Handel's Messiah - Kazoo Choir

Background information: a few weeks ago, we ordered kazoos for the entire congregation for a sermon I was doing on the book of Numbers (on sermon was focused on how the trumpet or bugle would signal the people of Israel for different purposes). Well, the kazoos were delivered the day after the sermon so we have a bunch of kazoos that we are trying to find a purpose for.

Now, this week I am thinking of doing something a little creative utilizing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. After hearing one of my colleagues talk about an idea he had to incorporate this into his sermon, I have decided to give it a try. After finding this video, I am really inspired!


Now I don't think that we'll use the kazoos this week, but after watching the video I am thinking about it!

Thanks, Larry, for the great idea. All will turn out well, I believe. I will let you know how it goes...

Peace ~

Advent Conspiracy

I found this group/organization a year ago, and I find it very compelling. They state that the concept behind Advent Conspiracy is simple: Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All.

Check out this video:



You can also check out their website at:
http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

• What do you think about this?
• What are the most difficult challenges for you this time of year?
• Where have you experienced a change in your Advent/Christmas practices?
  
• Where do you have the most work yet to do?
  

I don't know much about the group that organizes this site or the movement, but if you have any information I would really appreciate it.

Peace,
Gregg

Culturally Relevant

Recently I had a conversation (okay, it was a Facebook conversation, but it was still a conversation) in which people were commenting on why some folks leave Methodist churches, for instance, to go to large, non-denominational churches. And this happens EVERYWHERE... I heard these kinds of conversations in Kansas when I was serving a church there, and on each side of this state in every community I hear similar sentiments. And everyone wants to know WHY?

There seem to be a few underlying concerns, and they are all intertwined and difficult to separate.

1. Our decline feels like a "death" is imminent.
2. We need to change to be more like “them” in order to stave off death.
3. Their theology and music is not of my liking, so I don’t want to change to be more like them.
4. Do we really have to choose between being culturally relevant and theologically sound?

I think that last question unearths the most pertinent assumptions. Are these two really mutually exclusive? BY NO MEANS!

I wholeheartedly agree that we have to be culturally relevant, but that does not have to mean that we sell our collective soul. I have a few convictions about this particular trend of people leaving for bigger, more performance-driven congregations and church worship services.

1. People more often make a decision to attend a church based on its’ music style instead of theology. I don't think most people think that deeply about it.

2. Those that do choose to attend these churches based on theology often need the certitude that a more conservative, literalistic understanding of God, the Bible, and faith will provide (and I am not saying that pejoratively at all).

3. Our world is filled with increasing chaos and change, and people who feel uncomfortable with ambiguity often need their understanding of faith to be more stable and unchanging. Often this is characterized by a need for black and white in a gray world.

I think we can and should be culturally relevant AND completely authentic. If we can do that, then people won't have to choose between "good" music (which is different for everyone) and "good" theology (ours, of course!).

Book Review - "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

This is a story about three women in Mississippi in the 1960's; two African-American maids and a young, white college graduate who has just moved back home. It follows their lives as they intertwine in a plot that has its share of twists and turns. I got to a point that I couldn't put the book down, so I stayed up way too late to finish it.

I found this book to be excellent in developing the characters, such that I finished the book and felt like I knew the characters. For someone who has visited the south, and understands that it is a different culture from the one I grew up in, this book helped me to more deeply understand how one might have felt as they lived through the civil rights era in the south.

• Have any of you read the book? What did you think?
• Given that racism is everywhere, how would you classify the differences between the cultures of the north and south?
  

Greetings from Spokane!

Hello Friends!

Welcome! I know I haven't posted much recently, but the congregation I am currently appointed to (Spokane:Covenant UMC) is launching a website redesign that includes a link to my blog... So here we are!

Here is the church's website: www.covenantmethodist.org.

Check back frequently as I will be blogging at least weekly (unless I am on vacation), and feel free to leave comments and suggestions for future posts!

My family and I love living in Spokane, and I think I can speak for myself as well as the congregation, that we have had an incredible beginning to our ministry together, and have found this appointment to be a GREAT fit (in every way)!

Talk to you more soon!
Peace,
Gregg