How was church today?

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GiancarloZ said:
I haven't thought it that way, Waterfall. Thanks for offering me this point of view.
Lately I've been doubting my call and thinking that maybe I just don't have what it takes.
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God chooses the most unlikely people sometimes....but He seems to know through all the doubts and resistance, whose heart is ready for such a challenge. Its not an easy road....prepare for that.
 
Are God's unlikely people strange to the orthodox that will have things no alternate way?

Just imagine the exceptions to the occidental norm! With the conflict that evolves ... a world at war because of excessive reaction to strange things. Imagine quantum gobs ...
 
Mendalla said:
You say music is vital and yet it sounds like you're happy to relegate some very good music to the dustbin or "heritage". I'm curious what makes a "heritage hymn". It can't be words. Many of the old standards can, and have been, given new lyrics to deal with issues raised by their theology and the gender and racial attitudes of their time. Others still work fine. Is it music? Age? Rather than having "heritage hymns" versus others, I would rather see the whole hymnody (in the UCCan case, VU and MV) available for usage without quotas. If a hymn works in a service, it shouldn't matter if it is "heritage" or "contemporary" or whatever. It should be used.
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It's a matter of balance. If a certain small but noisy contingent had their way, every week would be like a "Memorial Hymn Sing". So, we promise them a "minimum" of one "heritage hymn" (and I think the Rev's criteria is that the music is over a century old), and it keeps a few old dollies mollified.

Here's a challenge: find me a cover of "How Great Thou Art" that sounds like it will ever reach the finish line, lololol... Dear goddes and little fishes, but I hate that hymn.
 
Waterfall said:
God chooses the most unlikely people sometimes....but He seems to know through all the doubts and resistance, whose heart is ready for such a challenge. Its not an easy road....prepare for that.
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Thanks for your words, Waterfall!
 
BetteTheRed said:
Here's a challenge: find me a cover of "How Great Thou Art" that sounds like it will ever reach the finish line, lololol... Dear goddes and little fishes, but I hate that hymn.
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I am the wrong person to ask. Not a favorite of mine. "Be thou my vision" however has now been sung to the traditional Irish tune Slane since 1919 and the word are centuries old. I would leave a church that did not sing it. Ditto "For the beauty of the Earth" (words 1864, tune 1838). Though the latter could be finessed as "modern" by using the magnificent Rutter setting.
 
Mendalla said:
I am the wrong person to ask. Not a favorite of mine. "Be thou my vision" however has now been sung to the tune Slane for a hundred years and the word are centuries old. I would leave a church that did not sing it. Ditto "For the beauty of the Earth".
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I would leave a church that did not sing "He Reigns," "Oceans," and "Shine Jesus Shine."
 
Mendalla said:
I am the wrong person to ask. Not a favorite of mine. "Be thou my vision" however has now been sung to the traditional Irish tune Slane since 1919 and the word are centuries old. I would leave a church that did not sing it. Ditto "For the beauty of the Earth" (words 1864, tune 1838).
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I love those ones, too. I would add Through All the Changing Scenes of Life, Seek Ye First and Amazing Grace.At least in English.
In Portuguese, we have a tradition of (translated) German hymns that I haven't heard in English so far, and Brazilian/South American hymns from the Liberation Theology movement. I really like the last, especially.
 
Mendalla said:
I love this song dearly but the theology doesn't really resonate. It's more the sense of humility set to a beautiful tune.
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I also like the tune, so long as the tune isn't coming from a bagpipe. (Ducks and covers)
 
Redbaron said:
I also like the tune, so long as the tune isn't coming from a bagpipe. (Ducks and covers)
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* pulls out bagpipes... * I love it on the pipes. My Dad (completely not atheistic) was a pipe and drum fan and I inherited that.
 
Here's an interesting question: does anyone know of a woman who likes the pipes and drums? This might be one of these semi-rigid dualisms...
 
BetteTheRed said:
Here's an interesting question: does anyone know of a woman who likes the pipes and drums? This might be one of these semi-rigid dualisms...
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My late mother, though maybe she was just humouring Dad. She certainly went to brass, pipe, & drum shows at the Aud with us back in the day.
 
GiancarloZ said:
My wife and I went to the church that was recommended to her. Very disappointing.
They had a Hawaiian/Tropical style service that morning, which wasn't advertised on their website. ...

My wife isn't at ease with church-going, though she's trying, and this experience added on her one more layer of skepticism.
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A few things.

1. You were visiting a "new" church. I wonder if their Hawaiian style liturgy was to celebrate something special. I remember once visiting a church that celebrated the Jamaican national day with a special Caribbean service. A second or third visit would help you secure the real vibe of that parish and know if their liturgy or sermons are good. Maybe their good preacher was off duty that week? I don't think it would improve their greeting committee, however.

2. Welcoming people is an important task and not everyone is good at it. I remember a former parish of mine (now closed) where we had a wonderful faithful guy who was always there handling books as people came in. But that was the only thing he did. If nobody else was around to actually speak to people, then greeting did not happen.

3. You seem to have found your ideal Lutheran (ECLIC) Church. Keep it! Have you tried to bring her to your parish? Does she hate it more at your church than at other churches? Is there something specific about your church that bugs her? If so, you might be able to help solve the issue. For example, if they assume that she will be very involved in ministry because you are, then you might tell your priest that she should be "off the hook".


Finally, one word for all of us. I see that many churches see websites as a static billboard. They still advertise the latest services... for Lent 2017. It is quite important to design the website so that most of it is static, but that one or two pages are updated regularly. There is nothing more "dead" than stale news.
 
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