Last night Emma and I attended Christmas Eve services at the Presbyterian church in Luling. This service is one of my favorites of the year so I look forward to the songs, the scriptures and the sacraments. It is also where you see folks you generally don't see on Sundays. But that's another blog.
What I am trying to figure out today is why I am so disappointed in the service last night. I can't honestly say it was a bad service. It was the first special service for our newly ordained minister and she had some stumbles. But that is to be expected. The scriptures covered both the old and new testaments so the story was properly told. It seemed we were all just going through the motions with most of the people there just to make Granny happy. They had places they would rather be. Maybe that's it. The service was not that special.....
If it seems that I am struggling with my faith I really am not. What I am really having a problem with is the conventional approach to worship. All established churches have an order of worship, the liturgy, and customs. We become comfortable with this and changes are not well received. But isn't that the antithesis of Christ's message? From his birth to his death he challenged the order of the day. After his death he sent forth his apostles to spread the good news, which was not well received. Somewhere along the line the descendants of Martin Luther lost their spunk and, as a result, the churches are just buildings.
I don't have a fix for this. I have a hard time keeping myself going the right direction. But someone in the established church had better wake up and smell the coffee!
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