Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Lutherans Against Liturgical Karaoke



Latte Lutheran Church, WELS. The ELS has one too. Doubtless the Little Sect's Doctrinal Board is investigating and finding many cloudy, incomplete, and insufficient areas of Scripture about this topic.


Lutherans Against Liturgical Karaoke

Description:
An underground movement against projection screens and plasma tvs used instead of print in Lutheran Divine Services.
Contact Info
Office:
http://www.reformationtoday.net/id6.html
Recent News
POINTS OF ARGUMENTATION AGAINST LITURGICAL KARAOKE SCREENS

(Some are serious, some are rhetorical, some are satire – use the gift of discernment).

1. They place an artificial distance between the worshiper and the Word

2. They are a visual distraction to the art and architecture of the cross and the altar

3. Luther said the church is a mouth-house, not a quill house (cf. Romans 10:17)

4. They enable easy departure from the historic liturgy

5. They give the impression that modern technology is necessary for the conduct of the liturgy. You are up the creek if the power goes out.

6. They enable the enlivened image of the beast to be worshiped world-wide by people who deny that Christ has come in the flesh

7. They communicate an atmosphere not of the sanctuary but of the living room, ball park, rock concert and the karaoke bar.

8. They are used to project images that are inappropriate and even un-Christian, simply for the sake of entertainment or schmaltz.

9. They take the hymnal out of the peoples' hands.

10. The require electricity to run. Computers are used to project the material. All of this contributes to greenhouse gases and global warming. Unnecessary use of electricity… [If you believe in "global warming."] Hymnals and bulletins are biodegradable.

11. They require proper copyright cataloging and related expenses and labor and thus time.

12. They make it seem as if faith comes by seeing not hearing (Romans 10:17).

13. They can take up space for other important things – flags, banners, altar, cross, pulpit, etc.

14. After demonizing the Television, why are churches so willingly to welcome them into the sanctuary? One more cultural capitulation to the expectations of the old Adam.

15. The Church got along fine without them for 2000 years

16. Even more proof-reading and staff required – waste of valuable staff hours on unnecessary format – more people involved in doing rather than on simply receiving the gospel gifts. Really bad typos can occur. Made up liturgies and hymns do not reflect the faith of the church catholic but the creative imagination of one person or committee or "worship team." Praise services are a one-way street of sacrifice - a protestant version of the sacrifice of the mass

17. They lend themselves to more of a Gnostic “virtual reality” (docetic) understanding rather than an incarnational perspective.

18. They were first promoted by churches of the revivalist tradition that do not emphasize the effectiveness of the Word of God nor the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in the sacrament and thus their use does not arise from a natural, organic Lutheran understanding of theology or liturgical practice.

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GJ - See The Finkelsteinery for reasons to keep the historic liturgy. Also, see The Church From Scratch, The CORE, Latte Lutheran, Victory of the Movie Screen, and many other living--albeit bad--examples.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Lutherans Against Liturgical Karaoke":

FYI, the pastor of the ELS contribution to Church and Chicanery is a graduate of the WELS seminary.

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GJ - Nathan Krause used to prop his Triglotta on his desk every day in class and sleep on it, resting his chin on top. I remember that well. The Little Sect said - "Just the man we need for a Church and Change position!"