Thursday, September 5, 2013

From Rick Techlin's Blog - He Was Excommunicated by Pastor Tim Glende and Ski for Telling the Truth about Pastoral Plagiarism.
LCMS Is More Liberal. They Only Unfriend Me on Facebook



How many words is a picture worth?

May 29, 2013 by Rick
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Here is a recent picture from my former congregation.  What does this picture say?
The baptismal font in the lower left corner shows that there was a baptism.  So this was not a concert.  The pastor was wearing red.  The liturgical color of white for Easter was being displayed.  The altar and a statue of Jesus were covered up by a big screen TV.  (Normally, in this congregation, only the unused pulpit is covered by a TV screen).  What else does the picture say?
The Facebook caption for the photo is: “Sunday Worship with Koine.”  (Built on the Rock, St. Peter Lutheran, Appleton, WI).  Koine is known for playing only hymns out of the hymnal, but the lyrics displayed on the screen say: “I pulled my coat tight, against the calling crowd.”  That doesn’t sound like a hymn, but who knows.
This picture has captured some attention on the internet.  For example, LCMS Pastor Todd Wilken (the host of Issues, Etc.) used the picture as “a general illustration of how contemporary worship distracts from the focus on the Word and Sacraments.”  (The Bare Bulb, “An Act of Aggression,” comment).  Does this picture illustrate how contemporary worship distracts from the means of grace, or does it illustrate genuine Lutherans using all their God given gifts to the best of their ability?

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Todd Wilken:

http://thebarebulb.com/2013/04/27/an-act-of-aggression/comment-page-1/#comment-323

invasion
The worship war is not a bilateral conflict; it is a unilateral act of aggression.
One side in this conflict has consistently adopted an aggressive posture; the other side, a defensive one. One side has advanced; the other side has fallen back and retreated. It has been less a worship war, and more a worship invasion.
The worship war is a unilateral act of aggression, planned and pursued by those insisting on change, innovation and often the wholesale abandonment of historic Christian worship. Very few worship warriors on that side realize or admit this, but this is their proven track record for the last half-century.
The aggressors have the best intentions. They sincerely believe that their aggression has been to advance the Kingdom of God and spread the Gospel. I do not question their motives; I question their results.
Has the result been more or less focus on Christ and his saving work on the Cross for sinners? Has the result been more or less focus on God’s divine means of Grace –Baptism, Absolution, the Lord’s Supper? Has the result been more or less proclamation of the essential Christian message –repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name?
In other words, have 50 years of worship war advances resulted in a clearer confession of the Gospel on Sunday Morning?
No, they haven’t.
This post is an edited excerpt from Behind the Music: The Real Worship War.

32 Comments on “An Act of Aggression”

  1. Richard Futrell
    April 27, 2013 at 12:29 PM
    Todd, here are my ruminations on this subject in the light of Scripture.
  2. William Weedon
    April 27, 2013 at 12:51 PM
    Where did you discover that horrific picture?
  3. Randy Senn
    April 27, 2013 at 12:51 PM
    Thanks Todd. I have one elder who’s been pushing to “open up” our worship. Your full article from Fall 2012 will prove helpful. Sometimes parishoners need to hear from another voice that “I’m not just making this up/insisting on my own way.”
  4. Rev. Jeremiah Gumm
    April 27, 2013 at 1:16 PM
    Knowing the band in the picture and the circumstances of that picture, I would hesitate to equate them with a “wholesale abandonment of historic Christian worship” as mentioned in the excerpt.
    Not sure how familiar you are with the band in the picture, but they’re called Koine and the picture is of one of their concerts held at a WELS congregation rather than a “contemporary worship service”.
    Their band has done tremendous work to promote the learning of hymns, even classics by Paul Gerhardt and Johann Heermann, among the members of our congregations and schools, and has therefore been very helpful in helping to promote the Gospel in song, especially among children as they have come to love hymns that have been beloved in the Christian church for centuries albeit with a new sound. Koine’s music is almost entirely hymns directly from our hymnal with only a couple pieces written by members of the band. To find out more about them, you can visit http://www.koinemusic.com.
    While I do appreciate the sentiments in the post, the band in the image (and the circumstances of the image) should not be lumped in with the “worship warriors” described in the post.
  5. Jason Harris
    April 27, 2013 at 1:19 PM
    To be fair, as other Facebook comments have indicated, this was a performance by a traveling musical group, not a divine service. One might compare it to the recent performance of the Lutheran mariachi band at the International Center chapel.https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200331635947250&set=vb.6058843579&type=2&theater
    Both groups, it would seem, play respectful and doctrinally sound Christian music. Although the image of the former is much more shocking and offensive due to literally being on the altar area, both performed in a “sacred space”. No real Lutheran would (or should) consider such a performance as part of the service.
    If I was to host either Koine or Mariachi San Pablo, I would certainly prefer them to be in the church basement during a potluck or something. Sometimes, however, space is limited to the “main” church area. Pastor Weedon made a more tasteful choice by positioning the performers off to the side, rather than in, the altar area. Perhaps the pastor of the church pictured did not have that option.
    It’s still tacky and makes for a shocking picture, but is perhaps not the best “smoking gun” example of anti-liturgical storm-trooping.
  6. Todd Wilken
    April 27, 2013 at 1:36 PM
    It is St. Peter’s Lutheran (WELS), Appleton, WI. http://www.stpetercares.com/ and their “satellite” The Core http://www.gotocore.com.
    It is unclear whether this was a Sunday worship service or a concert. In either case, the picture confesses what it confesses. TW
  7. Debbie
    April 27, 2013 at 1:55 PM
    I was raised in a variety of evangelical churches befopre I converted to Lutheranism (LCMS) 35 years ago. At first I did often wonder why we did not have more upbeat and familiar contemporary worship styles. For awhile I continued visiting my evangelical roots and worried that our confessional congregation might be too tightly strung, thus making it difficult to attract new members. But what kept me in the LCMS was learning more and more about WHY confessional and traditional liturgical worship was such a special treasure not to ever be lost….every part of the service means something and is saturated in the Scripture…and this is precisely why I have grown to appreciate it much more. Now, I feel shortchanged when I experience contemporary worship. I can see how it is an attempt to blend in with pop culture and while it may be enjoyable, it is not worship. So, I very much agree that this attempt to change our traditional worship is an aggressive intrusion. Seeing that picture of the modern instruments on an altar feels very wrong! In contrast – the Mariachi group mentioned earlier was a different style, but it was a beautiful hymn they were singing. It was also a presentation at the seminary and was not even pretending to be worship. Many of the contemporary songs have no message – or are simply repetitive praise choruses that try to lift our emotions. Our worship is pure Gospel and nothing can ever replace it to preserve our message.
    Years ago our congregational Bible study spent several months studying the liturgy and what each part means. I think this would be an excellent practice in any congregation.
  8. Anonymous
    April 27, 2013 at 5:13 PM
    Apparently you missed the 30+ 5th and 6th graders eagerly waiting to be able to sing praises to their Savior along with Koine. You also neglected to mention that their was indeed a baptism at the baptismal font that same day and that the sacrament was administered with water and the word by a faithful pastor. You might also want to note that the 25 confirmands of this congregation had a public celebration of faith this week, each one preparing his own statement of faith, reading it to aloud to all present while their parents stood beside them at the altar encouraging them to remain faithful until the day their Savior takes them home to heaven.
  9. Todd Wilken
    April 27, 2013 at 6:33 PM
    So, this was a Sunday morning service? TW
  10. Todd Wilken
    April 27, 2013 at 6:50 PM
    Just to be clear: the picture is intended to be a general illustration of how contemporary worship distracts from the focus on the Word and Sacraments. TW
  11. Anonymous
    April 27, 2013 at 7:05 PM
    Just to be clear: You were at this church. You witnessed no Word and no sacrament. Or are your comments just a general illustration of how Satan distracts from the focus that should be on Christ’s sacrifice and gift of heaven that He has won for His children?
  12. Todd Wilken
    April 27, 2013 at 8:21 PM
    Anonymous,
    Rarely does someone resort to the “Satan” accusation so soon. Nice job. You have both demonized me, and illustrated my point: The worship war is a unilateral act of aggression. TW
  13. Johannes Oesch
    April 28, 2013 at 3:53 AM
    Is the worship war a unilateral act of aggression? So what would be the “preemptive strike”? – To be more serious instead of this hard core terminology, one could consider as well that the MO-Synod, during the first century of its existence, featured rather a low church type of Lutheran worship as opposed to later more high church like developments, notwithstanding the steadfast focus on law and gospel.
  14. Todd Wilken
    April 28, 2013 at 6:15 AM
    Joannes,
    The worship war is larger than the LCMS. And, Lutheran history did not begin with the LCMS. TW
  15. xelderx
    April 28, 2013 at 6:42 AM
    “If the Book of Concord has ceased being an accurate description of doctrine and practice in a given congregation, either the pastor of that congregation should preach and teach in order to bring the congregation back into communion with those confessions, or pastor and parish should both openly renounce the Lutheran confessions and leave our fellowship. Integrity demands it. It is openly hypocritical to stand before the holy altar and pledge fealty to confessions that one feels he is free to ignore.” — Are the Confessions Prescriptive or Descriptive? – Pr. Larry Beane: http://www.gottesdienst.org/5236.html?entryId=f844a1d9d11f989876f9747f75b3cf95
  16. Debbie
    April 28, 2013 at 11:39 AM
    This post and subject has been on my mind and I kept thinking about it at worship service this morning. Everything we say and do as the service progresses – expresses what we believe. If we dropped or changed anything too much, we would lose a big part of what it is that we do believe and confess each and every Sunday. If we skipped the confession, how could we then progress to absolution? If we did not speak a creed or the Lord’s Prayer – how could we reinforce the unity that we worship with together? If we do not hear the assurance of our forgiveness, how can we then go on to thank and praise God?
    I think discussion about that picture really derailed the subject of this thread. Folks get off track trying to defend the performers and are no londer even discussing the subject. We do not go to worship service to be amused or entertained. There are other times for this – fellowship meals, meetings etc…not at worship. Perhaps allowing a preformance to be held in the place of worship is agressive itself in that it clouds the purpose of the altar – placing focus and attention towards entertainment – as noble as that entertainment “ministry” might be. Our altars are sacred places and should not be used for other purposes in my opinion. They are for sharing what we believe – God made heaven and earth, sent his son to die for us giving us forgiveness of sin and gives us the Holy Spirit who comes to us in Word and Sacrament. Period. Anything else is an aggressive intrusion.
  17. appletonwi
    April 28, 2013 at 12:26 PM
    This was actually not Easter Sunday as some have suggested nor was this a concert. This was the third Sunday after Easter. Koine’s “service” was used for all three Sunday morning worship services that morning. The font is in it’s normal location off to the side (which is not unusual in a Lutheran church). There is more room there than the picture suggests. The font was used for a baptism that day along with the hymnal baptismal liturgy and the congregation led by Koine singing several stanzas “Children of the Heavenly Father.” Koine’s “service/program” focused on Jesus’ Resurrection and appearances (which included the Gospel reading for that day) as well as highlighted the lesson of doubting Thomas. The sermon series for April was “No Doubt” and this particular program highlighted by the scripture readings that there is “no doubt” that Jesus is our Savior. The children on the right sang a hymn with Koine toward the end of the service. The early services had a short sermon. The third service skipped the sermon (which was available on the church website) in lieu of the baptism since Koine’s program was longer than typical regular worship services. The screen covering up the chancel was brought in for this service. The regular screen is pulled down on the wall above the pulpit -which is not used for preaching in this church.
    This was not a communion Sunday. Communion was offered several other times this month.
    This church and other churches who are considering a special worship service like this need to ask themselves…. Is this the best was to show reverence and does the image above convey that? (Perhaps it would have been better to have the service in the gym across the street so they weren’t in the chancel and covering up the cross.) Why does everyone going into star-struck frenzy when Koine (or another group) comes to “perform” during worship? Is that the motivation for worship or the proper motivation that we want to display for others during worship? What message does flash photography during the service so that the images can be put on Facebook or website send to those worshiping with us, especially children? (Is it ironic that we don’t encourage flash photograph during wedding services or the Children’s Christmas service and usually have an announcement in the bulletin stating that?) What is the purpose to hymns in the worship service- Can music be too loud in church? A Lutheran church is typically built acoustically so that the worshipers can hear those around them sing. When the music is too loud, as Koine was, the purpose of this is defeated. It is a joy for me to sing with those around me. I don’t want to feel like I am listening to a CD with headphones on during Sunday morning worship.
    I absolutely enjoy going to Koine’s programs. They are filled with the traditional hymns, words from scripture and are very meaningful. I’d rather that it wouldn’t replace a regular Sunday worship, though. I’d rather they were placed somewhere other than the chancel, especially directly in front of or covering up the altar. I have attend services where Koine was used more tastefully. The service was in a large auditorium (they aren’t as loud) and they were placed off to the side (even though they are featured). I agree with Pr. Gumm’s sentiments on Koine. They have brought a fresh approach to the wonderful Gospel words of the hymns.
  18. John Brandt
    April 28, 2013 at 1:12 PM
    Todd, I just returned from a voters meeting and saw this in the pastor’s report describing our new pastor’s transition to the congregation:
    “During this transition he has already begun to work on projects to improve the quality of the worship experience. A new platform is being built to extend the choir/band riser closer to the chancel. This will allow singers and musicians to be more connected to the congregation. A plan is being put together to move the loudspeakers to a center cluster that will make the sound system more intelligible.”
    The only quality this sinner wants in the worship experience is the bold and clear preaching of Law and Gospel.
  19. Phinehas
    April 28, 2013 at 3:57 PM
    Yes, sadly this sort of nonsense has infected the WELS every bit as much as it has infected the LCMS. It’s time for the people of the WELS to admit what the LCMS has been willing to admit for quite a while: we are not united in doctrine and practice. Not at all.
    As a confessional WELS member, I share more in common with the confessional Lutherans in the LCMS (like Pastor Wilken) than I do with the infamous congregation pictured above. How long will it be before the confessional Lutherans in both the LCMS and WELS decide it’s time to leave their heterodox synods behind in order to come together to form a truly confessional Lutheran synod?
  20. Phinehas
    April 28, 2013 at 4:32 PM
    By the way, those who defend Koine by claiming that they sing (mostly) traditional Lutheran hymns should check the lyrics up on the jumbotron in the picture.
    “I pulled my coat tight against the calling crowd.”
    I don’t remember that line from Gerhardt or Heermann.
  21. seth
    April 28, 2013 at 9:07 PM
    please do not use koine as a subject when referring to this idea of worship wars. I understand your viewpoint but I feel there are far better examples for non liturgical motives as Koine has always tried to keep Lutheran liturgy as a focus for worship.
  22. xelderx
    April 29, 2013 at 2:19 AM
    “Deviations from traditional, liturgical worship and ceremony are deviations from the Lutheran confessions themselves” — Are the Confessions Prescriptive or Descriptive? – Pr. Larry Beane: http://www.gottesdienst.org/5236.html?entryId=f844a1d9d11f989876f9747f75b3cf95
  23. xelderx
    April 29, 2013 at 2:26 AM
    “The holy Fathers… instituted traditions for the sake of good order and tranquility in the church.” (Ap XV:13)
    “No one will create disorder by unnecessary innovation.” (LC I:85)
  24. xelderx
    April 29, 2013 at 2:27 AM
    “We gladly keep the old traditions set up in the church because they are useful and promote tranquility, and we interpret them in an evangelical way, excluding the opinion which holds that they justify…. We can truthfully claim that in our churches, the public liturgy is more decent than in theirs, and if you look at it correctly we are more faithful to the canons than our opponents are. In our circles…the children chant the Psalms in order to learn.” (Ap XV:38-40)
    “Nothing has been received among us, in doctrine or in ceremonies, that is contrary to Scripture or to the church catholic.” (AC Conclusion 5)
  25. xelderx
    April 29, 2013 at 2:32 AM
    Those who wish to deviate from traditionalism must either: 1) Renounce their “quia” subscriptions (often by an appeal to “show me where that is in the Bible”), 2) Claim the confessions are no longer relevant, usually by way of a form of “gospel reductionism” and the emergency situation that people are dying without Jesus, 3) Argue that Christian liberty exempts them from such passages (usually by playing Formula of Concord X over and against these other passages instead of harmonizing it with them), or 4) Put forth the proposition that the Lutheran confessions are “descriptive” rather than “prescriptive.” — Are the Confessions Prescriptive or Descriptive? – Pr. Larry Beane: http://www.gottesdienst.org/5236.html?entryId=f844a1d9d11f989876f9747f75b3cf95
  26. Johannes Oesch
    April 30, 2013 at 1:39 PM
    Exactly, the “historic liturgy” did not beginn here or there, and it includes a lot of turns and side roads. For instance, at Reformation time, in several southern German Lutheran cities and in the Duchy of Württemberg, the pre-Reformation type of a service of Word and Prayer was prevalent over against the type of the mass. This did not hinder the unity of Lutherans at that time, because it is enough for true unity of the church to unanimously preach the pure Gospel and administer the sacraments according to God’s Word. And it is not neccessary to keep the same ceremonies at all places, CA VII.
  27. Todd Wilken
    April 30, 2013 at 1:54 PM
    Johannes,
    No one has said that ceremonies must be the same. But different ceremonies should confess the same thing. Quoting from the linked article:
    “Is this division caused by new or different worship practices? No. New or different worship practices have never been a necessary cause of division. New or different worship practices can foster unity IF they confess the same Scriptural doctrine as the old worship practices. But by and large, that hasn’t been the case in the worship war. In many cases, the new and different worship practices have brought with them new and different doctrine.”
    TW
  28. Johannes Oesch
    May 1, 2013 at 2:36 AM
    Beautifully agreeing on this. it seems to me, that, perhaps, some common ground among the worship warriors could be found in a task for the academic sphere: One could name it: Liturgical Hermeneutics. It could be a worthy academic enterprise for the adherents of different worship styles, to scholarly interpreting the implicated meaning of their own and/or the opposite rituals. To research the comparative meaning of rituals, you need hermeneutical tools like biblical theology, doctrine and grammar, tradtion history, psychology, reception aesthetics, exegesis of musical expressions and so on and so forth. Quite a field for the seminaries and the divinity schools and their researching scholars. Me thinks, the scholars should not shun these ‘worship wars’, but should have more intense conversations within their academic turf.
  29. anonymousladyperson
    May 3, 2013 at 8:20 PM
    There’s a gazillion orders of worship in our hymnals. And a gazillion hymns. That’s enough to keep me busy for a lifetime.
  30. Gayle wehrli
    May 5, 2013 at 6:45 AM
    The stories of those who have suffered this act of aggression are so similar that it is frightening. The worst acts of aggression come from family members who have ” moved on ” and we can now no longer worship together because we just “don’t get it”. We are not in the know about what God is doing in this new way of worship they say. We don’t see that they are making many many disciples with their better, more appealing worship style…..they say. You just don’t like electric guitars…..they say. But what they don’t say is what will happen when their kids and their families leave them for greener pastures and even newer, better ways of doing church. What will “they say” then?
  31. How many words is a picture worth? | Light from Light
    May 29, 2013 at 3:26 PM
    […] of how contemporary worship distracts from the focus on the Word and Sacraments.”  (The Bare Bulb, “An Act of Aggression,” comment).  Does this picture illustrate how contemporary worship distracts from the means of grace, or […]
  32. Delwyn X. Campbell
    June 14, 2013 at 4:03 PM
    I just finished reading your full article, and now your angst has a fuller context for me. What I read from this blog, of course, comes through the prism of my own experiences as an African American who was not raised Lutheran, and came to the LCMS after years in the Church of God in Christ (Pentecostal Holiness denomination launched in 1906). On the one hand, the fear of fitting the parameters of Rev 3:1 (the Church at Sardis), has led many a person to desire spiritual gifts, seek a greater depth of fellowship with God, etc. It is easy to view the formal rites and ceremonies of High Church Worship as cold and formal, by contrast to the more fluid liturgy of a black Pentecostal service. Much of what you are seeing does appear, at least to me, to be attempts of white congregations to try to get some of our energy in their services. Some even go so far as trying to preach the way we do, which either amuses or impresses me, depending on how affected it is.
    The thing is, I can do Low Church and still hold to the historic Confessions – I always have. You make out that it must be an either/or. Maybe that is your testimony, but it might not be everyone else’s.
    Another thing, people often adopt the attitude of “the fox and the grapes.” If God hasn’t allowed you to experience a miraculous healing, for example, it must be that He o longer heals miraculously. I have friends who have that perspective, and, when it got down to it, that was the root of it. Someone whom they dearly loved died instead of got healed in response to prayer.
    AGain, I’m wanting to be charitable here; consider that there might be something in some of those “charismatic/pentecostal” expressions that touches the emotions. God DID, after all, create us with bodies, so He gave us tangible sacraments to taste and see that the LORD is good. Could He not have also blessed us with worship forms that allow us to express our joy? If it would not be too much trouble, try googling the Hallelujah Chorus arranged by Quincy Jones. It IS the same song, but with a style that is probably different from what you are accustomed to.Tell me what you think of it. That is what I have in mind, although I understand what you are concerned about. Also, you might consider that Luther was not trying to overthrow Roman Catholicism, as much as prune it back. That governed his actions as much as anything else.
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