Taina focuses less on the visual experience and more on shifting the spiritual atmosphere. “As dancers,” Taina states, “our main focus is to shift the atmosphere in the room. In practical terms this happens through our uninhibited, unrestrained worship – our whole spirit, soul, and body praising God”[13]. Shifting the atmosphere prepares the congregation and the physical space itself to welcome and participate in communion with the presence of God. God, rather than the dancers, does the miraculous and receives the adoration; the dancers physically say “yes” and invite Him to move.

In these three similarities, we come to find that the base similarities of the prioritizing of prayer and pursuit of excellence all serve to bolster their effectiveness in pursuing their last similarity: bringing the church closer to God. Prayer, they agree, lays the groundwork for success and the pursuit of excellence enhances the experience, thus creating a more worthy sacrifice to the God to whom their worship points. 

Contrasting the Ministries

Although all three ministries share honorable similarities, ultimately we find a wealth of diversity in the methods by which they execute their worship of God. It is through their differences that we may ultimately place them within their subdivision of Contemporary Worship and assign them their corresponding kindred historical era.

One place of divergence can be found in the place of worship itself. Ford, Wellford, and Taina all perform their worship within a church space.  However, Ford and Wellford only perform within a church context.

Wellford writes about transposing dance to liturgically-purposed spaces (and overcoming the variations in set-up between churches) and advises on how one may apply dance to pre-existing orders of worship so as to ease the congregation into the introduction of a new method of worship (which has the potential of becoming markedly distracting if done incorrectly).

Taina, however, writes – at great length – of performing in churches, parks, streets, healing rooms, flash mobs, block parties, and even via Skype. Each venue, she states, presents a different set of ways in which dance can bring healing, encouragement, and even the opportunity for a salvific conversation. Through their differences we can see that Ford and Wellford are practically assessing the ramifications of the introduction of a dance ministry and the tactical moves a dance pastor might consider when assessing performance spaces. Tiana, on the other hand, seems gleefully available to follow the Holy Spirit into whatever space He prompts her to enter. By focusing on developing an intentional and vulnerable community of dance worshippers her ministry is empowered to enter the pedestrian space and establish a space for dance worship wherever God is leading.

Secondly, although the manuals all have examples of outlined exercises for other budding dance ministries to utilize, their exercises are hardly similar.

Taina’s exercises seem to center around strengthening the team’s core values and creating space for the Holy Spirit to lead. These exercises also prepare the dancers to minister to specific people and to train the dancers to be comfortable in dancing with His presence.  Further, Taina implores those reading to, “develop your own ideas for activating dancers in their awareness of God’s presence as they minister”[14]. In this way, she enables the readers to engage their imagination and partner with the Holy Spirit to create more activation exercises.

Ford and Wellford, on the other hand, take a more practical approach when developing exercises. In their manuals, these exercises are literal ways of dance-making or performing movements to words or common prayers used throughout the church’s current liturgy - a way of sewing dance onto the already present liturgical foundation. Although Ford quite briefly touches on prophetic dance, she quickly returns to a discourse akin to Wellford’s. Dance, Wellford writes, “is most often based on Judeo- Christian scriptures of the old and new testaments of The Holy Bible. This is liturgical dance’s main springboard, but it certainly does not stop there. Liturgical dance may use other complementary theological texts, musical scores, poetry, or commentaries to expand its thematic options“[15]. Dance, therefore, is not an inherently necessary form of worship in its own right but serves most effectively as a complementary mode of translating or heightening the experience of scripture or music.

Lastly, the manuals seem to differ in regards to their main effect: welcoming God and shifting the spiritual environment or performing to honor God and edify the congregation.

Wellford quite clearly develops her dance ministry to serve as an aesthetically pleasing visual aid that honors God and enables the audience to reach a new level of understanding. She writes, “What does it mean to be a visual aid in worship? How can a dancer as a visual aid portray stories about the knowledge and teachings of a faith practice through dance? Can we portray the miracles of god, the sacredness of life, and the wonders of creation with the instrument of our bodies? Can we be prophetic[16] in our visual dances about justice and peacemaking?”[17]. Her ministry does not center on gifting but rather seeks to provide a method whereby the church may make liturgy and the Bible more visually accessible and engaging.

Ford seems to straddle the space in-between dance as a visual storytelling method and dance as spiritual warfare. She writes, “It is the Holy Spirit’s voice that should be heard through our movement, not our own”[18]. Ford implores her dancers to be used by, rather than partner with, God as an offering. Although she speaks in grandiose, pietous statements on how one may theologically partner with the Holy Spirit through dance, all of her implementable advice is particularly practical and centers on visual storytelling.  It seems as though she earnestly wants to make room for the Holy Spirit and impromptu moves of the Spirit but ultimately her ministry has developed into a ministry akin to Wellford’s.

Taina, on the other hand, states, “God’s presence continues to be a distinguishing mark on us. His presence sets us apart from other dance groups. If we don’t have His presence, we end up being like soap bubbles – beautiful to watch, but lasting only for a moment before popping without any eternal impact”[19]. Here she really emphasizes the importance of hosting God’s presence to shift atmospheres that echoes into eternity and enables the dancers to partner with God in His miraculous works and unfolding narrative. This, in my estimation, is the major difference between Taina and the other two authors – Ford and Wellford. Taina’s manual equips her dancers to affect the spiritual realm by partnering with the Holy Spirit. In this, we see a shift in the relationship with the congregation and the markedly Western performance sensibility –the performer is there to serve the audience. Instead, in Taina’s ministry, the performer serves God who partners with their worship to rain healing, restoration, and encouragement on and through the dancer. This ministry is not solely teaching or translating, it is affecting the space and all who are in it on a deeply spiritual and divinely restorative level.

Which Subsections of Contemporary Worship?

Throughout their books, Tramona Ford and Jane C. Wellford discuss the practical steps one should prudently take when launching and maintaining a dance ministry. It is due to this relentless practicality and focus on providing new ways of enhancing or enjoying traditional practices that leads me to settle their ministries within the Contemporary Worship (gap) camp.  Although Ford seems to lean toward the Praise & Worship subsection due to her emphatic, passionate, and pietous language and brief mentions of spiritual gifts, ultimately the main driving force of her ministry is to embrace new ways of relating to a congregation and make traditional liturgy relevant.

Unsurprisingly, Saara Taina is quite clearly of the Praise & Worship subsection. Spiritual gifting is utterly inherent in her ministry and, without the gifts, the ministry would be, as she articulated, soap bubbles. 

Similar Historical Methods

Apart from aesthetics, I would identify Jane C. Wellford’s dance ministry as being most akin to the early Medieval Church. Her choreography is married to the specific annual events and order of worship of the church and, therefore, the calendar as well just as dance was calendared in accordance with the celebrations and rituals in the early Medieval Church. Further, Wellford’s reverence for pre-established liturgy resembles the strict adherence to ritual and hierarchy found in dance in the early Medieval Church.

Tramona Ford’s ministry would most resemble the dances of the Shakers of the nineteenth century. Ford certainly makes space for dance worship (as the Shakers did by clearing the space of furniture for the dances). They both dance with zeal and are communally enjoyed but adhere to repetitive, choreographed steps.

Saara Taina’s ministry, then, most closely relates to the dance from Methodist Camp Meetings. Both settings are prepared so that a body or bodies may partner with the movement of the spirit. Both groups arrived expectantly for the spontaneous outpouring and prepared their hearts accordingly. Further, this outpouring could include a word from the Lord and is not choreographed. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, we should continue to assess the ever-developing world of Christian Dance Worship by assessing patterns. By considering the past we can more easily relate to and hopefully find comfort in similarities between emerging trends and historical expressions of dance worship. Further, by assessing similar contemporary methods and relating their differences – which we may be prone to judge out of discomfort – to historical expressions, we find a way to have a productive discourse or even cross-denominational exchange of worship techniques.

[1] Adams, Doug. Involving the people in dancing worship: historic and contemporary patterns. (Austin, TX: The Sharing Company, 1975), 4

[2] Adams, Involving the people in dancing worship, 5

[3] Adams, Involving the people in dancing worship, 6

[4] Adams, Involving the people in dancing worship, 11

[5] Henceforth referred to as “Contemporary Worship (gap)” to avoid confusion between the terminologies.

[6] Taina, Saara. Dance Pastor: A Practical Manual for Equipping Dancers to Release the Kingdom of Heaven. (2015.), 54

[7] Ford, Tramona. The Fragrance of Dance. (York, PA: Maple Press Printing Company, 2015.), 23

[8] Wellford, Jane C. Moving Liturgy: Dance in Christian Worship, a Step-by-Step Guide. (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2016.), 11

[9] Wellford, Moving Liturgy,129-132

[10] Taina, Dance Pastor, 73

[11] Wellford, Moving Liturgy, 5

[12] Ford, The Fragrance of Dance, 8

[13] Taina, Dance Pastor, 141

[14] Taina, Dance Pastor, 31

[15] Wellford, Moving Liturgy, 6

[16] Although Wellford touches on the prophetic, she is not focusing on the gifting. Rather, based on the lack of any other mention of spiritual gifts, I conclude that she is merely referring to the way by which dance can inspire or influence a congregation. Or, if she is actually discussing the powerful ability for dance to actually foretell justice and peacemaking and tear down spiritual principalities that are subverting the peace and justice of God, I am confused as to why she seems to casually or coyly pose the question and move onto practical, almost inconsequential suggestions in the light of the power of the prophetic and never circle back.

[17] Wellford, Moving Liturgy, 16

[18] Ford, The Fragrance of Dance, 10

[19] Taina, Dance Pastor, 29 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Adams, Doug. Involving the people in dancing worship : historic and contemporary patterns. Austin, TX: The Sharing Company, 1975.

Ford, Tramona. The Fragrance of Dance. York, PA: Maple Press Printing Company, 2015.

Taina, Saara. Dance Pastor: A Practical Manual for Equipping Dancers to Release the Kingdom of Heaven. 2015.

Wellford, Jane C. Moving Liturgy: Dance in Christian Worship, a Step-by-Step Guide. Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2016.