The Bible is, in short, the staple diet of Christian worship, as it is of Christian teaching. But, as one of the most famous stories of scripture makes abundantly clear, even scripture isn’t the very center. When the risen Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus, their hearts burned within them while he talked about the Bible. But their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, when he broke the bread.
Kyrie and I rode on the carousel yesterday afternoon at Riverfront Park.
Cutie.
Anyone read this?
Getting Serious About Getting Married
Well, while Isaiah is going to Portland to see the McConnells, a former McConnell is going to visit us. Evie (oh yeah, and Matt too) are coming into town on Friday.
And since Eli’s latest film is with Elijah Wood, Steve Buscemi, Natalie Portman and Willem Dafoe, we’re officially two degrees from all of them. Sweet.
We took a trip to Priest Lake, Idaho on Sunday afternoon and camped there overnight. The weather was beautiful, hot & sunny. The water felt wonderful. Everything was so much fun. Kyrie loved the water! She did exceptionally well during the day (she had a harder time at night). Anyway, pictures!
Judging from what I’ve heard from the OPC and PCA GA’s, I’m really glad I am not a presbyterian.
We went to the river to go swimming. The water was freezing, but Kyrie thoroughly enjoyed playing in a mud puddle by the shore the entire time.
So I’m back in Washington, but I am recovering still. For those of you that don’t know, I went down to Florida to take a class at the Institute for Worship Studies (founded by Robert E. Webber) near Jacksonville, FL. I took “Biblical and Historical Foundations of Worship” taught by Dr. Andrew E. Hill (Old Testament Prof at Wheaton College) and Dr. Lester Ruth (Worship and Liturgy Prof at Asbury Seminary), who did his PhD at Notre Dame with John Witvliet under James F. White. But let me try and go in order here.
I met Carrot Top in Phoenix, where I had my layover. He wasn’t annoying at all, and he actually has a deep voice very much unlike his show-voice. Kinda weird. Later, I saw him in a restaurant (eating a cheese steak, if you wanted to know). He had all sorts of Jr. High age girls fawning over him (and some adult women too). He was a really nice guy; they were wanting to take pictures of him while he was eating, and he was happy to oblige. He later ended up on my flight to Orlando. One of the most unexpected things was that this guy was extremely muscular and built on his upper body (yeah, he was huge) and had the lower body of a 12-year-old. Anyway, that was Tuesday.
Late that night, I arrived at the home of Billy and Shirley Creech of Grace Episcopal Church in Orange Park. Talk about a friendly couple. They let me stay with them for the week, and they even let me take their Porsche to class (yeah, sweet, huh?).
On Wednesday morning, I met with a couple of people from Christianbook.com to consult with them about their web site, their catalogs, and their advertising. It was then I realized they’re not selling the 55 volume Martin Luther set anymore! wah I told them if they had any more stuck back in the warehouse, they can send a set to me.
Later on Wednesday, I was oriented to my course. My classmates included pastors, seminary profs, worship pastors, and even a bishop, Bishop Quintin Moore of the Communion of Convergent Churches USA. Two of them were from Alberta, so I gave them a hard time all week. One was from Muskogee, close to where I grew up, and another brought Harlem power. Another classmate, Mick Gilliam, who teaches at Winebrenner Seminary was the smiliest man I have ever met. It was an incredible mix that you wouldn’t find at very many seminaries.
In the evening, I worshipped at the IWS convocation held in Grace Episcopal. What an incredible worship space. Great acoustics. Great chant tones. 150 men singing militaristic tunes with vigor. The Lord’s Prayer was so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes; later on in the week, it would bring a spout of hallelujahs off the lips of an African-American friend of the shouting Baptist persuasion.
One of the things I really gained this week was a theology of liturgical silence. It’s something I have read about but I have never seen performed well in a worship service. Our chaplain, Darrell Harris (called the “unofficial conscience” of CCM by Billboard Magazine…ha), had written a wonderful piece of music that led us into this silence.
After convocation, I met the schools’s president, Bob Webber, who is in great shape for a 73-year-old.
He told us about a couple of new books he is writing. One is tentatively called “Divine Embrace: Recovering Passionate Spirituality” and is basically his Ancient-Future Spirituality volume. The title comes from page 101 of the BCP:
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you, for the honor of your Name. Amen.
The other book is called “Who Gets To Narrate the World?” In the book, Bob brings us from the pre-modern, pre-Christian, pagan world to the post-modern, post-Christian, pagan world. Who will narrate the world, Christians or Muslims?
Then I met my housemate, Chester, a pastor in the Chicago area. Ironically, Chester had grown up in Spokane, where his dad pastors a predominantly African-American congregation (an anomaly in our 93% white town).
I also met Dr. Reggie Kidd of RTS-Orlando. We briefly discussed the NPP and FV (he thought many were upset for poor reasons). As I got to know him throughout the week, my respect for Reggie grew; he has a balance of scholarship and pastoral care. He is slow to judge and has a deep heart for God.
I don’t have a whole lot to say about the class. I enjoyed it. I got some great bibliography throughout the week. It did bring a number of thoughts to mind. For example:
St. Mark’s Greek is so poor that it is embarassing. The truth is that St. Mark was willing to humiliate himself to share the gospel. How many of us are like that? How many of us say that we don’t want to embarass ourselves because it might be a poor witness?
Andy (Hill) told the story of a missionary who handed out tracts in the Muslim marketplace in Pakistan. Lucky to be alive, he finally quit after not a single Muslim converted. He resorted to being more like the Muslim holy-men. He started reading his Bible on his porch all day, everyday. After five weeks, a women knocked on his door and said, “I perceive you are a holyman. My child is sick. Will your God heal him?” She had already visited Muslim and Buddhist holymen. He prayed over her child, and the child was healed. Converts started pouring in. In places where they recognize demons as having powers, the truth is if you want someone to know your God, you must have more power than the witch-doctor. This is why Christianity is spreading so rapidly in Africa, Asia, and South America.
Lester appealed for us to bring back a theology “same-sex kissing on the lips” during the peace. I told him the Episcopals do that a lot…
On Sunday, I visited St. Justin Martyr Orthodox. As Rachel said, 61 pages of sung liturgy. Ironically, it took over an hour for me to realize there was no instrumentation. The choir was embedded into the congregation—this was very nice. I don’t think I had ever seen a congregation prostrate themselves. That was nice. Overall, way too Eastern for me to fully appreciate. Perhaps my favorite part was, after the nekkid baptisms of a boy and his little sister, the baptismal party marched around the font while the congregation chanted, “As many have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Hallelujah!”
After worship, I hit the beach.
Then I got a gelati at Rita’s Italian Ice before going over Scott Schultz’s house to chat for a few hours.
Monday was pretty boring, but I did get to see a cool liturgy for a funeral service by Marty Haugen.
On Tuesday, we watched a Catholic service in Africa. It’s amazing to see Catholics dance. I also got to see a great comic strip comparing Puritans, Anglicans, and Catholics.
Wednesday was the last day. Lester gave us a great quote from Dr. White, his dissertation director: “I lived in Texas where there are more baptists than people.” Ain’t that the truth?
In all of this trip to my favorite state, I once again realized my heart is truly for Spokane. When I was down there, I had a thought I’ve had many times: “If I could just convince all my friends and family to move to Florida, life would be perfect.” But the more I thought about it, the more I knew it wasn’t true. I don’t have a desire to serve Florida like I do Spokane.
Well, I am still suffering from jet lag, so I will end this post.
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