Comments for Liturgical Nerds

Comment on In Praise of Strong and Open Liturgy by stephenjash

stephenjash — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:50:47 +0000

About The Great Thanksgiving inconsistency you mentioned. When it says Christ delivered us from slavery to sin and death, it does not mean he delivered us from slavery into sin, but rather, he delivered us from being slaves to sin. Sin was our master. So he delivered us from slavery to sin and death. He delivered us from our masters of sin and death.

Comment on Ordinary Time badge by Epiphany (and Season After) Web Banner « Liturgical Nerds

Epiphany (and Season After) Web Banner « Liturgical Nerds — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:42:16 +0000

[...] Or if you’d prefer, we also have an
Ordinary Time badge! [...]

Comment on Field Report: Kindle Funeral by Kindle saves the day at a funeral « The Complete Worship Musician

Kindle saves the day at a funeral « The Complete Worship Musician — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:39:32 +0000

[...] technology in unique ways to the benefit of worship. Here is a report on someone using their Kindle to lead a funeral… If you aren’t familiar with it, the Kindle’s screen uses e-ink. It is a technology that [...]

Comment on In Praise of Strong and Open Liturgy by Stephen F

Stephen F — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:53:21 +0000

Excellent post Juan! Maybe some of us are afraid that liturgy would not be received well by our congregants. I know since beginning an intimate Taize prayer service in our Chapel we have seen a good solid group of people who feel like this is something they need on a regular basis.

Or maybe it is just nerds like us…

Comment on Deliver Us From Evil by Matt Rawle

Matt Rawle — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:17:46 +0000

I love the imagery of the ashes now erased from out foreheads, but lingering in our soul.

Comment on In Praise of Strong and Open Liturgy by Brian D. Baker

Brian D. Baker — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:39:20 +0000

Josh (I hope I have your name right; wasn’t sure), Thanks for your words in defense of liturgy. I like both liturgical worship and spontaneity. It’s sometimes tricky finding that “sweet spot” in the middle which retains the discipline of one and the latitude of the other. I still frequently consult my Episcopalian prayer book just to see what are the scripture readings for that Sunday. (btw, I married a Methodist preacher’s daughter) It’s interesting to see how closely at times the need of the day seems to be addressed in the liturgy. I almost feel I should, however, say something in defense of spontaneity, notwithstanding I do believe I understand both dynamics, from one extreme to the other. I think sometimes people who were once so acclamated to the discipline of liturgical worship find a new freedom in some of the freer forms practiced today. I’m not necessarily in favor of “ditching” any of them so long as they lift up Jesus. It’s been my experience that there can be pitfalls in them all, and leadership must be able to negotiate the discrepancies. Without the proper leadership, the liturgy can slump into a kind of staid, religious formalism where people often fail to enter into a meaningful worship experience. But I’ve been in services where the people are supposedly “free” and the results were just the same. And in some cases I did in fact see things slip into something inane, as you put it. I heard a minister say one time, “Whenever there is a move of God it becomes a program of man.” We want to take what we observe to be an effective practice and “can it”. I believe, however, the Spirit of God will insist on doing things His way, whichever way He chooses to go. I am thankful that both in the Episcopalian and Methodist church I participated in what I consider to be very effective and meaningful forms of worship, and I would never be so remiss as to favor doing away with any of it. By the same token, I have since particpated in other forms which, although there is no written liturgy perse, I found also to be very strengthening, uplifting and inspirational. Please read about my father-in-law on our website. His story is quite remarkable. Again, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate someone sticking up for the liturgy and the prayer book. Too often I have seen people make a complete departure from their church because of a silly prejudice, or what amounted to be nothing more than personal preference. God forbid such dynamics should dictate the course of our lives. It is the Lordship of Jesus first, last, and always that makes the real difference. Thanks again for making the case for this very good form of worship and discipline. God bless.

Comment on In Praise of Strong and Open Liturgy by Mike

Mike — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:42:04 +0000

Josh, your words resonate deeply within me and I look forward to your next reflection.

The intentionality and patterns of liturgy remind me that liturgy is ultimately about God not me. They ask of me obedience. This type of liturgy calls me from individualism to personhood, from spectator to participant, from entertainment to transformation. Our life then becomes liturgy and we can then live as worshiping beings, what Fr. Schmemann calls “homo adorans.”

Peace, Mike+

Comment on Advent Resources by Denise

Denise — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:47:10 +0000

This is a great list of resources! For Advent resources inspired by Ignatian spirituality, check out http://ignatianspirituality.com/advent/

There’s also an online Advent retreat via blog at http://deepeningfriendship.loyolapress.com/.

Thank you for your list, and for the opportunity to share a few links.

Comment on New Home by Jesus Huertas

Jesus Huertas — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:07:52 +0000

I continue to pray for both of you, wish well in your friendship and collaborative work for the greater cause of the Kingdom. Take a look at my blog:
http://www.nakedchristiansoul.wordpress.com and tell me what you think. I am new to this media so any input is welcome!

+Jesus-Manuel

Comment on Commissioned Elders Presiding at Communion by Daniel McLain Hixon

Daniel McLain Hixon — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:19:34 +0000

Hey Josh,

Very interesting post, as I have wondered about this issue in my own ministry. It seems to me though that you are assuming that sacramental authority for local pastors is derived from the Discipline, but I have been under the impression that it is derived from the authority of the bishop. If that were true, would it not stand to reason that the bishop (and by extension the DS) would be perfectly able to "expand" that provisional authority beyond the local charge for the purpose of allowing the local pastor to celebrate sacraments in other places?

Now that whole theory seems crazy to me to begin with - having lay people consecrate "under the authority of the bishop." I've thought about this a while and I think that if the church could simply develope some sort of mechanism for "honorable discharge" from ordained ministry this would solve several problems at once:

We could ordain our new pastors right out of seminary and there would be no ambiguity about their status. We could still have a 3-year provisional membership in the conference that could include extra-close oversight (as is currently the case) and could be ended at any time by "honorable discharge."

This mechanism would also provide a way to amicably get rid of clergy who are not competent to this call, that have perhaps been passed around from one church to another for years, doing damage across the conference.

Finally, it would also shorten the ordination service's length since there would be no need to "comission" the new elders and deacons AND ordain those who are finishing the provisional process at the same Annual Conference. We could ordain the new folks at the ordination service and then have some seperate "graduation to full membership" party for the 3-year people.

This would leave unresolved the issue of local pastors however. I will have to think on that one longer. We run the risk (and indeed may already be there to some extent) of developing two differnt kinds of United Methodism - ordained elder churches with seminary-educated sacramental leadership and all the contours that will come with that; and local pastor churches with a non-sacramental leadership with a different sort of education and style all their own.