First Friday of Lent
Other Traditions-Other Forms
Lectionary texts for today:
OT: Genesis 9:1-17
NT: Mark 1:9-15
So far in this series we have dealt with worship traditions within United Methodism. I've used the terms "high church" and "low church" in a relative sense, relative to Methodism. For a Greek Orthodox person all United Methodist worship would be considered low church, very low church. Many years ago I and some others took a Greek friend, Christina Kalavritinos, to a Presbyterian Church. About half-way through the service, she asked, "When do they start worship?" After church she noted that there were no robed and bearded priests, no procession, no iconostasis, no eucharist, no one making the sign of the cross, and most of all--no incense. How could we possibly call this worship?
I once went to a Coptic Orthodox (completely different from Greek/Eastern Orthodox) Church in Cairo, Egypt. The incense was so thick that the church was foggy. You could barely see from back to front.
At the other end of the worship spectrum, I have twice worshipped in Pentecostal Churches. A Pentecostal student took me to a Wednesday night service. I asked about when the service would be over. The question had her non-plussed. She finally said, it will be over when the Holy Ghost says its over." the servce started at 7:00, more or less. We left at 11:00 and the service was still going strong. I asked if there were a bulletin. She said, "We don't need a bulletin. The Holy Ghost guides the service." There was a band with guitars and drums. The music never stopped, just got softer when someone was speaking. There was much speaking in tongues, loud praising God in English, no holy rolling in the aisles but much dancing in the aisles. The preacher would preach for a while, then sit for a while, then get up and preached some more, as the Spirit led him. What I would regard as the climax of the service was when a man asked to be baptized in the Holy Ghost. He knelt. The pastor and the elders laid hands on him and spoke in tongues over him, louder and louder. The congregation was speaking in tongues louder and louder. The man was still not yet speaking in tongues. The elders began to shake him. He still didn't speak in tongues. They began to shake him more vigorously, almost violently. Finally he spoke in tongues. The church erupted in screaming praise, jumping, and dancing. My student stood unobtrusively with me in a corner. One man was spinning round and round like a whirling dervish. He fell and almost hit his head on the side of a pew. The congregation seemed to be getting more and more out of control. I began to be afraid. Then I had a thought, "These people do this every week. They're quite accustomed to this. It will be all right." Things were still going strong when we left.
I have preached twice in African-American churches, neither of which was in one of the Methodist African-American denominations (A.M.E., A.M.E. Zion, C.M.E.). The congregations are verbally responsive during the sermons. For me both times there developed a sort of call and response between me and the congregation, a kind of rhythm. The feeling was intense. The congregation was with me, encouraging me while they were praising God. The more I preached; the more I felt lifted up. This totally black congregation and this white preacher completely at one and at one with God. It was a powerful experience of God.
There are numerous other forms of Christian worship I have not experienced. Currently trending are Ancient-Modern worship and Emergent worship. Last but least is Prosperity Gospel.
O God of all Christians, God of all peoples,
May we worship you in spirit and in truth. May our worship be holy and pleasing in your sight. Help us to open our hearts and minds to what is new and what is old, that we may know you and follow in your path.
In Christ, Amen.
Faithfully
Christian
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