Two Sundays ago, we visited a church in the Central Valley. By the time we arrived, people were already
streaming onto the concrete pathways leading to the main auditorium which was part of a complex of buildings. There were very friendly reception personnel that greeted and directed us as to where to go and informed us about services the church offered. As we entered the semi-darkened auditorium, we were handed church bulletins. As is now common in churches, there were about five people on stage playing the guitars, keyboard, drums and singing gospel songs in decibels that my ear couldn’t handle comfortably. But this is nothing new to me. We have been to various churches that do the same, closely adhering to “Make a joyful NOISE unto the Lord.”The auditorium was much like a movie theatre. The seats, not pews, were also much like those of a movie theatre. An usher with a flashlight had to help us find our way. The old fogey that I am didn’t feel much like I was in a church, but I prayed hard that my attitude would be right.
“This is the way the millennials worship, Raquel. Get with it.” I scolded myself.
The ubiquitous big screens that are now standard accoutrement in modern churches flashed the words of the gospel songs being sung. The congregation stood while they sang for about 15 minutes led by the very energetic worship team.
There was an opening prayer and a reading of the scripture by a young lady. Soon the preacher was introduced. He was a man in his mid-fifties with completely white hair that came down almost to the nape of his neck and a good growth of white beard that made him look like Santa Claus out of costume. He sounded like a kind old man. He would be preaching from Philippians 3. By way of introduction several video clips were shown and the preacher told stories about each one. I thought he’d never get to the exposition of his chosen Bible text. But slowly and surely he worked his way to it and soon he was presenting the gospel message. He showed the old familiar drawings of a life with God on the throne and a life with self on the throne, taking me back to college days of a long time ago. I had used the same illustration in presenting the Gospel message to fellow college students. It was a thrill to listen to the gospel again.
At the end of the service, my niece’s 11-year old son whispered something to his mom. He wanted to give his drawing of a cross to the preacher since the latter had asked the congregation to let him know if the message had spoken to anyone’s heart. This was out of the ordinary for Evan to do, but obviously, he was listening to the message.
Evolving Times
I have seen many changes in my lifetime, some of them in churches. Like one whose ways have been set by repetitive experiences through the years, I have become pretty set in my ways. Each day finds me struggling with my environment as it evolves before my very eyes, and I am carried along with it. As I get on in years I try to remember dear old Alexander Pope’s admonition, “Be not the first by whom the new is tried, nor be the last to cast the old aside.” Whenever I find myself in a millennial church, my mind wonders to that old hymn we used to sing in my church:
There’s a church in the valley by the wildwood, No lovelier spot in the dale;
No place is so dear to my childhood,
As the little brown church in the vale.
. . .
How sweet on a clear, Sabbath morning,
To list to the clear ringing bell;
Its tones so sweetly are calling,
Oh, come to the church in the vale.
The little brown church has now turned into theater-like auditoriums. The clear ringing bell has been changed to breakfast get-togethers that call the worshippers to church, and sometimes the vale is a shopping mall with passers-by curiously eyeing people on their way to church. I’ve even worshipped in a Café-Church. The Café doubled as a church on Sunday with little Bistro tables and chairs and the congregation sipped coffee or tea during the service. The preacher wore a casual shirt and shorts for preaching. These days the Faithfuls no longer carry heavy old leather Bibles, but have smart phones or Ipads with several versions of the Scriptures. Times indeed are a-changing, but as long as the message remains the same, I’m willing to get with it. The packaging is different, but the Gospel is the same. I might even get me an Ipad one day instead of carrying my giant print Bible to church.
Do you feel as I do about these changes?
