Thursday, December 13, 2012
"Contemporary" Worship
I was recently talking to someone and the topic of "Contemporary Worship" came up. I capitalize and put the term in quotation marks because I don't think "contemporary" is a bad word. Worship that happens in the here and now is by nature contemporary. But the type of worship that has come to be known as "Contemporary" is something else, and I think the words of the person I was talking to are particularly revealing. She said that she hoped her adult son, who is visiting for Christmas, would get a chance to go to her church's Contemporary Worship service because he had never "seen" it. She didn't say he had never "participated" in it or "attended" it or "worshiped" at that service. She said he had never "seen" it. And that is a huge tell.
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4 comments:
I had to go to some training at work last week. The trainer was talking to one of the folks in the class. She and he had apparently talked previously about his church. He's on the worship team or praise team or whatever they call it. He brought her the worship schedule for regular Sundays and for special Christmas services. They talked about the "show." They talked about the quality of the musicians and the light show and the sound system and how energizing it all is. "Well, with a multi-million dollar budget, they've got to spend all that money on something, and they sure put on a dazzling show."
Huh.
Thank God for my pastor. The fanciest we get is to add some strings and flute and chimes to our organ. Old fashioned hymns. Old fashioned liturgy. Old fashioned preaching. Same old Lord's Supper.
Thanks be to God!!
I love our litergy and our communion. After attending a non denom contemporary service for years (long story) we finally got back to a LCMS service. I was in tears attending a real servive again. The contemporary service left me feeling empty.
Amen to having a faithful pastor who in your case also deeply appreciates (and is personally blessed with) the gift of music!
The previous comment is intended for Susan--it must have posted simultaneously with Anon's comment. Anon, I am so glad you are being fed with real worship again!
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