It’s fun to be in the ELCA

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has taken yet one more step away from orthodoxy this week as they voted to endorse same-sex relationships that are “chaste, monogamous and lifelong,” whatever that means.  As Paul McCain has pointed out, they already left the authority of Scripture behind some time ago, so what do we expect?

Another member of the Wittenberg Trail “Ning” blog network, Charles Henrickson, has put all of this in perspective, with the following lyrics, to be sung to the tune, “Y.M.C.A.”

Go for it.

E.L.C.A.

“Luth’ran”
Doesn’t mean quite the same
As what you’ve been
Taught to know by that name.
We’re removin’
All the scandal and shame
Of a church that stands for something.

Luth’ran,
No, you’re not misinformed,
Yes, it’s true now,
We commune the Reformed.
No forced union
Made us bow or conform,
Just a warm and fuzzy feeling.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
We have women in black,
Now there’s no turning back
To the hang-ups of dead white guys.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
You can set yourself free
From dead orthodoxy,
You can do whatever you please.

Luth’ran,
Won’t you please come along
To the Elca,
Where’s there’s no right or wrong.
In the Elca,
Heretics can belong,
They can teach at seminary.

“Luth’ran,”
But our fingers were crossed,
All our doctrine
Has been totally lost.
All that’s Luth’ran
Is what we have embossed
On our cards and stationery.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
We have women in black,
Now there’s no turning back
To the hang-ups of dead white guys.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
You can set yourself free
From dead orthodoxy,
You can do whatever you please.

Elca,
Where it’s very uncouth
And unwelcome
To say you have the truth
And where seldom
Is a word ever heard
To discourage sin or error.

Elca,
Where it’s all shades of gray,
I said, Elca,
Where it’s hip to be gay.
Our umbrella
Is as big as a tent,
There’s no need for you to repent.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
We have women in black,
Now there’s no turning back
To the hang-ups of dead white guys.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
You can set yourself free
From dead orthodoxy,
You can do whatever you please. . . .

“Luth’ran”
Doesn’t mean quite the same
As what you’ve been
Taught to know by that name.
We’re removin’
All the scandal and shame
Of a church that stands for something.

Luth’ran,
No, you’re not misinformed,
Yes, it’s true now,
We commune the Reformed.
No forced union
Made us bow or conform,
Just a warm and fuzzy feeling.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
We have women in black,
Now there’s no turning back
To the hang-ups of dead white guys.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
You can set yourself free
From dead orthodoxy,
You can do whatever you please.

Luth’ran,
Won’t you please come along
To the Elca,
Where’s there’s no right or wrong.
In the Elca,
Heretics can belong,
They can teach at seminary.

“Luth’ran,”
But our fingers were crossed,
All our doctrine
Has been totally lost.
All that’s Luth’ran
Is what we have embossed
On our cards and stationery.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
We have women in black,
Now there’s no turning back
To the hang-ups of dead white guys.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
You can set yourself free
From dead orthodoxy,
You can do whatever you please.

Elca,
Where it’s very uncouth
And unwelcome
To say you have the truth
And where seldom
Is a word ever heard
To discourage sin or error.

Elca,
Where it’s all shades of gray,
I said, Elca,
Where it’s hip to be gay.
Our umbrella
Is as big as a tent,
There’s no need for you to repent.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
We have women in black,
Now there’s no turning back
To the hang-ups of dead white guys.

It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
It’s fun to be in the E.L.C.A.
You can set yourself free
From dead orthodoxy,
You can do whatever you please. . . .

Posted in Church, Theological Musings | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Feedback on my book from The Writer’s Edge

The Writer’s Edge is a service which reviews manuscripts and qualifies them as “publishable.”  If a manuscript passes their review process, it is submitted in a publication which goes to 75 publishers, including most of the big houses I’m interested in. For many publishers, this is the only way they will take a look at unrepresented new authors. So, I was encouraged today to find that they have accepted my book for inclusion in their newsletter.

The book, by the way, is based on a sermon series by Ken Blue on the topic “Freedom in Christ,” primarily using Paul’s letter to the Galatians as the text.  The book is tentatively titled, Set Free to Live Free – Good News for People Tired of Religion. I’m not yet happy with the title, but I am happy with the book.

They also provided some specific feedback:

You have developed an interesting, readable manuscript on an important topic. The opening story is compelling and will engage readers, many of whom will relate to your experience. Publishers will appreciate your careful use of Scripture as well as your strong combined ministry and writing credentials. The manuscript is well written and carefully organized.

So, I’m pleased and moderately encouraged (I was rejected yesterday by one major publisher).

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Issues with the Emergent movement

Years ago, when the whole emerging/emergent thing was in its infancy, I was quite intrigued with what these guys were saying, as they echoed some of the same issues I was having with the evangelical church.  As I’ve written here (and elsewhere), I’ve stopped being a fan. In fact, I consider many of the big voices of “emergency” to be simply heretics, being so “generous” in their “orthodoxy” that they have simply abandoned orthodoxy altogether.

Joel at The Christian Watershed has posted An Open Letter to the Emergent Movement in which he lists seven of his grievances with that movement.  He writes

…to be quite frank, I no longer see the difference between the fundamentalism I came to loath and the Emergent movement I see before my eyes. I appreciate the call to justice, I appreciate pointing out the flaws of conservative Christianity, which has become and is becoming a dead orthodoxy, but my concerns with you far outweigh the positive aspects I see.

His list isn’t close to being a new “95 Theses,” but he makes some good points.  To me, it seems they’ve just stopped believing in sin and in Jesus being the only way, truth and life.  They have a gospel which is no Gospel at all; while they’ve left fundamentalist legalism behind (as Jeff points out), they’ve gone so far the other was as to leave the central points of Christianity.

But perhaps I’m just old-fashioned: I still like to say the Nicene Creed every Sunday.

Posted in Church, Theological Musings | 2 Comments

A Tale of Two Churches

I went to two churches this morning, one at 9:00 and the other at 11.  One was a typical contemporary evangelical service, not unlike many others I’ve been to over the years. The other was the Episcopal church I’ve been attending for several months.  There was a vast difference in style, as one would expect. However, today I became aware of one distinction in particular which bears some reflection.

Church #1

First, I want to be clear that I am not saying church #1 is in any way a bad church, as evangelical churches go.  On the positive side, they really understand how to be welcoming.  We were very warmly greeted by people who seemed genuinely happy to see us (granted, one greeter was someone I happened to know).  Second, they started precisely at 9am.  They even had a TV screen in the lobby counting down the seconds until church started.  Even though most people were late, that didn’t stop the worship team.

Here’s the thing with church #1: The service, which was 90 minutes long, consisted of only two items, worship (that is, singing about 4 worship songs) and the sermon.  As far as the worship portion went, the band was very good (and loud), and the songs were for the most part well-chosen, including 2 contemporary versions of older hymns (including Amazing Grace, always a winner).  The pastor was a fair speaker, but talked way too long, and said virtually nothing that couldn’t have been said in under 10 minutes.  Then they did a quick offering during a reprise of one of the worship choruses.

Church #2

On the other hand, at St. Paul’s Episcopal we sang about the same number of hymns, not counting various liturgical choruses and a responsive chant of Psalm 111.  They read selections from the Old Testament, the Epistles, the Gospels, and of course the chanted Psalm.  There was a sermon – barely 10 minutes, but well thought-out and providing food for thought (a little pun… the text was John 6:51-58) on a very difficult text.

We also publicly confessed sin, received an affirmation of forgiveness, spent time in intercessory prayer, proclaimed our faith in reciting the Nicene Creed, corporately prayed the Lord’s Prayer, heard some amazing special music and celebrated the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist).

All that, in under one hour.

Food for thought

Again, I did not particularly dislike church #1.  But again, the contrast between my 2 church experiences this morning reveals something, I think, about evangelical Christianity.  I keep coming back to Marshall McLuhan’s concept “the medium is the message,” because I think it’s directly applicable to church. What we do – or not do – and how we do it reveal both our priorities and our beliefs.

It is easy to see in the Episcopal worship service what they believe and what they value: Scripture, worship of the Trinity, a commitment to the historic faith and the ever-present work of Christ as celebrated in the Eucharist.

In church #1, it was not so easy to discover what they believed. I presume – because I know the denomination – they are Trinitarians and believe in the authority of Scripture, but I wouldn’t know this from the service. It was evident that they valued contemporary music and a quality sound system, and that they valued the perspective of the pastor (the sermon took the majority of the service).  But, what does what is lacking in the service say about their beliefs and values?

I am not blaming church #1 for their rather featureless service; I believe they inherited a contemporary, anti-liturgical and anti-historical form and have taken it for granted. It possibly has not occurred to most of them that they leave the service with relatively little, and having done very little.  Fellowship, corporate singing and some teaching are, of course, not without value; the question is, is it enough?

Posted in Church, The Liturgy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments