There's more! From the wonderful book Te Deum: The Church and Music by Paul Westermeyer (Fortress Press, Minneapolis).
[Martin Marty] suggests that in our "postmodern utterly relativist market-oriented world," if Christians agree there is a God and that we are to bring our best gifts of response, then it follows that there are intrinsic "betters" and "worses" within "the standards and traditions of a culture." The church at twentieth century's end has not sorted this out well and has tended to define everything, including its music, like the market-driven world around it rather than respond to its best instincts and treat people well. In place of the Te Deum and the long strand of the church's song which it represents, the temptation has been to substitute superficial praise choruses or poorly crafted attempts to tell God how we feel. That the church might have a message and a schooling responsibility has often escaped its recent gaze. As Marty notes, people get hooked on all sorts of things and work hard at them–"community college, bridge-playing, bowling, hair-styling, fishfly-trying, YMCA, fitness training, Tae kwon do, T'ai Chi, woodworking, barbershop-quartetting, bass-guitar playing, scouting, etc.," but the church at many points appears to have lost its nerve and the sense that its message is worth a comparable effort or that people deserve what is worth the effort, assuming that only what sells immediately has any value.
Labels: church music, churches, music, worship
If you can't tell, it seems (to this author, anyway), like a banner summer for new writing about the church.
In the same issue of Faith and Leadership that profiled the exciting work of a colleague of mine is found the article "Change wisely, dude" by Andrea Palpant Dilley. This was cited in "Young evangelicals are getting high" over at The Christian Pundit. This same conversation has now surfaced on the CNN Belief Blog.
Invariably, after I’ve finished my presentation and opened the floor to questions, a pastor raises his hand and says, “So what you’re saying is we need hipper worship bands. …”And I proceed to bang my head against the podium.
...
But here’s the thing: Having been advertised to our whole lives, we millennials have highly sensitive BS meters, and we’re not easily impressed with consumerism or performances.
...
Many of us, myself included, are finding ourselves increasingly drawn to high church traditions – Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, the Episcopal Church, etc. – precisely because the ancient forms of liturgy seem so unpretentious, so unconcerned with being “cool,” and we find that refreshingly authentic.
What millennials really want from the church is not a change in style but a change in substance.
Evans, Rachel Held. "Why millennials are leaving the church". CNN Belief Blog. 27 July 2013
There's a sea change of thinking here, if we are wise enough to listen.
Are we listening to the fact that evangelicals are holding up "high church traditions" and naming the Episcopal Church as something they want?
Is this still the Episcopal Church they seek? Have we changed wisely in the past?
Millenials in the church are seeking a tradition with authenticity that is asking questions that matter.
What are we doing about it?
Labels: change, churches, Episcopal Church, evangelicals, liturgy
If you regularly worship in a church, what does it mean to be satisfied?
Are you there to be satisfied? to have your expectations met? to be personally, spiritually fulfilled?
Are you there to satisfy a deity? to placate and angry God who demands vengance?
Neither should be the case, I feel. The "angry God" straw man god of some modern theologians could be -- I will speculate here -- responsible for the lessening of a theology of worship among modern Christians.
The advances in the accessibility of increasingly segmented, personalized entertainment certainly fuel the assumption that anything that smacks of entertainment should be about us. And liturgy's performance aspects are easily confused with those of secular culture (there's music, leaders, money involved, a "stage" in some cases)
A neighboring church here in Richmond writes that you should be no more than 75% satisfied with their worship. Any more than that, they say, and they're not doing it right. They know that this seems a little counterintuitive.
Typically we want our “customers” to be as happy with everything in worship as possible so they will keep on coming back, invite their friends, and give us their money! But it may be more faithful to the gospel to call people to sacrifice a degree of personal preference to make space for the other – and that space is often reflected in the way we worship.So go on: embrace the uncomfortable. Be willing to endure a song you don’t like or a worship form that seems awkward or out of place. In doing so, you may be opening the door to a person to know Christ and to be welcomed in your community that, were it not for your own worship displeasure, would never have felt at home.
But what if our dissatisfaction in church involves more than worship? (Spoiler alert: it does).
You need to read 5 Ways to be Unsatisfied with Your Church
Labels: churches, East End Fellowship (Richmond), liturgy
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia.
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia. Interesting to note that this church was built without any sacristy or other "backstage" area. The present sacristy in the third photo is merely opposite the Communion rail.
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia. By English law, all Altars of this time had to contain the Ten Commandments and the Apostles Creed.
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia. Photos taken 14 Nov 2011, so the Advent wreath receptacle seems a bit premature.
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia
Labels: churches, Episcopal Church, liturgical space, photos
A year ago I was attacked in the place where I worked.
While rehearsing the choir in the church on Sunday morning in preparation for the service I was suddenly and violently grabbed, held and verbally threatened by a choir member.
The circumstances of the violent incident meant that it was deeply upsetting not only to me, but to the choir and members of the congregation.
And while violence can occur in church just like anywhere else (and, yes, there are those pioneering pastors packing pistols) most people assume that it will be random. A drifter, a bum, a drunk. Someone wanders in and does something stupid.
But what if it's someone you know? What if it's someone you love?
What if it's someone who you've known worked with for several years? You've sung, prayed and shared many meals together. Week in and week out: rehearsal, Evensong, breaking bread, Eucharist, passing the peace.
“this cannot be happening”
By now you've probably figured out that this is not a pleasant topic and you're tempted to stop reading. This will never happen to me, you think. Or, this will never happen in my church . . . in my denomination . . . to anyone I know.
Let me tell you that I thought exactly the same thing as I was being held against the choir stall in front of about 100 or so people: "this cannot be happening".
But it was.
Here are a few thoughts:
- Should you call the police? If the handbook you give to your church staff and lay leadership addresses violence it probably requires this anyway. In the situation I experienced no one called the police that morning (myself included). It's hard for a community to call the cops on someone they love, but by not reporting an illegal action you implicitly condone it. Tough love, I think they call it.
- Should you pray? Despite everyone being shaken, I think continuing with the service that morning was a very good thing. I was not physically injured and was eager to continue with the job I was there to do. I really love this church music work -- what Erik Routley called our "duty and delight". In my haste to get on the organ bench and begin the prelude, however, perhaps I passed over other opportunities for prayer, not just for myself, but for the congregation. I think it was difficult for the congregation to pray that morning. I heard audible gasps from the church as I was being held. I'm told that some left the church for a time to talk but came back for most of the service. Perhaps I should have allowed time for the community to respond to what had just happened.
- You should sing because singing is a kind of prayer. It can be hard to sing through tears, but I've always believed that a community is meant to sustain those who loose their voice for a few beats, whether they cough, sneeze or sob. And pray for the offender.
That day was the Second Sunday after Pentecost and the Epistle reading, Galatians 1:11-24, include's Paul's admission that "[he] was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it." Immediately after this lesson we sang Hymn 255, "We sing the glorious conquest", which include's John Ellerton's verses
Your grace, by ways mysterious, our sinful wrath can bind, and in those least expected true servants you can find
I have to believe it no accident that the hymn that I had chosen weeks earlier led for me to pray for my attacker, a child of God, in very short order. Again, in the words of Ellerton:
. . . that we, in every hour, in all that may confront us, will trust your hidden power.
- Should you help each other? Yes. You need to talk about what happened. The service ended, and I needed many friends in the coming days and weeks. The community, especially one that witnessed the event so closely, needed conversation, prayer and fellowship.
- Pray for peace. The community also heard in no uncertain terms that violence is not God's way and is not appropriate in the Christian community that we strive to be.
O God, the creator and preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. More especially we pray for thy holy Church universal; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally, we commend to thy fatherly goodness all those who are in any ways afflicted or distressed, in mind, body, or estate; that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them according to their several necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. And this we beg for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
This is difficult to write about. There is still a lot of pain surrounding this for me, even a year later. Because of this I worry that what I write may be muddled or misguided. If so, I ask your forgiveness.
I didn't choose to be a victim of workplace violence on that Sunday morning, but I do hope I can offer some insight or be helpful in some way on this topic.
I continue to pray for healing for all involved.
Labels: church music, churches, violence
Alfred Mahlau designed the stained glass window in the Marienkirche in Lübeck, Germany. The window is an homage to the Totentanz mural in the church which was destroyed.
A few centuries earlier, this church was home to Dietrich Buxtehude.
Cooper Union Typograpy has a great collection of Lübeck images by Alfred Mahlau. A few are even organ related. The window is there too.
A great take on the gorgeous Hanseatic city.
Finland Alert: There's even a Finland one. 30,000 lakes. Take that Minnesota.
Labels: churches, Finland, Lübeck, visual art
I don't think this video was on YouTube in December 2005, so it makes another appearance on Sinden.org today (the link I posted then is now broken).
This is a great clip, but you can also consider it my commentary on how to see La Trinité, Paris now that Olivier Messiaen no longer plays the organ there. A simple drive by the place will suffice.
Labels: churches
On the front page of the Arts section of today's New York Times is an article about the sudden departure of the director of music and organist at Trinity, Wall Street: "Director of Music at Trinity Steps Down".
Owen Burdick's departure is rather abrupt, leaving the Trinity choir and Rebel Baroque Orchestra leaderless for their upcoming Monteverdi Vespers performance at the end of the month.
In the Times article, Linda Hanick, vice president of communications at Trinity is quoted as saying "We’re going to be looking at how we’ll restructure the music program."
Churches of Trinity's caliber don't often use the word "restructure" in regard to the music program; usually, they just want to keep it going. But Hanick is blunt: she doesn't say the church will be looking at if or when they'll restructure the music program. Those two questions are implicitly answered in her statement. Yes to restructuring, and now! This led the staff of Sinden.org to speculate that some forces in the church are eager to depart from the professional chamber choir model.
So how will the Trinity program be "restructured"? Perhaps the Trinity Choristers, currently under the direction of Rob Ridgell, will have a more prominent role in the music of the church. Or perhaps their will be an increased focus on liturgical music rather than afternoon concerts.
There is also speculation about what this may mean for the organ in the church, which is a Marshall & Ogletree digital prototype dubbed a "virtual organ". Last summer Burdick wrote an "Open Letter to the Organ Community" in defense of the instrument.
Labels: church music, churches, organists, organs
Don't miss the BBC's broadcast of Choral Evensong from St. Thomas Church in New York City. (Hurry, because it will be replaced by another broadcast on Sunday.)
Take particular note of the new, rather nice, rather lengthy introit by Tavener.
While listening to this, I was disappointed that music lists are not archived at St. Thomas's website and I cannot see what they sang for Christmas.
Churches in Ireland are ringing their bells at 2:00 p.m. on the Global Day of Action on Climate Change.
Is there any reason U.S. churches aren't picking up on this?
Do U.S. churches even have bells?
And why 2:00? Is that the Irish noon?
Labels: churches, environmental stewardship
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