I told our host that I can get all the new WELS worship ideas from their source - the Assemblies of God, the Pentecostals, and the Evangelicals.
A Pentecostal congregation is all business. They sell gourmet coffee (OK, by church standards) in the narthex.
They have a stage, not a chancel.
They always have a pit band, maybe piped music. Dreadful me-centered drivel is sung, for the inner Jeske in everyone.
Flat screens? All over the place, front, back, and side.
Dress down? How down do you want? The suit has given way to the jeans and shirt, and that has been put away in favor of total grunge, the cleaning out the chicken coop outfit.
I enjoyed the bank ATM in the narthex at the Pentecostal church. Put in your code and donate. God will bless you many times over for that.
Don't let me see any sacramental stuff on that stage. The stage (formerly the chancel) belongs to Worship Team, overpaid amateurs who keep this mirage going. No baptismal font. No altar, just a table for stuff.
