This week I got to witness an "Alter Call" of sorts at a pentecostal Assemblies of God church. People were invited down the front to rededicate there lives to God. It was a display of mass public confession where people who were seeking forgiveness or reconciliation with God did so in front of each other. This kind of public confession is something that I tend to associate with a more ancient Catholic form of worship. But the Pentecostal and Catholic churches may not be as different as they may seem. I remember an Anglican bishop once telling me that when a pentecostal pastor told him that their services where different each week unlike the formulaic Anglican services, yet after attending just a few pentacostal services he was able predict exactly the formula or routine of each service.
I got the feeling from the service I attended that this week was probably the same format as last week and will probably be the same next week. that is, a few songs (played for about 45 mins) an offertory talk, the offertory, the message and then a few songs to finish. What is more the ritual routine seemed an important part of the experience. The repeated choruses containing familiar platitudes were like and ancient mantra. The idea of an offertory sermon before the main sermon felt like a call to purchase 16th century indulgences. The sermon was a devotional interpretation of scripture rather than exegetical, ignoring context and original meaning of the passage. The speaker then mostly talked about something which was more related to the theme for the month than the actual passage. Again this was reminiscent of what preaching, at it's worst, could be like to an audience of illiterate trusting masses unable to read the Bible in their own language.
So why is it that conservative Catholic and Pentecostal churches often have similar moral stances on issues? Perhaps, because they are not as different as they might appear at first glance.
I got the feeling from the service I attended that this week was probably the same format as last week and will probably be the same next week. that is, a few songs (played for about 45 mins) an offertory talk, the offertory, the message and then a few songs to finish. What is more the ritual routine seemed an important part of the experience. The repeated choruses containing familiar platitudes were like and ancient mantra. The idea of an offertory sermon before the main sermon felt like a call to purchase 16th century indulgences. The sermon was a devotional interpretation of scripture rather than exegetical, ignoring context and original meaning of the passage. The speaker then mostly talked about something which was more related to the theme for the month than the actual passage. Again this was reminiscent of what preaching, at it's worst, could be like to an audience of illiterate trusting masses unable to read the Bible in their own language.
So why is it that conservative Catholic and Pentecostal churches often have similar moral stances on issues? Perhaps, because they are not as different as they might appear at first glance.
2 comments:
very interesting observations! i was sitting in church on Sunday night, clockwatching and thinking how boring and predictable it all is...and then feeling guilty because was wondering if it is the same as thinking God is boring??? Then left during the next to last song, came home and did the ironing! It was nice to do the ironing, i like the smell of the spray starch
I think that's a good point, about the predictability of supposedly more spontaneous services. It's often true; you know you've got a church which is actually open to doing things different when you get surprised during the service. (This is one thing Network Vineyard has going for it.)
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