This is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis

"Less About Worshipping God"

Uh, yeah. This is a problem.

First, let's note that the title wholly misses the point: Church goes back to roots to revamp its style

What is this about going back to its roots? Facing pews:

An outside observer recently took note of the re-configuration of the pews - with worshippers now facing each other rather than a priest at the pulpit - and declared, "This looks like the Quakers."

"Well, I suppose it does," [Senior Warden and Head of the Vestry, Anne] Kime said, laughing.

"It's getting back to what was done before, at one time. So it's very old, but very contemporary at the same time."

Very old = Reformation England and the Quakers. Got it.

Going back to the roots is also about a priest hangin' wit' da peeps:

Then the priest decided to come down from "the pedestal" to sit with the worshippers.

"He wants to be a member of the congregation now. He doesn't want to be above everyone," said Kime. "So we've taken out the pulpit and the lecturn."

The new he's-one-of-us approach has been generally well-received at every service, she said.

"Jesus never sat up on high, He was down with the people," Kime noted. "Why should the priest have any more importance than anyone else?"

"As Dean Giles would say, we're supposed to be a community, worshipping together," she added. "And when you're sitting looking at the back of someone's head in front of you, and a priest up on high, you're not much of a community."

So, where did Kime & Co. get their ideas?

To help loosen things up theologically and cosmetically, St. Dunstan's turned to Anglican clergyman Richard Giles, Dean of Philadelphia Cathedral.

In "Re-pitching The Tent" and other books, Giles candidly wrote about making liturgy more relevant, and a "ruthless reassessment of every detail" concerning classical church architecture.

"People did not worship in buildings originally, they were outside," Kime noted. "The building shouldn't matter at all. Dean Richard Giles' (attitude) is 'What what can we do to make the church more interesting so that outsiders will want to come and worship here?'"

Note that: "ruthless reassessment". Hmmm. Getting back to one's roots apparently means cutting oneself off from them.

No joke:

As is the case with many progressive Protestant and non-denominational churches, the St. Dunstan's service is now somewhat less about worshipping God than it is re-inventing spirituality in terms of contemporary culture's needs.

And there you have it. Turning away from worship of God to worship of contemporary man.

'Nuff said.

[H/T MCJ]

Posted by Clifton at December 19, 2005 09:13 AM | TrackBack