Dear Denys:
First of all, I am not Catholic. I attend a non-denominational Christian church in the Phoenix area, but I have a few friends who recommended that I write to you.
My church just recently hired a new young pastor. “Chad” is a really energetic guy in his 30s with spiky hair and a little soul patch beard under his lower lip; he often wears untucked short-sleeved shirts, so the cross tattooed on the inside of his right forearm is noticeable. Now I’m not one to judge by appearances—some of the older folks in our congregation are—but he’s really made some striking changes in the 4 months that he’s been here.
We used to do communion (white bread and grape juice, in case you were curious) every Sunday in our church, but he’s scaled that back to only once a month. Sunday worship used to feature two readings from Scripture, but now the “ministry team” always does a funny skit in place of the first one, and last week there was a clip from the movie “Jesus of Nazareth” instead of the second. The pastor has asked for a major new offering campaign to pay for a 3,000 watt upgrade to the A/V system, and we’ve already raised the money to build the “GodShot Café”, a coffeehouse adjacent to the sanctuary that serves espresso and frappucino-style drinks before and after Sunday services.
Some of the old-timers in our church just can’t stand it, but we’ve seen a big jump in attendance since the new pastor started. We had 36 new families fill out a “seeker” card in the month of January alone.
Pastor Chad says that he’s “not changing the message—just changing the way the message is presented.” Still, something about all this rubs me the wrong way. Can you help me understand what’s going on?
Dislocated
Dear D-Lōc:
Believe it or not, your new pastor probably learned all of these marketing techniques, er, I mean, “evangelical initiatives” at his non-denom seminary, where readings from the Church Fathers are rare, study of the history of the Christian Church (at least before 1970) is rarer, but courses in A/V technology are commonplace, and books like Chicken Soup for the Purpose-Driven Praise Band Drummer’s Soul are required.
Your pastor says that he “isn’t changing the message”—and by that I assume he is still preaching about sin and repentance, the unique redeeming death of Christ, and the Christian’s dependence upon divine Grace. Great. Those are important components of the Christian message, and we Catholics don’t begrudge you them.
But consider this: what is the message that the comedy sketches, the movie clips, the hi-wattage sound system, and the café are communicating? What are all these things adding to the Gospel? Let’s not be so naïve as to think that these new forms and media are just neutral vessels, different colored and sized bottles in which the wine,–sorry, the grape juice of the Gospel can be presented, without changing its taste.
Jesus warned us about pouring new wine into old skins. So too should we avoid putting it into used Starbucks cups.
For all of these media—the comedy, the big TV screens, the coffee bar– send a very clear message of their own, and one that doesn’t seem to me to be consistent with the Gospel: that your desire to be entertained, to be stimulated, to enjoy the ambiance of Starbucks-cum-Saturday Night Live-cum-rock concert is a good thing that should be gratified. The message is that you deserve a good show and a good time; that, rather than emptying yourself of desires for the things of the world, you should load up.
And as more and more non-denominational churches head in this direction—yours actually seems a bit late on the scene compared to others I’m familiar with—the message is also being sent that preaching the Gospel in the traditional forms of word and song, forms that date back, at least for Protestants, hundreds of years, and that actually have a deep connection to an even older tradition of Christian liturgy, has no normative or objective value.
I would say—and please don’t take this the wrong way—that a problem with form and content has characterized Protestantism from the beginning. Take the Eucharist, for example—the classic (meaning “true”) Catholic understanding of it is that while the forms of bread and wine do not change, the “content”—the substance—is changed into the Body and Blood of the Lord. Your Protestant forefathers found this too subtle a concept, and insisted in one way or another that such a change was impossible: if it looks like bread and wine, that’s what it is, they said. If the form stays the same, then the content does, too.
But when it comes to church and liturgy, Protestants have usually taken a contradictory and, if I may say so, promiscuous view of form and content: starting with Luther, Protestants have tried out all kinds of changes to the forms of Christian life– like the language and structure of worship, the selection of Scripture for Sundays, the governance of their “churches”, the music (from vernacular hymns to folk songs to rock sing-alongs)—and all the while insisted naively that the content of the Christian message is unaffected by its form.
Catholic Christians have always had a much more philosophically sober and realistic understanding of the importance of form to the Christian life. See, look:
Oops, I’m sorry—I don’t know how that got in there! Well, Catholics are at least supposed to have a more philosophically sober and realistic understanding of the relationship between form and content in worship. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Catholic Church has forms, norms and traditions against which she can reliably judge theological, ecclesial, and liturgical innovations proposed by her daughters and sons, and Protestants don’t.
On the other hand, you guys have espresso bars. And soul-patches.
DPJ
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Had to laugh. Wonder how old Denys is? Remember the 70′s and 80′s? At least the soul patch guys have a fiery faith. Father Sunshine was looking for his next date. Forms, norms and traditions are great only if you have people willing to observe them. Whether they admit it or not, Protestants do have traditions. That’s why your “writer” wrote in the first place.
Actually, the warning was against pouring new wine into old wine skins, not the other way around. New wine is still changing, but the old skins don’t have any stretch left in them. Not that that changes anything about the appropriateness of Starbucks cups for either old or new wine!
“Jesus warned us about pouring old wine into new skins. So too should we avoid putting it into used Starbucks cups.”
It was new wine into old wineskins — the gas produced by the fermenting wine would burst the old (and already-stretched) wineskins.
Thanks to you both for catching something that the editorial staff must have missed. Correction made.
Denys,
In spite of the analogy faux pas, thank you for your tru and correct message.
I do want to point out that I, however, and other rock solid and most reverent Catholics I know are proof that post-modernist methods can work. I give God the credit, who can work wonders (at) on any stage (or altar) to bring one back to Him.
This post is a good follow up to the Sloppy Psalm Verification post earlier this week. I still felt a bit defensive of this Catholic church mentioned and its pastor. I presumably had this same pastor once or one just like him, where psalm lyrics by a former music minister were altered from the actual text. My kids and I are still singing those 1990′s penned psalms around the house. As a result of being fired up by this Catholic liturgical worship style so highly condemned, our family has grown in our faith, and we now understand and prefer the correct form of worship. By this I mean, what Francis Cardinal Arinze defines as divine worship where nothing is altered, added, or subtracted. This abuse was prevalent at the masses we attended in the late 90′s. However, at the time, this post-modernist form of worship drew us back into the liturgy, and helped us to fall in love with the Eucharist. Once we were centered on the source, we could grow in proper spiritual direction toward the reverence that was missing in our worship. And we were ignited to learn more about what the mass really is. This did not take very long. I believe that God is there in the midst of all that is wrong in our post modern society. And pardon me for going out on a limb, these entertainment-oriented forms of worship may be what some need to be drawn back to the Creator, who can then help us to discover the true, the good and the beautiful.
Now with regards to our protestant brothers and sisters: what our post-modernist protestants are primarily and really missing is the supernatural grace from the sacraments. Their attempt to worship surrounded by a high tech media-related modernity or as stated, with a “message… that you deserve a good show and a good time; that, rather than emptying yourself of desires for the things of the world, you should load up,” is nothing more than a denial of what the true Christian message is. As aptly pointed out above, therein lies one of the reasons for the split to begin with.
In defense of our own Catholic Church in all of its misfailings, God is still present and working. Perhaps those souls who would be thrust into the reverent and completely litugically correct form of worship from the getgo may not “get it,” as our society must return to the source in stages. Many people are so ingrained with the culture that they need to be detoxed first, before they can recognize the true, the good and the beautiful.
Just another point of view.
All of this is great reading and has me wondering on a number of things. As a convert, I was drawn immediately into the beauty of the liturgy, the detail taken to follow the rubrics of the mass, and being true to the letter, not just the spirit of Scripture. I was hit like a lightning bolt the first time I heard guitars and drums at a Sunday mass (yes, I was fortunate enough to miss the era of liturgical dance and gospel plays), especially when at the same parish at a different Sunday mass I had heard polyphany and Latin.
The purpose of the Mass, for those interested, IS NOT to entertain the Masses, but to worship God. Nothing more, nothing less.
I was taken aback when I read a facebook post of a friend who attends a different parish being grateful for her opportunity to sing at Mass this weekend. I enjoy the choir greatly, and our own choir is pretty good. My problem was when my friend listed their music- the entrance song is of a local musician (someone I like, but I’m not sure if his music has its place in the Mass); my issue next comes when she announces that the psalm is Psalm 119- which she then adds is Tom Booths “More than Gold”- Psalm 119. For the record, here are the words to Mr Booth’s version:
Refrain:
Lord, I love your commands,
More than gold is your word,
So precious to me
Verse 1:
I have said O Lord that my part
Is in the keeping of your word
The law of your mouth Is more precious to me
Than thousands of pieces of gold.
Than thousands of pieces of gold.
Verse 2:
Let your kindness comfort me according to your word
Let your compassion Give light to my soul
For your law is my delight
For your law is my delight.
Verse 3:
For I love your commands More than gold, however fine
For in your precepts I will go forth
Every false way I hate
Every false way I hate
Wanted to check to see what Psalm 119 looks like, so I headed over to the USCCB web site. Here’s what Psalm 119 really look like:
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,
that I may exactly observe them.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Not quite the same now, is it? I understand that some of this pop music methodology has brought some home to the Church, and I am glad it returns many to a more orthodox and traditional expression of the liturgy. But when we “modernize” the liturgy, and more importantly, Scripture, we detract from, not add to, the glory of God. As we are all too aware, many interpreted Vatican II as an order to change the Church. It did not. It called upon us to embrace modernity, rooted in the faith and traditions of the entire Church. It did not call for us be more “inclusive” but to draw us closer to God, and to continue to evangelize.
Prior to coming home to the Church, I tried one of the local “non-denominational” church, where clearly the focus of the service was the band, it felt empty. I know now that what they were missing was the Eucharist, but nearly everyone there was looking to get caught up in the feel good message the “pastor” had to relate, which as I recall, was mostly about a trip he took that the congregation had financed. There wasn’t a message. There was a little Scripture, but it mostly related to the feel good, prosperity gospel mentality that if anything, contradicts the message of Scripture.
There is a time and place for the music of Tom Booth, Chris Muglia (who I like), and a wealth of others. I’m just not certain that the Mass is where that belongs.
In remembering what Cardinal Arinze said, let us not add or subtract from the liturgy. If the rubrics where truly followed to the letter, we would find dignity, love, respect. We would not need to be entertained, for in worshipping the living and true God, we would find His love more than we could imagine, and all that we need.
Pax,
I’m starting an April Fan Club:)
It seems some of the content of Denys’ well written answer could also apply in some of the discussions on CP regarding education methods. It seems many schools also employ the “Let Us Entertain You” model.
When you wrote:
But when it comes to church and liturgy, Protestants have usually taken a contradictory and, if I may say so, promiscuous view of form and content: starting with Luther, Protestants have tried out all kinds of changes to the forms of Christian life– like the language and structure of worship, the selection of Scripture for Sundays, the governance of their “churches”, the music (from vernacular hymns to folk songs to rock sing-alongs)—and all the while insisted naively that the content of the Christian message is unaffected by its form.
If it were not for the specific references (Luther, Protestants) I would have thought you were describing “our” churches of the 1970s and 1980s and even today. I think I have seen it all — right in my own parish of more years than I’d want to admit. And, still going on in other suburban areas
“The message is that you deserve a good show and a good time; that, rather than emptying yourself of desires for the things of the world, you should load up.” Excellent summation of the whole thing. I know young men/women who study at Evangelical non-denoms schools to get an MDiv in “growing a church.” This is marketing, where the medium is the message. That is the problem. The message is the message. As the emasculated insanity of the last 40 years slowly dies out in the Roman Catholic church you will see fruit being born where the message is the message.
I was raised Lutheran, back when the Lutheran church that I attended took both the liturgy and Holy Communion VERY seriously. Our liturgy was identical to the Catholic liturgy minus prayers to Mary or references to prayers for the dead. Although as a Lutheran I understand the physical nature of the elements differently than practicing Catholics do, I have always viewed it as intrinsically redemptive and full of grace. Not all Protestants are of the God-and-Starbucks variety. Concerns over some Catholic teachings prevent me from converting, but it’s difficult for me to hear some of the snarkiness in some of these comments, especially when I know I love the mass more than many Catholics seem to. Your concerns are valid, but not every Protestant is a Protestant due to inattention or to the seduction of popular culture.
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