Methodism; Worship Archives

Methodism; Worship

Talbot Davis August 1, 2011 at 7:28 am 1

Yesterday afternoon, I attended the Installation & Celebration Service for Gary Royals, my new District Superintendent in the United Methodist Church.

I previously posted on Gary's appointment here.

Anyway, Myers Park United Methodist Church hosted the celebration. And Myers Park UMC is a completely different world from Good Shepherd. That becomes obvious upon seeing the gorgeous exterior architecture:

And the difference then becomes more apparent with the sanctuary design on the inside:

But nowhere was the "different world" more clear than in the celebration itself. Instead of gathering music downloaded from iTunes and played over the sanctuary's sound system, we were welcomed into the space with antiphonal singing & chanting from choir members stationed in the balcony and therefore out of sight.

Instead of the thumps of a kick drum to start the worship set, the massive sounds of a pipe organ let us know it was time to stand and sing.

Instead of "O Happy Day" sung from projected lyrics, we began with "The Church's One Foundation" sung from #545 in the United Methodist Hymnal.

And instead of a solo of the latest Matt Redmond, Chris Tomlin, or Coldplay tune, the special selections last night were a capella and a amplification (I made that word up) versions of classic Christian hymnody.

Instead of jeans and polos, the worship leaders wore robes and stoles.

So just when I thought there was simply no commonality between what happens at Good Shepherd and what happens in much of the rest of Methodism, it came time for representatives of the Charlotte District to give Dr. Royals tangible, tactile expressions of ministry as he begins to lead us.

One person gave him a loaf of bread -- to lead us in communion.

Another gave him a pitcher of water -- to lead us in baptism.

Another gave him a bible -- to lead us in preaching and teaching the Word.

And yet another gave him a hymnal -- to lead us in worship and praise.

It hit me: Elements! The same series we've been doing throughout July at Good Shepherd. It was as if all the sermon titles from the last month were staring me in the face: Bread, Water, Words, Notes.

Those tangible elements of worship and faith that far transcend differences in architecture, community, and liturgy.

Different world? Probably.

Same elements? Absolutely.

Ephesians 4:4-6 puts it this way: "There is one body and one Spirit . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

Methodism; Worship

The Last Hymnal?

Talbot Davis August 25, 2009 at 6:00 am 20

Some time ago, a friend looked me in the eye and said in all seriousness, without a touch of irony, "You know, my granddaughter may never know what a hymnal is."

And . . . ?

Not to be flip, but my yet-to-be-born grandchildren will never know what a manual typewriter is. Nor a phone booth. Nor, tragically, a wooden tennis racket.

Behind my friend's complaint was the unspoken assumption that the music contained inside the pages of the hymnal is somehow sacred, inspired, and ancient.

Actually, no.

A casual look through the United Methodist Hymnal shows that the bulk of the hymnody comes from the 18th and 19th centuries with some early 20th century tunes mixed in.

Do you know what that means? That my friend -- the same one lamenting the demise of the bound hymnal -- is himself unfamiliar with all the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs written before, say, 1500. And we know that Christians were singing in those days! But those words and tunes are by and large lost to us. Even those of us most faithful to "ancient" or "traditional" worship.

It goes to show that all of us value contemporary worship. It's just that someone who is 65 has a different understanding of contemporary than does someone who is 25. Or 47.

So what about the hymnal? We at Good Shepherd hope to take the best of what it contains -- think "Jesus Paid It All (in Baptist hymnals but sadly not in the UMC's)" "Amazing Grace," "How Great Thou Art" and "Nothing But The Blood" -- and sing it with appreciation for the tradition it represents and the God it praises. But we'll also leave out some that never quite connected with even the most loyal of United Methodist congregations -- ever sung "God Of the Sparrow, God Of The Whale" (#122)? I didn't think so.

And you know what's great about much of the modern music we sing? Much of its lyrical content comes from the oldest, most enduring hymnal of them all -- the book of Psalms.

That's one hymnal I feel sure my grandchildren and yours will know.

Methodism; Worship

Talbot Davis

The Heart of the Matter

Subscribe

Latest Posts

Past Posts