IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT ...
Always wanting to learn from others, I visited a large charismatic church near here last night to see what they're doing and how they're doing it. I also thought it might be good to be in a service on Thanksgiving eve. I may have got that bit wrong!
Wandering into the sparsely populated sanctuary, it was hard to see why they're building a new facility next door to seat at least a zillion people. But the pastor later explained that this day's service is always very thin. I guess that figures - most people are at home baking pies, stuffing turkeys, tidying away the toys and hoping Aunt Sue won't live up to her threat and bring her newest balding, burping boyfriend over for the celebratory dinner.
Of course the only problem with most of the faithful having other things to do on this particular Wednesday night was that it fell to the few who showed up at church to "do something special for Thanksgiving" when the offering came around. Seems they just had something like a million cubic feet of concrete poured outside and we were being handed the check. I did my bit but didn't honestly feel too obligated.
During the opening praise and worship the music minister encouraged everyone to gather around the front of the sanctuary "where the glory falls first". I guess that like me, a lot of the people knew that was theological nonsense, so were slow to move. But when the pastor chimed in and summoned them with "church, let's gather at the altar", they dutifully responded. I stayed on the back row.
It was an interesting night. The sermon had a good outline - I may steal it one year if I need a Thanksgiving sermon - and the heart of the message seemed to be that if we were really thankful we would be clapping louder. A lot of clapping went on, so I think most people made the pastor happy. I went to the bathroom and then wandered outside to call Texas and see if Jonathan was home from the hospital - he was.
When I got back in some people were jumping to their feet as well as clapping and the pastor now seemed really happy.
They're certainly attracting a lot of folks to that church at weekends. Their flavor is clearly popular.
I may be biased, but I do like our flavor at Church At The Movies.
Wandering into the sparsely populated sanctuary, it was hard to see why they're building a new facility next door to seat at least a zillion people. But the pastor later explained that this day's service is always very thin. I guess that figures - most people are at home baking pies, stuffing turkeys, tidying away the toys and hoping Aunt Sue won't live up to her threat and bring her newest balding, burping boyfriend over for the celebratory dinner.
Of course the only problem with most of the faithful having other things to do on this particular Wednesday night was that it fell to the few who showed up at church to "do something special for Thanksgiving" when the offering came around. Seems they just had something like a million cubic feet of concrete poured outside and we were being handed the check. I did my bit but didn't honestly feel too obligated.
During the opening praise and worship the music minister encouraged everyone to gather around the front of the sanctuary "where the glory falls first". I guess that like me, a lot of the people knew that was theological nonsense, so were slow to move. But when the pastor chimed in and summoned them with "church, let's gather at the altar", they dutifully responded. I stayed on the back row.
It was an interesting night. The sermon had a good outline - I may steal it one year if I need a Thanksgiving sermon - and the heart of the message seemed to be that if we were really thankful we would be clapping louder. A lot of clapping went on, so I think most people made the pastor happy. I went to the bathroom and then wandered outside to call Texas and see if Jonathan was home from the hospital - he was.
When I got back in some people were jumping to their feet as well as clapping and the pastor now seemed really happy.
They're certainly attracting a lot of folks to that church at weekends. Their flavor is clearly popular.
I may be biased, but I do like our flavor at Church At The Movies.
posted by Roger Blackmore | 11:08 AM
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