• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
          • The Pension Boards
          • Cornerstone Fund
          • Insurance Board
          • The Council for Health and Human Services Ministries
          • Church Building & Loan Fund
          • Convergence
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • MissionInsite
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Health and Wholeness Advocacy
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Scouting
            • Wellness Ministries
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Subscriptions at the United Church of Christ
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • General Synod 2021 Thursday in Black Offering
        • General Synod 2021 Racial Justice Offering
        • Disaster Ministries: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • United Church of Christ News
  • Kansas church dances its way back to in-person worship
JerusalemaDanceVidKansas

Kansas church dances its way back to in-person worship

by Hans Holznagel | published on Jun 1, 2021

Returning to church in person will be like a dance: a little awkward at first, but fun once you get the feel of it.

Members of Colonial Church in Prairie Village, a United Church of Christ congregation near Kansas City, dance to the global hit “Jerusalema” on Pentecost Sunday.

That was the theory at Colonial Church in Prairie Village, Kan., this spring. And it proved true. People there literally did dance through the up-and-down emotions of getting back together after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members practiced the globally popular “Jerusalema” dance all spring — then celebrated on Pentecost Sunday with a video camera rolling. Now they’re challenging others to do likewise.

‘Joy is a choice’

Colonial’s senior minister, the Rev. Aaron Roberts, was, metaphorically, the first out on the dance floor. “As Easter was coming, our church leadership was discussing how relaunching after the pandemic was not going back to normal,” he said. “So much had changed. All of us had experienced trauma.

“So, on Easter Sunday I likened it to learning to dance. There is apprehension and fear. We will step on each other’s toes. Yet, there is an Easter joy that transcends all of our fears.”

The “Jersualema” dance — a worldwide internet hit during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic — seemed a natural choice. The South African track features a catchy beat by DJ Master KG and vocals by the artist Nomcebo. A February 2020 video of an Angolan troupe dancing to the tune is credited with igniting similar posts from around the world. Today, social media hashtag searches like “#jerusalemachallenge” or “#jerusalemadance” reveal videos of students, firefighters, corporate teams, cardio teachers, priests and nuns — all kinds of people from everywhere dancing to the tune.

“My hope was that this dance could help us recover and reengage and have some fun,” Roberts said. “One lesson that I’ve taken from this pandemic is that joy is a choice that we have regardless of our circumstances.”

‘Holy Spirit showed up’

Two professional dancers in the congregation, Tamara Carson and Darren Carpenter, stepped up to teach the steps. “They took the original dance and created a more accessible video for people to practice with,” Roberts said. “Then each week during the Easter season we’d do a practice run with the instructional video following our Sunday worship.” Church member Jan Parkinson offered to shoot and edit a video of Colonial dancers — whenever they thought they would be ready. They settled on Pentecost Sunday, May 23.

Rainbow umbrellas symbolized Colonial Church’s Open and Affirming welcome

Roberts’ prediction came true: after a year of physical separation and online-only gatherings, the return to in-person worship felt as strange as a new dance.

“For me, the Easter season felt like slowly coming out of the tomb. Our first Sunday together in person we celebrated a special Baptism, but the following weeks felt strange. Mother’s Day particularly felt weird. Most years, that is such a high energy time of worship; this year was quiet. Jan asked me how many people I expected to dance on Pentecost. I responded that given the way things were going, maybe six or eight.

“But the Holy Spirit showed up on Pentecost.”

Dancers filled the room for the videotaping, with Carson, Carpenter and the robed Roberts front and center. There was a role for non-dancers, too. They twirled rainbow-colored umbrellas, symbolizing the church’s extravagant welcome. “We had another Baptism that Sunday, and there was an energy to worship,” Roberts said. “We had a few dozen people come to dance, including a woman who was joining us for the first time ever.”

Challenging others

Now the church is encouraging others to get in on the act. On Monday, May 24, Colonial posted the video on Facebook with the message, “On Pentecost Sunday, WE DANCED! Take a look at our moves, and share with friends to do the #jersualemachallenge this summer.” It tagged other Prairie Village churches to encourage them.

And Roberts isn’t done. “I am thinking about challenging our local police department, where I am a volunteer chaplain,” he said. He’s even hoping to see hashtags from the wider UCC. “I’d love to see the national setting or the General Synod take up the challenge.”

Categories: United Church of Christ News

Get the UCC in your inbox!

Sign up for the weekly UCC News Digest

Privacy Policy
 
 

Related News

United Church of Christ News

UCC leaders lament death of Tyre Nichols with release of fatal police beating video

The United Church of Christ National Officers and the Conference Minister of the Missouri...

Read More
United Church of Christ News

UCC delegation heads to Europe to track Ukraine response

The United Church of Christ has collected almost $3 million through an emergency appeal for...

Read More
United Church of Christ News

‘Weeping where there was once dancing’: UCC churches lament California shootings

When Montebello Plymouth Congregational Church, UCC gathered for worship on Sunday, attendees...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • General Synod Resolutions
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2023. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative