the default church

Back at the closest church of my faith flavor today--it will now be known as the default church until further notice, and I don't expect to unmask them. Also made advent vespers Wed night, and so far nothing has seriously alarmed me yet. I'm looking forward to chatting with the pastor (I have lots of questions, and always interview potential pastors before joining their flocks) but will probably get more of his attention if I wait til after Christmas now.

Wed night vespers was pleasant. A fair number in attendance, a woman sang the leader part of the service not too badly, and I gave her extra points for eschewing a microphone. They were using the same old-same old 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship Vesper's setting, but as parts of it are quite lovely, and it's not terribly simple to sing, I kept a positive attitude and gave the group a big gold star for enthusiastic participation. Also sang a song that the pastor had written. Looked at the text, and thought, hmm, he's not going for the easy warm fuzzy feeling here. It made me think of the really wonderful Advent song by the Gays "Each Winter as the Year Grows Older," although the tune looked drearily simple and predictable. But when the congregation came to it, the fact that it was simple and predictable served it well, and the group did very well with it. Thumbs up again.

Not a bad worship experience this morning either. Sang the appropriate advent hymns (although the keyboardist/music leader) completely missed the dance character of "On Jordan's Banks" and whoever is responsible for the musical decisions (after 3 visits, I can't figure out who is responsible for making sure the music happens or keeps things organized) doesn't seem to have a grasp of how the music of Taize works best and most effectively. Hey, but at least they're dipping their toes into it.

My two biggest red flags to date are that 1)I can't figure out why they have 2 different worship plans on Sunday morning. I looked at both folders, and wouln't call one "contemporary" and one "traditional", although I'm afraid that maybe they do, and 2) the philosophy/theology behind some of their worship and music practices. Maybe resolutions to these concerns will become apparent when they are able to meet in their new worship space, which should be done before I return.