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Maundy Thursday service skips foot washing for shoe shining
By Jewell Cardwell
Beacon Journal columnist
Published on Friday, Mar 21, 2008
The Maundy Thursday service at Kent's Faith Lutheran Church was very much steeped in biblical tradition.
Yet, it had a new kick.
Instead of the customary ''foot washing,'' the service ushered in something new — shoe shining.
After a solemn service of song, prayers and scriptural reading, but before communion, the Rev. Dennis Schmidt — the church's intentional interim pastor — invited a few members to be seated in the front pew.
On bended knee, he instituted a contemporary way to follow Jesus' example. He shined their shoes and encouraged them to do for others what he did for them.
''May I be your servant and shine your shoes?'' he quietly instructed them to ask.
It took just a few minutes for what Schmidt called ''the magic shine'' to take hold among the 40 or so gathered in the small chapel.
A little background:
The Gospel of John (13:1-17) tells us that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples on the night before he was crucified.
Foot washing back then was considered the lowest task a household servant or slave could ever be called upon to do — and for a very good reason.
The people walked in sandals on dirt-, mud- and manure-covered roads. So, their feet got covered with filth.
Yet here was Jesus — knowing his own fate — on his knees, washing the feet of his disciples.
''When he had finished washing their feet,'' verse 12 says, ''he put on his clothes and returned to his place. 'Do you understand what I have done for you?' he asked them.
'' 'You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now
that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.' ''
That's the genesis of the foot-washing custom that took place Thursday in many Christian churches across the nation.
But the custom doesn't seem to have quite the hold among Christians as it once did.
''In many churches, the pastor will wash the feet of some of the members of the congregation,'' said Schmidt.
''I tried it before'' at other churches. ''But I found not that many members wanted to do it.''
Schmidt said he later brought out the basin and tried hand washing, but that didn't have near the same cachet.
Not wanting to abandon the custom altogether, he looked for other ways to express the same sentiment.
At the suggestion of church member Cheryl Hanna, Schmidt on Thursday trotted out what he calls ''a more contemporary equivalent to foot washing'' — shoe shining.
''She saw it done at another church and it worked very well,'' Schmidt said. ''You have people down on their knees polishing the shoes (of others).''
It was a humbling sight to behold with members of the congregation softly singing Make Me a Servant as they made their rounds performing the magic shine.
Understandably, not all clergy are in lock step with shoe shining as a substitute for accustomed foot washing. Yet they seem to accept it as the sign of our times.
''Both the remembrance of the Last Supper and the ritual of foot washing remind us as Christians in this the holiest of weeks that our faith is about being in service to the world,'' said the Rev. Meghan Froehlich, rector at Church of Our Savior, Episcopal in Akron.
''The church in each age offers new interpretations (shoe shining) of ancient practices to remind us of our life of service.''
Pastor Mark Ford of Akron admits to ''having mixed emotions.''
''The bottom line is, I think, that both images seek to do the same thing,'' he said.
''In Christ's day, feet had all kinds of bruises because of the stones. They walked behind animals so they also got all kinds of stuff in their toes . . . So, washing their feet was a genuine form of hospitality.''
Ford, whose roots are in Pentecostalism and ''routinely practiced foot washing,'' is the executive director of Love Akron and executive director of community development at Akron's First Presbyterian Church.
''I washed some people's feet about a year ago,'' he said. ''And it was a special time. It's just something very humbling and spiritual about touching a part of their person that is to some degree invasive and personal but very, very spiritual. . . .
''I come from the old school where it (foot washing) is something we did. But I can understand in this day in time people have so much concern about their personhood with so much abuse and stuff being done in the name of God.''
So, while Christians generally accept the sole-to-soul foot washing connection; most just don't seem all that willing to go public with their corns, calluses, hammertoes, bunions or what have you.
Seems they would much rather just keep that between them and their God.
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com.
The Maundy Thursday service at Kent's Faith Lutheran Church was very much steeped in biblical tradition.
Get the full article here.
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