All Saints' Church Forum
All Saints' Episcopal Church
Lakeland, Florida
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Blogmaster: Rev. Rick Hoover, Deacon
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Friday, July 3rd 2009
11:58 AM
Prayer for GC09
Good work being done to support the General Convention in prayer over the next several days. Join in here. Or here.
Yes, I think that is Bishop Howe's picture they're using.
And if you need some ideas on what to pray for, you could start here.
For what delegates to the GC are experiencing, one priest reports here.
Yes, I think that is Bishop Howe's picture they're using.
And if you need some ideas on what to pray for, you could start here.
For what delegates to the GC are experiencing, one priest reports here.
0 Comments / What do you think?
Friday, July 3rd 2009
11:47 AM
Game shows
"We are giving the biggest prize in the world, the gift of belief in God."
A new TV game show in Turkey aims at converting atheists. I'll take modern Arian heresies, Alex.
A new TV game show in Turkey aims at converting atheists. I'll take modern Arian heresies, Alex.
0 Comments / What do you think?
Tuesday, June 30th 2009
11:43 AM
Liturgy
John Seybert is our 8:50 a.m. Sunday music director. He and I were talking the other day about worship music, new and old, comparing what we’ve seen in praise and worship music in various churches over the years, both liturgical and non-liturgical.
I had asked John to describe some of the considerations he has in mind as he prepares music for a service at All Saints’. As he ticked off elements from his list, I began to see that liturgical worship was, itself, somewhat like a song of worship.
John pointed out how a worship song imposes an order, even a kind of “patience” on the congregation. You can’t rush the song! It has its own tempo, and the tempo itself carries a purpose. It grants permission to celebrate or it helps us slow down and get in step together.
Even in a “free worship” service, we don’t get to make up our own lyrics to the music. They have been prepared in advance. They direct our thoughts and attention. They help us get in step together. It is a ministry of direction that we already wanted, or we would not have gathered together.
All these qualities of a worship song are true of liturgy. During a given week in my own prayer time, I pray in my own words and sing my own songs. Sunday mornings, I gladly pray in unison with my Christian family, sharing a common confession, petitions and praises. There’s no rushing the tempo and I don’t want to rush. I’ve come to find permission to linger in the presence of Jesus, to express my love and gratitude, and enjoy the extra moments of His joy in us.
On my own I would probably miss all that. The music and the liturgy protect me from the weakness of my short attention span. They protect me from myself.
CS Lewis noticed another benefit in Letters to Malcolm:
“Novelty, simply as such, can have only an entertainment value. And they [parishioners] don’t go to church to be entertained. They go to use the service, or, if you prefer, to enact it… to receive a sacrament, or repent, or supplicate, or adore… and it ‘works’ best when, through long familiarity, we don’t have to think about it. As long as you notice, and have to count, the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning to dance… The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.
But every novelty prevents this… You know what I mean. Try as one may to exclude it, the question ‘What on earth is he up to now?’ will intrude. It lays one’s devotion waste. There really is some excuse for the man who said, ‘I wish they’d remember that the charge to Peter was ‘Feed my sheep’; not ‘Try experiments on my rats,’ or even ‘Teach my performing dogs new tricks.’ ‘ “
After I had been meditating on these things for a few days, I came across a very interesting article on the power of language to shape our perception of reality. The report by Lera Boroditsky can be found here.
Joe Carter added some further thoughts on the matter here.
Lera and Joe notice the effect in the culture at large. I am noticing how the visual and symbolic language of liturgy shapes our perception of God.
I had asked John to describe some of the considerations he has in mind as he prepares music for a service at All Saints’. As he ticked off elements from his list, I began to see that liturgical worship was, itself, somewhat like a song of worship.
John pointed out how a worship song imposes an order, even a kind of “patience” on the congregation. You can’t rush the song! It has its own tempo, and the tempo itself carries a purpose. It grants permission to celebrate or it helps us slow down and get in step together.
Even in a “free worship” service, we don’t get to make up our own lyrics to the music. They have been prepared in advance. They direct our thoughts and attention. They help us get in step together. It is a ministry of direction that we already wanted, or we would not have gathered together.
All these qualities of a worship song are true of liturgy. During a given week in my own prayer time, I pray in my own words and sing my own songs. Sunday mornings, I gladly pray in unison with my Christian family, sharing a common confession, petitions and praises. There’s no rushing the tempo and I don’t want to rush. I’ve come to find permission to linger in the presence of Jesus, to express my love and gratitude, and enjoy the extra moments of His joy in us.
On my own I would probably miss all that. The music and the liturgy protect me from the weakness of my short attention span. They protect me from myself.
CS Lewis noticed another benefit in Letters to Malcolm:
“Novelty, simply as such, can have only an entertainment value. And they [parishioners] don’t go to church to be entertained. They go to use the service, or, if you prefer, to enact it… to receive a sacrament, or repent, or supplicate, or adore… and it ‘works’ best when, through long familiarity, we don’t have to think about it. As long as you notice, and have to count, the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning to dance… The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.
But every novelty prevents this… You know what I mean. Try as one may to exclude it, the question ‘What on earth is he up to now?’ will intrude. It lays one’s devotion waste. There really is some excuse for the man who said, ‘I wish they’d remember that the charge to Peter was ‘Feed my sheep’; not ‘Try experiments on my rats,’ or even ‘Teach my performing dogs new tricks.’ ‘ “
After I had been meditating on these things for a few days, I came across a very interesting article on the power of language to shape our perception of reality. The report by Lera Boroditsky can be found here.
Joe Carter added some further thoughts on the matter here.
Lera and Joe notice the effect in the culture at large. I am noticing how the visual and symbolic language of liturgy shapes our perception of God.
0 Comments / What do you think?
Wednesday, June 24th 2009
11:01 AM
Disney storylines
Fr. Neo thinks he has spotted a change of direction in recent Disney kids movies. Very interesting!
0 Comments / What do you think?
Wednesday, June 17th 2009
8:35 PM
Puppies
"There is the idea of a puppy and then there is the reality of a puppy."
She already has her own blog here at All Saints' but if you've missed it you really need to go read what our youth minister Michelle Pincket has on her mind these days.
She already has her own blog here at All Saints' but if you've missed it you really need to go read what our youth minister Michelle Pincket has on her mind these days.
0 Comments / What do you think?
Wednesday, June 17th 2009
2:52 PM
Terri
She was charged with some not very clearly defined, but capital, offense, found guilty and sentenced accordingly... The question was asked more than once: how could we have done to her what we would not do to a prisoner on death row?
Writing at the Christendom Review, William Luse ponders the secret life of Terri Shiavo. Don't miss his concluding paragraphs.
You might also want to look at Lydia McGrew's companion article about Judge George W. Greer, the judge who ordered Terri's starvation.
Read about the Terri Schindler Shiavo Foundation here.
And to revive your heart, read about an interesting new documentary. You can watch the trailer here.
Writing at the Christendom Review, William Luse ponders the secret life of Terri Shiavo. Don't miss his concluding paragraphs.
You might also want to look at Lydia McGrew's companion article about Judge George W. Greer, the judge who ordered Terri's starvation.
Read about the Terri Schindler Shiavo Foundation here.
And to revive your heart, read about an interesting new documentary. You can watch the trailer here.
0 Comments / What do you think?
Thursday, June 11th 2009
12:28 PM
Boldly riding
In the midst of one of his fine contemplations of the Episcopal scene, the Anglican Curmudgeon takes a moment to reflect on the larger scene, entire:
I take some bemusement in imagining that we are daily faced with cannon shot landing around us from all directions --- some of which we are free to ignore at any given moment, but all of which together we disdain at our peril, and eventually must take into account. "Cannon to the right of them,/ Cannon to the left of them,/ Cannon in front of them/ Volley'd and thunder'd;/ Storm'd at with shot and shell,/ Boldly they rode and well,/ Into the jaws of Death,/ Into the mouth of Hell/ Rode the six hundred." Tennyson, in just these nine lines, has captured the essence of dealing with the plethora of information in our time. Whether one seeks enlightenment from Internet sources, or from the printed, aural, or visual media, as one rides on, in the only direction that time gives us ---further into that cannon-ringed valley --- one has to note the direction from which the shots are being fired, if only to make the appropriate maneuvers in order to be able to remain on one's horse for a little while longer.
I take some bemusement in imagining that we are daily faced with cannon shot landing around us from all directions --- some of which we are free to ignore at any given moment, but all of which together we disdain at our peril, and eventually must take into account. "Cannon to the right of them,/ Cannon to the left of them,/ Cannon in front of them/ Volley'd and thunder'd;/ Storm'd at with shot and shell,/ Boldly they rode and well,/ Into the jaws of Death,/ Into the mouth of Hell/ Rode the six hundred." Tennyson, in just these nine lines, has captured the essence of dealing with the plethora of information in our time. Whether one seeks enlightenment from Internet sources, or from the printed, aural, or visual media, as one rides on, in the only direction that time gives us ---further into that cannon-ringed valley --- one has to note the direction from which the shots are being fired, if only to make the appropriate maneuvers in order to be able to remain on one's horse for a little while longer.
0 Comments / What do you think?
Friday, June 5th 2009
1:47 PM
Praying in silence
Try this mental experiment. Walk into your nearest neighbor's house and offer them this choice: they can spend the next half hour in total silence, or the next half hour with the television turned on at random. Which option do you think your neighbor would choose? The tendency to avoid silence comes to the surface when we try to practice it. One of the first things we hear is a little voice that says: "You really should not be doing this. You have important things to do."
from
Keeping Silence, by C. W. McPherson
from
Keeping Silence, by C. W. McPherson