"While English is Jamaica's official language, most Jamaicans speak patois. But it does not yet have a standard writing system. Those opposed to the translation project have argued in the country's newspapers and other media outlets that formalizing a written standard for patois would undercut efforts to promote Standard English." --"Translation Tiff," Christianity Today (Jocelyn Green).

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The second index in the front of the Pilgrim Hymnal, circa 1935, is the Index of Subjects of Hymns.  Though many of their subjects are similar to our more modern terminology, the antiquity of the wording can be seen.

Under the subject Divine Comradeship (I wonder if this subject heading was changed after the Red Scare?), which I thought was a clever one, came the Charles Wesley hymn Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies:

"Visit, then, this soul of mine; Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;

Fill me, Radiancy divine, Scatter all my unbelief;

More and more thyself display, Shining to the perfect day." (the 3rd verse) ... more

O God,
We open our eyes and we see Jesus,
the months of ministry transfigured to a beam of light,
the light of the world,
your light.
May your light shine upon us.

We open our eyes and we see Moses and Elijah,
your word restoring us, showing us the way,
telling a story,
your story, his story, our story.
May your word speak to us. ... more

While on vacation in Vermont last week my wife Sarah and I (along with our webmaster/developer/designer Josh Benner and his wife) toured the First Congregational Church of Bennington, VT.

From their history:

"The Old First Church was gathered in 1762, the first Protestant church in Vermont. Much of the early history of Bennington and of Vermont took place in and around the original Meeting House, built in 1763, and the present church, built in 1805 and dedicated January 1, 1806. As a result, the Vermont Legislature, in 1935, designated the church as "Vermont's Colonial Shrine".

Over 200 years now since the dedication of the present building, we continue to be an active church community."

On our honeymoon three years ago Sarah and I stopped by this old church because Robert Frost is buried there.  We visited after hours last time, so we did not have the opportunity to tour the inside of the church. This time we fortunately did.

The inside is fashioned in the Puritan style with the pulpit high above the congregation and the lectern housed below it (see the below picture).

A member of the church was guiding visitors through the church with trivia and good nature, and there was an information table with some souvenirs to purchase (a book of Robert Frost's poems, some prayer aides, etc.). ... more

Dan Kimball shares a great post about how people never stop complaining about worship changes in the church.

I didn't know this, but apprarently the early church disliked the organ:

Christians in the early church originally protested the bringing in of the organ into the church saying it was a "worldly" instrument. The organ at that time was used to signal praise in the emperor's court, like trumpets are used when someone of royalty was formally entering. Around 500 AD the church began to adopt the usage of the organ from culture and used it to signal the entering of the Pope. So there was protest from Christians who felt there was compromise happening and that the church was allowing a worldly instrument into the church.

Kimball sees the rise and fall of the organ in Christian worship as an expression of changes in the surrounding culture making their way into the Church:

When you study history, you realize that forms and expressions of worship have always been changing. Culture has influenced worship practices and styles - and so much of what we do in our church gatherings today stems from a specific point in culture and what was happening at that time.

While on a larger scale I agree with the use of cultural instruments in Christian worship, I disagree about the grand scale of cultural changes that affect Christian worship as Kimball argues.  I think that when Kimball says, "I hope when I get older and there are new styles and approaches to worship that develop," the new styles and approaches to worship should develop primarily from within local communities and cultures, and not be so influenced by the colonizing approach of mass media, consumerism, and popular culture as much of the modern worship movement has been. ... more

On Saturday night I went with some friends to see Shane Claiborne, Christopher Haw, & Co. with the Jesus for Presient Tour at 5th Ave. Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.

A lot of people on the blogosphere have been talking about it, so I won't waste your time here reiterating what you may have read already.

What really impressed me about this event was that it was multimedia and anti-celebrity.  The gang was there to be prophetic, not celebrate themselves.  Claiborne and Haw presented key parts of the book with liturgy, prayer, and original songs provided by The Psalters, an amazing underground, independent liturgical experience.

The book was the preaching and the music called the congregation into worship as we celebrated the Kingdom of God.  It was awesome.

Long live the Slaughtered Lamb! ... more

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is found in 1 Kings 19. Elijah, having just defeated the prophets of Baal, suddenly finds himself fleeing Jezebel in order to save his life. He comes to Mt. Horeb feeling very alone and very sorry for himself. Despite the fact that he had just been on a spiritual "mountaintop" and seen God defeat the prophets of Baal, Elijah has crashed into a valley of despair. And it is in this valley that God gives him a different type of mountaintop experience.

Having already witnessed God's mighty acts, Elijah now encounters a different side of God. While Elijah was waiting for God to appear, a mighty wind swept through the mountain. But the Lord was not in the wind. An earthquake then shook the mountain, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. The earthquake was followed by a great fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. Instead, God revealed himself in a gentle breeze, the exact antithesis of the power displayed at the defeat of the prophets of Baal.

Elijah learned that God is not only present in the great spiritually moving experiences, but also in the quiet moments in God's sanctuary. God is not only a God of trumpets and shouts, but also of whispers.

I have always found this passage comforting because my life is filled with more quiet moments of despair than great victories and moving spiritual experiences. I often have to relearn the lesson that God can be found just as easily in silence as he can be in earthquakes, storms, and fires.

Recently I have wondered if this principle should also apply to my worship. ... more

People often write about worshiping in diversity when it comes to age, race, ethnicity, politics, etc. But what about diverse theology?

Most people assume that a church community has a unified theology, especially within denominational churches. In non-denominational churches the theology of the community is often set by leadership and tiers of theology are created, with the prescribed theology reigning and those who have theological differences are often separated or not allowed in higher leadership positions. You just don't really have an elder board of five-point Calvinists invite a person leading a small group on Arminianism to join the elder board. In most cases the person with the divergent theology is not belittled or scorned, they are just implicitly not allowed to be in a presiding role over the church.

Yet, the intended purpose of non-denominationalism is to have diversity and a loose hierarchical structure. Without specific doctrine statements on theological issues that go beyond a vague Evangelical Orthodoxy (which is usually a definition based on not being a church that is mainline, Catholic, or liberal) the non-denominational church should become more open to theological diversity within the community.

This train of thought came to me as I was reflecting on the liturgical service my non-denominational church had this past Sunday. Namely: what is happening during communion if half of the congregation is taking it as sacrament and the other half as ordinance? Is the Table divided or not ? (For my thoughts on this see my post The Table Surpasses Theology.)

So how do we worship in diverse theology? In four ways: ... more

Where, O where did the hymnals go?  The once constant bastion of the pew, the loyal book that would meet you wherever you happened to be worshiping on a given Sunday, has left the building.  When I was a teenager and hymnals began to collect dust as overhead projectors took over I welcomed it as an opportunity to get with the times.  Computers were taking over the world, and I had heard of AOL and the Internet---the world seemed like it was ready to ditch the book and go electronic.

I'll be live blogging my Good Friday all day today...

Heh, just kidding.

I woke up and was at church to pray early this morning and it was very powerful.  It was the first time I have used my prayer beads (more on them next week) and it was a profound experience.  The Passion was much more vivid for me than it has been in previous years.  My church has been bringing in liturgical elements for Holy Week worship and I have been able to worship more dynamically in church, which is a blessing. ... more