It’s a grey afternoon preceeding a storm. Jon is doing Evening Prayer, Cullen is acting as Jon’s spiritual director, and Finian is sitting watch to make sure that I blog on something spiritual. (Our cats love to assist us with our various devotional things, which includes blogging for me. They are such pious and helpful creatures.) I am recharged after a 4 hour nap (note to self: next time get regular vanilla chai powder) and am listening to some chant, some Loreena McKennitt, some David Haas/Marty Haugen, and some Haydn (various parts of the “Lord Nelson Mass” which I sang with my seminary choir in 2001) with some Kingston Trio thrown in for good measure. All the religious music is putting me in the mood to blog on religious stuff, so… here is part III of the “Ideas on Worship” series.
Worship Preferences
I’m going to quote a little from an an entry on this subject that I wrote last March, so feel free to click on the link to see it in its entirety (as well as why I blogged on it in the first place).
Setting: The Celtic-Christian in me would probably love to be sitting in a cathedral ring in the redwoods near my dorm at UC Santa Cruz with the wind blowing and the ocean in view. The mystical person in me would prefer a stone chapel with light streaming through the stained-glass windows or an Eastern Orthodox service (minus the incense which unfortunately gives me an asthma attack). My compromise: the sanctuary of Jon’s internship congregation (when it’s put back together after replacing the heating system) which has a garden in the courtyard formed by the layout of the buildings. I know that God is wherever two or three are gathered in His name; but I have problems with modern sanctuaries because they just seem devoid of the kinds of inspiration I see in the more traditional ones. As I mentioned in my last entry on this subject, I am into sensual worship, which means that I need the stained-glass and the rest of the experience. Stone churches (especially the older ones I explored in Ireland) remind me of the divine inspiration of their creators — the hands that hewed the stone and the ones that cast the glass.
Structure of Worship: For those of you who didn’t know, my J is the strongest part of my INFJ status. This means that I *like* order and liturgy fulfills that for me. I have worshipped in more free-form churches and enjoyed the experience; but liturgy tends to center me and feed me. This might be because I spent my formative Christian years in an Episcopal church or it might be that Jon’s internship parish has really converted me to traditional liturgical worship to the point that I can’t even think of looking back. I also tend to go toward extremes in this regard — straght-up liturgy or straight-up praise and worship — blended services can be good but I still prefer they err on the side of liturgy.
Music: I honestly do prefer the older traditional hymns — the newer worship music really does nothing for me. I love chanting Morning Prayer or singing hymns like “Abide With Me” and “We’re Marching To Zion” more than I like singing the latest Hillsong creation. (The exception to all of this is most of the stuff Maranatha music puts out — their stuff is pretty wonderful across the board.) Chanting the liturgy is also a very peaceful thing for me because it is ordered, most of it (with the exception of Setting 3 in the LBW) is easy to sing, and it’s acapella which focuses me to the words and not the accompaniment.
Contrary to popular belief, this 23 year old actually *likes* organ music provided that it isn’t something absolutely dreary. I’m grateful that our organist is my age and feels the same way. Piano accompaniment is also a wonderful thing — especially if the music isn’t of the “it’s church music so it has to be somber” persuasion. Funerals at Jon’s internship site usually have instrumental hymns as the prelude and it’s a comforting thing to hear them played on piano.
Sacraments: I’m Lutheran. We are reminded weekly of our baptism. We (ideally) celebrate weekly Eucharist. I remember in college when the worship team was passed over for communion and I got apopleptic — if I’m having to take Communion only monthly, I’d really like to be able to take it when it’s offered. (I cannot understand the mindset of churches that only offer it quarterly — it’s the Body and Blood of Christ and we are commanded to partake of it in remembrance of His death and resurrection.) Community Church of Joy, the church that I frequently use as my whipping post for all that is wrong with megachurches, has it as a twice-a-month “optional” part of worship — something that is just completely wrong, especially since they claim to be Lutheran. (Most Lutheran clergy with any sense don’t even consider CCOJ to be Christian, let alone Lutheran because they’re all about numbers and Walt Kallestad’s personality cult. But that’s another tangent…) I’m not going into the wine vs. grape juice battle because it’s not a faith-shattering thing for me — Jon’s internship parish offers both and most people take the wine whether it be in the common cup (the rim of which is cleaned with a peroxide soaked cloth each time) or from one of the “holy shotglasses”. (They’re about the size of a thimble and used in churches where the common cup doesn’t exist. They’re a pain to fill from the pouring chalice but hey… some people prefer using them.)
I believe that baptism is necessary to salvation and I’m among those who believe in infant baptism. I may not believe in paedocommunion, but I do believe that baptism is the beginning of the process that culminates with Confirmation (at age 13 or 14) and then involves the confirmandi in the life of the church.
Language: This ain’t the “Latin vs. English issue” (from the Roman Church) or the “German vs. English” issue that occasionally arises in older Lutheran churches — this is the “inclusive language” debate. For the record, the Lord Almighty is my Heavenly FATHER. My rationale for this is that Jesus referred to Him as “Father” (well… “Abba” actually which means “Daddy” [and as Jon adds is still a masculine noun]) and that’s the proof I need. I understand that some people have issues with their earthly fathers which means that they have difficulties with God as their Heavenly Father and my answer is that God is perfect — their earthly (mortal) fathers are not. Not all men are evil and not all fathers are bad. I have issues with the Trinity as Creator/Redeemer/Sanctifier because it’s very limiting in the roles of the Persons. The Father does so much more than create, the Son does much more than redeem, and the Spirit does more than sanctify.
Another item on my “lingusitic church irritations” is when people change the creeds and the lyrics of hymns to get rid of masculine language or to “de-catholicize” things. The last part of the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed proclaims belief in in “the holy catholic (and apostolic) church”, not the “Christian church”. The use of “catholic” connotes the universal church, not the Roman Church. (” Catholic” is Roman and “catholic” is universal. Learn your Church History people!) With regard to hymns, I offer this example: it is “High King of Heaven” in the last verse of Be Thou My Vision, not “light of my soul”. The “light of my soul” did not open a can of whupass on the hill of Slane — the “High King of Heaven” did. The concept of a “high king” is an Irish thing and therefore fits the hymn. “Light of my soul” is a very poor attempt at inclusivizing the words. (And yes, I know that most lay people don’t give a rat’s butt about hymn lyrics. This is why I’m not like most lay people.)
I think I’ve covered everything. Comments are always welcome. Flames will be burned and the ashes will disposed of accordingly.
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