In 2012-2013, I worked on a project for CONGREGATE. I traveled frequently to Baltimore to work with four congregations to create Quiet Service, a project exploring the states of being that worship ignites. I was drawn to the spiritual space (both physical and mental) that people get into through religious rituals, the experience of being in and out, both here and elsewhere, at the same time.
There are aspects of worship that involve the barest of detail--a connection, a sense, or an understanding of what it is to be human. Quiet Service (a term I borrowed from Susan Romantic of St. Marks Evangelical Lutheran Church) tries to capture some of those moments. Working with the congregations, I learned that worship isn’t simply seeing it as another person sees it and trying to be one with them; it’s more about empathy, or a dynamic process of getting closer, but also never forgetting where you’ve come from, and how the process of coming and going alters where you came from and where you have arrived.
The music included in Quiet Service was written and performed by Sarah Cole.