How do we help the Worship Challenged?

Jesus tells us "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  

My spirit is poor when I worship in ELCA churches that do half-assed worship and cut out half of the service and think it's good. I walk away angry and hungry to be fed.  My church, for instance, has a husband-wife team of pastors who are dynamic and interesting, but are worship challenged. (I am not a fan of couples working together as co-pastors in churches. It is taboo in the corporate world and in academic settings, and should be in churches.)

The worship board of celebration, (bored of celebration, if you ask me) decided on using Evangelical Lutheran Worship Setting 8, after I coaxed them. Its one of the popular settings of liturgy in the ELCA, with it's bright, uplifting, cheery, fun music to sing, which shines on a electronic keyboard or piano.  It's not made for use on an organ.  This setting is the mountain peak of good, contemporary Lutheran worship. We do it in Denver at my ELCA church with just a piano, and sometimes guitars added. It is a wonderful liturgy that uplifts people to the glory of God. The Kyrie, Hymn of praise (2 of them!), Alleluia, Sanctus, and  Lamb of God give you a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven at hand.  

I walked out of church in a foul mood when I went to church last Sunday to worship God with this new setting, and I became poor in spirit as a result. The Holy Communion was again the half-assed streamlined "get er done" version with this...

The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give God thanks and praise. In the night in which he was betrayed...

There is no pastoral preface here, and this is not theologically correct, as there is NO Thanksgiving after the last "let us give thanks to the Lord our God."  And there was no Sanctus to sing with the hosts of heaven, and the clouds of witnesses and angels. They just used the "Lamb of God" after the words of Institution. I don't know where pastors are getting this crap, but it is either coming down from the ELCA's ELW manual on worship, Higgins Road, or the local synod offices telling pastors they can do this garbage. 

Luther clearly stated in the Augsburg Confession "We do not abolish the mass!"  What part of this historic Lutheran confession don't pastors get when planning worship these days? Are our ELCA seminaries teaching pastors how to do half-assed worship? Are they just becoming too lazy to assemble a liturgy that is theologically sound?

Half of John Vlvisaker's "This is the Feast" was used. And, only Jay Beech's awesome "Lamb of God" from Setting 8 was sung. The rest of Setting 8 was missing, and only a contemporary offertory and some strange alleluia song was used- all played on the PIPE ORGAN!  Yuck. You couldn't even hear the high, uplifting bright tones in the music, because it is made for a keyboard, not organ. I love the organ, but not contemporary music on it, and I am a traditionalist!

Worst part, is several congregants who know I am on the "Board of Celebration" came up to me to complain about the service sounding like a "funeral dirge" or "depressing."   I agreed. 

Wrote the head pastor who assembled the service, but he responded avoiding the missing liturgy, and with excuses about the organist needing permission from the board to use the piano???  (I wrote back asking him if they were going to tell her how to cut her meat at dinner too- I hate committees, as they stifle talent.) He also said that the Alleluia was rejected by the board, that is why it was not used.  How could anybody not like that Alleluia? (They must have no musical taste.) He avoided the complaints about the service missing, but then wrote they were going to use the Kyrie maybe for Advent?  Hello?  

I don't think he or his wife have a concept of Lutheran liturgy. The last time they did any full form was my Mom's funeral service a year ago when I used Regina Fryxell's Setting 2 from the old Service Book and Hymnal!  I assembled Mom's funeral service in a pamphlet myself so they couldn't screw it up. 

Setting 8 is supposed to be uplifting, by using it, not half or parts of it with half-assed worship.One can add more things to it from contemporary sources.

Again, I wrote the pastors about poor worship practice and cutting the service out. Once, I remembered, I had a stern comment once from the pastor's wife, the other pastor, that she "thought the service was just fine the way it was."  She needs help, I thought.

This time I questioned both pastors about their seminary worship classes and if they were taught how to do a Lutheran service correctly. They went to Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, which I had some reservations about when I visited looking for a seminary, since they didn't seem so Lutheran anymore but just like the Jones' trying to be like everybody else. And, God forbid if you like being Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Finlander, or Icelandic, because they want you to forget about that and be multi-ethnic!  (Being Scandinavian and the others, including Afro-American, Native American, and Spanish,  is being multi-ethnic, you dipheads!)

Why is worship so bad in some ELCA churches in this area of the country? 

I have found most of the Green Bay ELCA churches to have half-assed worship with most of the service missing, or other silly things going on. (One pastor announces each page and hymn we are to sing, even tho listed in the bulletin we can read with first grade educations. LOL)

The first point of contact people have with a congregation is the Sunday service, and for visitors for the first time, it can make or break their return trip to your church. When Lutheran worship is not done reverently, and poorly, many do not come back. If a church is unfriendly, that is another subject for another blog. 

I am supposed to be related to Martin Luther, and I carry his torch on good worship to teach others. I defend the liturgy and worship, as stated in the Augsburg Confession. I have tried the passive "maybe we could do it this way approach" with pastors with no luck.

Maybe being tough on them like Luther with a few choice words might make them wake up to their silly ways with Lutheran worship practice?

God does so much for us with his steadfast love, and everything he gives us, and we respond to him, his word and sacrament in church with half-assed worship! What is wrong with this picture?  Plenty!  God help us!

Rejected & Lazy Worship Ritual in Wisconsin

Been a while since I posted.  Buried both of my elderly parents I caregave for last year.

Thought I would still say in 2012, I am finding the Midwestern Wisconsin ELCA Lutherans very lazy at worship. We are more Catholic in ritual out West in Colorado where I am from, and take the time to do it correctly and to keep it holy.  (No gabby announcements regurgitating the bulletin the start of service, we do brief announcements for after the benediction and amen, before the last hymn is sung.)

In fact, the local ELCA synod here in Wisconsin rejected me for seminary in 32 minutes after my jumping through their hoops for 9 months, and passing psych evals etc. I was a threat to the locals here with my Colorado values ( I am from the Midwest), besides having a cousin who was the Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, a grandpa who was a Lutheran-Swedish Covenant pastor and supposedly being related to Martin Luther in my German side, and me leading worship, publishing hymnals, liturgies, and articles in the Gannett newspapers on worship. Yep, a threat.

Would you believe 6 clergy told me everything they personally thought was wrong with me - and believe me, they hit below the belt! It was a crucifiction!  I should have told them off, the hypocrites. I nearly lost my faith for a few months afterwards believing what the Devil would want me to believe that came out of their mouths. 

Would you believe 4 ELCA clergy and one lay person told me to my face that I was an enigma, scatterbrained, had no musical talent and was immature! Try holding onto your faith after that crap! LOL

I wish I could have spewed pea soup all over them like Linda Blair!

 I wrote the head Bishop of the ELCA at Higgins Road in Chicago with a formal complaint, but he whimped out and passed it onto his flunkie in the Candidacy department who sent me the corporate policy. Just like getting a letter from AT&T. Real Christlike, not. "Blessed are those who are persecuted," I read from Jesus to give me hope and comfort.   Maybe a article in the USA Today on my work and rejection would wake the Bishop up?  LOL  He needs to dissolve the local candidacy committee here in Wisconsin. Too much of a whimp to do that. My ancestor Luther would have kicked them in the butt after drinking them under the table with beer.

I have helped a local Luther Seminary grad ELCA pastor who had no worship training at Luther. (Seems this is the case at Luther and LSTC in Chicago with many pastors who are not taught properly on worship!)  Wartburg, PLTS, Gettysburg, and Philly sem grads seem to have the worship and sermon concepts. The pastor taught me a lot, and I taught him a lot. It was a mutal blessing.

Brought the church's early service from 8 to 40+ people in a few months in 2010-2011.  We packed them in doing Swedish services at Christmas and Midsommar. The late service was contemporary and loose, which he detested. I taught the early crowd the basics of using a cross processional, and an acolyte and high church. They loved the structure of the liturgy and hymns. Used a mix of SBH 1 & 2 /LBW 2/ and ELW 8 scripted in the bulletin each week. Worked.  I led by chanting and being worship assistant to represent the priesthood of all believers- those sitting in the pews responding to God.

You have not lived until you have felt and seen the Holy Spirit at work with people holding hands dancing around a Swedish maypole outside in Summer - singing "Children of the Heavenly Father" led by a violinist and song leaders!

Even with the increase in numbers and publicity in the local press for the Swedish event, the local Bishop intervened and forced the pastor out and asked me, the organist, and others to leave the church for his own agenda to take over. Nice Bishop - has control issues or not too well endowed I am thinking?  I hate church politics and I hate some of the hypocrites who run our churches and synods. May God bless them. God has a plan for them too, I am afraid. LOL

After touring the local ELCA churches in the Green Bay area, I have come to the conclusion that the churches and pastors are just plain lazy to do worship ritual with liturgy etc. Why bother then to do any at all if it is a bother?

It is like someone in the local synod has all told them how to streamline the service to get people in and out.

I found three churches doing the Peace at the beginning of the service during gabby announcements. The reason it is normally done after the Prayers of the Church so that there is reconciliation between God's people afterwards. It loses it's place and the meaning and concept by having it at the beginning of the service.

Another thing they are doing is cutting parts of the Holy Communion to steamline it. I found one pastor just using the salutation, then went into the Words of Institution, then distibution. Others don't use a Thanksgiving at all. Yep, no communion rails to kneel, pray and contemplate at, except at one ELCA church in Green Bay. The rest do Drive Thru communion - gotta move, get you outta here. No time for God or peace or hope.

I reminded several local ELCA churches about the Augsburg Confession we supposedly follow: "We do not abolish the Mass."  Yet, I have to go to Roman Catholic churches in the Green Bay area to get a full Lutheran service I am used to out West. The Catholics here are packing them in with the full liturgy, crucifer cross, assisting lay minister, kneeling for confession, using all the liturgy, and prayers with Holy Communion each week to contemporary and traditional music. I crash communion there at Catholic churches, still can't get why they only give the wafer and no wine as Jesus commanded. I gag on it. Dang priest gets all the wine, which is not fair. Those gluttens or winos; It's for all, it's Jesus' blood for Christ's sake!  ( no disrespect)

What are we missing here in the ELCA Lutheran churches?  Proper leadership/education to get out of the 1950's of the pastor doing everything up front, and into the 1970's of what the rest of us in the ELCA have been doing nationwide for nearly 40 years.

Got any ideas on how to wake them up and help them learn and get with it?

Most are experiencing loses in the collection plate each week with the budgets.

Perhaps if they quit cutting corners with the first point of contact people/visitors/seekers have with a church - which is the Sunday service, they could liturgically feed people with the work of the people,  and money would come in more? I know I leave feeling empty even with Holy Communion in some streamlined form to rush me out the door.

Any ideas?

As for me, it is one day at a time for the grief of losing my beloved parents in one year in 2010-2011. It is a cross I must bear, but a cross that I know God carries with me. I must firmly believe that my folks are with Christ in heaven and not doubt.

Peace be with you who read this post.