My absence from blogging was completely unintended. As you know, I’ve been away from the office for three weeks and I spent a lot of time this week catching up. Thursday rolled around and I realized I had not blogged. I resume my regular blogging with a rant about church camp.
As part of the camp reunion time last night we watched a video reflection of the week. I was struck (AGAIN!) with the freedom and attitude of practice and expression that is expected and allowed when teens are away from the sacred building.
Good, no, great things happen in this type of environment that are allowed at camp and dis-allowed at church.
That stupid saying "the church is the people and not the building" didn’t take no matter how long we repeated the mantra because there is certainly a set of unwritten creeds as to what can and CAN NOT occur in the sacred building.
I am so tired of hearing the phrase "camp songs," the designation given to songs not "sacred" enough to be in some lousy hymnal. This particular reference is insulting, prejudicial and born out of pharisaic arrogance. Not even a year ago I wrote similar thoughts in my reflections on Faith Quest.
A song that praises God, honors Jesus Christ, and invites the work of the Holy Spirit deserves a rightful place in our musical liturgy. Let’s at least have the courage or decency to refer to these songs as spiritual songs.
Ephesians 5:19 (NCV) Speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord.
Colossians 3:16 (NCV) Let the teaching of Christ live in you richly. Use all wisdom to teach and instruct each other by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Just because a song is new doesn’t make it a bad (or good song). Just because a song is old doesn’t make it a good (or bad) song. We forget that the songs of old, in fact our entire movement began at a church camp.
I have no scientific evidence to back this next statement up, no official research to support my claims, just years of experience in church ministry.
A major reason our teens leave our churches is because of our compartmentalization of "camp" worship and "true" worship. They experience the power and presence of God through refreshing worship experiences at camp, at youth retreats and other venues while they experience the doldrum and delirium of the desert in the pew Sunday after Sunday.
I’m not looking to be right on this issue and not meaning to come across as angry. I just wish our mis-guided tradition would focus more on reaching this generation and less upon hysterically worrying about the comforts of others who’ve had their day in the sun.
I dream of a church were the mature generations in that community of faith pursue, with passion and reckless abandon, reaching this generation for Christ.
7 Responses to “Back in Blog”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
July 30th, 2007 at 11:48 am
I have 2 new mantras with respect to us “Geezers” including and validating the worship that occurs at places like Camp:
1. “It’s not about me.” Our teens worship as Randy said with “reckless abandon.” We in the “Geezer Generations” need to be happy that:
A. They’re worshipping God.
B. They care about worshipping God.
2. “God deserves our “wow.” Many of us we’ll go crazy with emotion at a sporting event. The God that created “matter” deserves our “wow!”
July 30th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Yep!
July 30th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
First … I agree wichya 100%.
Second … take a deep breath and relax!
July 30th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
First of all, welcome back, both to USA & the blogging world.
Secondly, …….wwwrrreowww!! How many grande lattes did you down before you started typing?
Finally, you hit the proverbial nail on the head with compartmentalization. The frustrations you describe stem from an old hermaneutic (in my view, at least - sorry for using the $3 word…. but it pretty well does the trick here!) that may have worked 50, 100 years ago but if we don’t adapt, well,…….. you’ve already assessed the outcome.
July 30th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
I’m so glad I read this tonight. Your blog has said things in ways that many of us want to say them. AAAAMMEEEEENNNNN! to all that you’ve said. I pray for the time when we can see your words come to fruition.
I think we need to refocus on who the audience is in our worship, both private and public. If we can get God back in the place He deserves and stop placing the focus on what pleases us (young and old) we might figure out what’s the most important thing.
Thanks bro!!
July 31st, 2007 at 8:19 am
First comment: Agree with those comments about taking a deep break, relaxing, and maybe laying off the caffeine!
Secondly and most important: “………..and let the Church say AMEN.” Would to God that the whole Body WOULD say AMEN!
July 31st, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I’m a day late in responding, therefore I know that this post will not be read.
I’m loosely associated with a church dealing with these issues. The membership is dying off and they can’t seem to get young people or young families to worship there. The church is financially very well off with the finest amenities available to a congregation. So why is a decreasing membership occupying a beautiful facility?
Only a few years ago the church was in the midst of dynamic growth, especially with the coveted demographic of young families. But as the ministry focused more on the development of the growing demographic, the more the founding fathers and mothers grumbled. “What about what we did to build this church?” What about our sacrifices over the years?” “What about the wealth that we have established in this building?” “What about us? Don’t we deserve our worship?”
Yes, I belive that the movement founders should have their day. And yes, I want people to be uplifted in the manner that best suits them. Here in the middle, I look to the different camps to see whose church it really is. And it isn’t theirs. It’s His.