Faith Works 3-04-06
(production error; ended up printed 3-11-06)
Jeff Gill

So, Why Don’t We Clap in Church?

Oy. Applause in worship settings is still one of the most contentious issues in church life – except where it isn’t.
First, let’s look at where it isn’t, because there really are a fair number of spots where this question is pretty much resolved.
In quite a few congregations, when you feel that God has just done a cool thing, you put your hands together. It may be a musical presentation, solo or choral, it could be a point made in a sermon or a particular prayer issue now resolved. Clapping is how joy or thankfulness or celebration is expressed.
Let me note, as someone from a clap-free background, that it isn’t fair to say "we shouldn’t offer our worship (etc.) for applause, but for God!" My experience with worshiping communities is that music, in particular, is no more focused on our human response than as a gift for God in clappin’ churches than non-applause places. There can be no applause at all, ever, and the soloists, vocal or instrumental, still be very oriented to how the congregants are reacting more than anything else.
Most people know and expect that more charismatic churches or services will be more applause-friendly, where a hand or two may be lifted in the air and vocal reactions in general are not only allowed, but expected.
So that’s the clap-happy side, where the issue is settled. On the other end are faith traditions, usually more liturgically focused (set order of worship, responsive readings, printed prayers), where everyone understands that applause simply isn’t part of worship. Let’s be fair to that culture: they are very likely to clap and cheer like crazy for certain other gatherings – it’s not like they’re simply uptight – but church is not where they’re gonna do that.
So those are the ends of the spectrum. The broad middle of Christendom (this is a similar but essentially different question for synagogue, mosque, or sacred circle), that’s where the jostling and awkwardness comes in.
But I haven’t talked about one more group where the clapping question is largely a settled thing. Between the ends is a small island of churches where applause is OK some places and not others, and even better, the leadership understands that this issue will continue to create questions and need gentle resolutions. In that intermediate zone, the most common compromise is multiple services, where people clap at some and not at others.
What creates the friction, I fear, is where the leadership, clergy and laity, want to reach an absolute, final, comprehensive solution. We clap, say those, or we don’t: what’s it gonna be?
The Bible has little to say on such matters without a thick layer of interpretation, largely because applause is a modern cultural construct. In most of both the Old and New Testaments, prayer was offered by people standing, with hands held out, palms up, waist high. We generally don’t do that anymore. Two hundred years ago, in Ohio Protestant Christian settings, most prayer was either offered standing with bowed heads, or kneeling on the plank floor, turned to lean on the puncheon benches.
Today, we mostly sit on padded chairs or pews, head slightly bowed as we grope for the cell phone to turn it off when it plays "Fur Elise" during the pastoral prayer.
The one consensus that holds across traditions today is that we really, really ought to set our electronic devices to vibrate during the prelude.
Should we clap? That is a question that gives congregational leadership a great opportunity to reflect on what is our tradition, and what might make for effective evangelism. It is an occasion for the practice of discernment, to pray your way through your own history as a faith community and your place in worship tradition and where God is calling you to minister in your services today.
And if you do that, I’ll quietly give you a standing ovation!

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and supply preacher around central Ohio; offer your answers to disciple@voyager.net.