A Congregational Dance

This article describes four patterns of congregational dance that are relatively easy for people of all ages to learn. A child is in each person, and each child is a person. There really is no basic generation gap. Too often in our churches we have segmented our member into children, youth, women's guilds, laymen's fellowships, and senior citizens. There is a very simple art of communication that spans these divisions. It is found in exploring the joy of dramatic dance or symbolic movement, in moving together with expressive gestures and simple patterns of group designs. Everyone can participate in the patterns of standing (even if in pews), circling (the basic pattern used through all the centuries), walking together in processionals (with gestures during refrains), and cluster groups gathered to express dramatic moods (as in a sculpted composite). These four patterns will be illustrated here. In order to involve a group of people of various ages and abilities, movements must be…