Comments on: Thoughts on 10 a.m. Eucharist: Church of the Holy Cross, Sullivan’s Island, SC

By: L. Winthrop

L. Winthrop — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:00:37 +0000

My mother went to TWU too! (Just a few years ago, for library science.) But she goes to church in Ft. Worth.

By: Fr. Greg Smith

Fr. Greg Smith — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:38:16 +0000

I’m glad to hear that you got to meet Fr. John… he’s awesome! ;o)

You would be happy to know that there are actually 7 weekly worship venues that we have… 2 traditional on Sullivan’s Island, 1 contemporary on Sullivan’s Island… 13 minutes away… 1 Traditional and 1 Contemporary on Daniel Island… and 16 minutes away… 1 contemporary at The Citadel. We also have a monthly service at I’on.

We rotate the preaching between five priests… and each one, if I may be so bold, is excellent. While stylistically different, we all treat the Word as vitally important and relevant. We also hold the Eucharist to be vitally important…

Multi-site, Traditional, Contemporary… and Biblical… that’s Holy Cross

Fr. Greg Smith+ (One of the five at Holy Cross)

By: dumb ox

dumb ox — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:05:39 +0000

Agreed. I’m not looking for anyone to impose worship “thou shalt not” lists. I actually think that is part of the current problem. Too many churches think they have to buy into the latest worship fads in order to be a successful, growing church. It results in a lack of variety in worship. Every church is still trying to be Willow Creek or Saddleback, rather than what God wants them to be. It seems like no one would think twice about an evangelical church hosting a worship service in a football stadium, but if an evangelical church were to start a liturgical service, they would be accused of being emergent, new-age, papist, out of touch, and/or culturally irrelevant. The result is more and more me-too megachurch-wanna-be worship shows, because no one believes that can do anything else.

Having said that, I hope and pray that liturgy doesn’t become just the next worship fad, in a long line of worship fads. I can just imagine a handful of churches experiencing dramatic numeric growth after starting liturgical services, then the pastors of those churches will write best-selling books about their success, then every pastor in America will be trying to make lightning strike twice with their own versions. Then a few obscure churches will start experimenting with electric guitars in small worship circles, and the whole cycle will repeat. The Quakers will probably watch the whole thing and laugh.

By: Austin

Austin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:52:20 +0000

i’ve got to say that our comment is exciting news to me, i had no idea that there was that much “lee-way”

thanks a bunch

By: Miguel

Miguel — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:06:12 +0000

Beats me. You decide They were a Catholic Band. I know that much. Lutherans tote them around as the consequence of trying to be relevant, saying all our current “relevance” tricks will look that dumb in about 20 – 30 years. But the whole “Mountie” line… You wonder how anyone could possibly sing that with a straight face.

By: Miguel

Miguel — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:03:49 +0000

Well put. However, I still do believe there is a place for football stadium type celebrations. You kinda just gotta every now and then, God’s grace is just that good. But there is a need for balance. Jubilation and serenity. Evangelicals are too off balance on the wild side, but many high churches will never get excited about God, which leads many people to falsely believe that their services are dead. Signs of life are vital in the church, be they big or small.

But on the personal decisionism thingy, I think that is what Derek Webb is singing about on “The Spirit Vs. The Kick Drum”. I’d say overall us evangelicals could simply benefit from applying the simple maxim: “less is more.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe5VXedwoZU&feature=related

By: 'didi

'didi — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:16:45 +0000

I’m in Denton, actually. But my church is part of the diocese of Dallas.

I attend Texas Woman’s University in Denton. It’s a really tiny place.

By: Martha

Martha — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:24:57 +0000

austin, part of the reason that usage makes me break out in hives is because a lot (and I’m not including the liturgy you mentioned because that seemed a bit more rigorous) but a lot of the stuff wafted about as ‘Celtic spirituality’ is so dang “hello trees, hello sky!” type thinking when in actuality, Irish anchorites and the monastic tradition were so harsh that part of the reason indulgences became so popular in Europe was because of the severity of Irish penitentials

I mean, I don’t think the celtic liturgist crowd are thinking of practices like this, from the monks’ rule of St. Columbanus:

“Thus him who has not kept grace at table and has not responded â€˜Amenâ€™, it is ordained to correct with six blows. Likewise him who has spoken while eating, not because of the wants of another brother, it is ordained to correct with six. If one has called anything his own, with six blows. And him who has not blessed the spoon with which he sups with six blows, and him who has spoken with a shout, that is, has talked in a louder tone than the usual, with six blows.”

And that’s just for poor table manners! Imagine what he’d do for a *serious* sin

By: Wendy

Wendy — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:22:20 +0000

At the Sydney Anglican church I was until recently a member of about half the parents opt for infant baptism and the other half have an Infant Dedication as they prefer that their children be baptised as mature believers.

By: L. Winthrop

L. Winthrop — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:45:45 +0000

Are you in Ft. Worth or Dallas? Which university?

(I think my mother may go to your church!)