Call and Response: Our Ritual of Resistance and Repair
In the face of epidemics of anxiety, loneliness, and conflict, I proclaim God is good! Where I come from, this is not a simple platitude, but a ritual of resistance. In the churches I’ve known, when a community member—elder, neighbor, or friend—uttered “God is good,” the only appropriate and acceptable reply would be, “all the time!” If the congregation had truly formed you, then you would certainly know to repeat these phrases back to one another to punctuate the moment. This refrain has become innate, a muscle memory, no matter if proclaimed from the pulpit, the pew, or in passing at the supermarket. This way-making practice of proclamation and reclamation is inspired by the well-known liturgical tool of call and response.
If churches are going to step up and be a moral counterforce of new life in a society of vitriol and violence, I say that we lean into the tradition of call and response. Whether we realize it or not, those who identify as seekers immersed in the life in the 21st century are looking to faith leaders ready to response to today’s cultural forces even while attuning themselves to their own vocational call.
After lending our voices to several protest chants such as “no justice, no peace,” our conversation shifted to matters of faith and the spectrum of ministry possibility.
These seekers may not share the denominational delineations, theological traditions, or religious affiliation of those of us who are training for ministry in seminary; nevertheless, they tend to be curious about how one fosters community, advocates for justice, and harmonizes in discord. Often before doctrine or creed, those searching for a church home are curious about the same things you care about, that of right relationship, radical solidarity, and care for creation.
We must draw the circle wider! My vocational exploration and present call setting have granted me the distinct privilege of teaching yoga asana in the Divinity School’s Marquand Chapel. This practice is open to students, faculty, and staff across the University. Weekly the sunshine or birdsongs meet our community of practice in our gentle flow on Wednesday mornings. After this physical practice of call and response, I often meet one or two participants whose attendance is their introduction to our beloved chapel space, our place of worship. Following our time of taking a collective breath, moving through the sun salutations, and setting intentions for ourselves and our world, all are invited to fellowship in the refectory for breakfast. Over time, I have noticed some of the previous “first-timers” attending YDS events, from chapel services and unveilings, to even enrolling in courses on the Quad. When we invite folx into their bodies, into community, and into faith-inspired work with our gifts, they respond.
And we must respond! We do this by embodying the call the Creator has placed on our lives. By now, many of us have learned that much of the work the church is called to these days occurs outside of the walls of the sanctuary and beyond the shadow of the steeple. The church is called to the town square. I recently attended a local action regarding reproductive rights. It was here that I met a couple of high schoolers initially taking interest in my manicure, before noticing my clergy stole, and inquiring about my place of worship. The young women shared that they grew up going to houses of worship with their families but were not aware that church folk invested in calls to action such as this one. After lending our voices to several protest chants such as “no justice, no peace,” our conversation shifted to matters of faith and the spectrum of ministry possibility. We exchanged IGs to remain in the loop about future worship services, community actions, and tea nail designs. The persistent issues plaguing our neighbor(hood)s, green spaces, and community members cry out for representatives of the Divine to be on the scene. When we show up as we are, embodying our moral visions, folx respond authentically and join us in our movements.
We must call others in, ensuring all voices are heard! Absolutely, this season provides no shortage of news headlines, legislation, and social media comment instigating response. One way we respond to this cacophony of calls is to invite newcomers to worship alongside us—but only after we have endeavored to gather alongside them, arm in arm. We must be intentional, holding true to our boundaries and the bodies of knowledge by which we are guided, but still we are called to meet them where they are. Encourage dynamic dialogue, including alternative articulations of our faith. Be open to allowing newcomers to worship from the vestibule or other peripheral spaces. They may arrive late or not know the words of our favorite hymn. They may only stay for the homily or grab communion and go. They may simply ask when the concert is happening or if you will be present at the next demonstration downtown. This sort of accessibility allows for their own personal agency to create sanctuary within, the permission to come as you are, the accountability to gather just outside of or beyond the pews of our beloved meeting houses.
The truth of the matter is, on this side of Zion, there is and will always be a call requiring response. We must re-member that we are the church, no matter where we are. We have the theological tools to live into and meet this moment. Call and response remains a sacred tradition that still has power.
For this ritual of resistance is a sonic technology for creating pathways into new and right relationship. Call and response invites connection and collaboration—between pulpit and vestibule as well as between congregation and public square. The call reaches those who may only be overhearing the good news, or eavesdropping on it. We are being called in as we seek to call others in. Therefore, our call is to welcome our neighbors to respond as they feel called to this holy refrain. Call and response is an invitation to reconsider our circumstances, to lift all voices, and to declare victory. Call and response is an embodied practice of living into the promises God, enacting heaven here on Earth.
May those of us who extend and believe these holy words and godly gestures of call and response not become weary of welldoing but bring fresh witness to a generations-old practice. This allows for each of us to heed the call placed on our lives to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with the Divine as we respond by locating new resonances across difference and division, declaring the goodness of God here and now.
For God is good!
All the time!
And all the time …
The Rev. JaQuan Beachem ’21 M.Div. is Associate Dean of Community Development and Spiritual Formation at Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, with a joint call to ANS and to Spring Glen UCC in Hamden, CT. Raised in Atlanta, he graduated from Bard College with a major in Theater and Performance. He is also a vocalist who takes inspiration (sonic and sermonic) from John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Howard Thurman, and many others.