Don't Take This One Too Seriously
From Wednesday, 8/11/2010
Last Sunday I used a “contemporary” thing in the “traditional” service … and some people fussed at me about it. It was calm and meditative (no guitars or drums), and the fact that it was written 28 years ago disqualifies it as “contemporary” in the purest sense of the word. I used it in the “contemporary” service as well. I also used the same hymn that opened the “traditional” service in the “contemporary” service (albeit an updated version as done by the David Crowder Band). I haven’t gotten fussed at about that yet … but it has happened in the past.
My motive in selecting what I did was to try to give both congregations similar content in worship while not straying too far from the “style” expectations of each. I was also trying to help both congregations learn how to bend a little without getting bent out of shape … to bend in the same direction, if you will. I won’t do it every Sunday, and sometimes I’ll do it more successfully than others. Our aim for the 8:30 service will always be very much in the “contemporary” direction. Likewise, our aim for the 11:00 service will always be very much in the “traditional” direction. But an inflexible adherence to rigid and narrow definitions of each will not serve either service well.
In my Wednesday night handout I printed a cartoon that was sent to me by several of my choir members. It showed a woman talking on an old-timey wall phone ... the kind with the earpiece that you held up to your ear and talked into the mouthpiece on the phone. She was saying, "They're putting choruses in hymnbooks and projecting hymns onto the screen. It's getting so I can't remember what I'm not supposed to like." I told my people it was supposed to make them laugh. I hope it did.
That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.
Last Sunday I used a “contemporary” thing in the “traditional” service … and some people fussed at me about it. It was calm and meditative (no guitars or drums), and the fact that it was written 28 years ago disqualifies it as “contemporary” in the purest sense of the word. I used it in the “contemporary” service as well. I also used the same hymn that opened the “traditional” service in the “contemporary” service (albeit an updated version as done by the David Crowder Band). I haven’t gotten fussed at about that yet … but it has happened in the past.
My motive in selecting what I did was to try to give both congregations similar content in worship while not straying too far from the “style” expectations of each. I was also trying to help both congregations learn how to bend a little without getting bent out of shape … to bend in the same direction, if you will. I won’t do it every Sunday, and sometimes I’ll do it more successfully than others. Our aim for the 8:30 service will always be very much in the “contemporary” direction. Likewise, our aim for the 11:00 service will always be very much in the “traditional” direction. But an inflexible adherence to rigid and narrow definitions of each will not serve either service well.
In my Wednesday night handout I printed a cartoon that was sent to me by several of my choir members. It showed a woman talking on an old-timey wall phone ... the kind with the earpiece that you held up to your ear and talked into the mouthpiece on the phone. She was saying, "They're putting choruses in hymnbooks and projecting hymns onto the screen. It's getting so I can't remember what I'm not supposed to like." I told my people it was supposed to make them laugh. I hope it did.
That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.
posted by Morris at
4:09 PM
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