Hi, PDX!
That photo on the Alms From The Poor post below... We took that last fall in the neighborhood on one of our walks after Jean's brain surgery--craniotomy to medical folks. It was a reminder of what's all around us and the intense beauty of that other season that rivals spring and in my mind surpasses it. What season for you has all the colors of life?
Different subject but similar concept: What's your model of church? No, I don't mean what model of church do you have, as in what denomination. And I don't mean the style of architcture, as in Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Art Deco, New England red brick with white columns, industrial warehouse, or latex-stucco-over-over-styrofoam-insulation-that-can-double-as-a-prom-venue-rock-concert-or-mortuary-when-the-church-folds. I don't mean your organizational structure of elders and deacons or council and officers.
Is it the pomp of the royal court going back to the fourth century when Constantine's Byzantine churches made worship look like the coronation of the imperial court--which it was? Is it the bare-bones of a prairie schoolhouse with hard wooden benches and a wood stove? Is it the preacher-centered podium of a party propaganda rally? The wood panels and high backed chairs of the British Parliament or courtroom? Is it performance-based with a stage instead of an altar? Is it "American Idol" minus (or not) only a few of the lights and 20-foot LCD screens?
What's the carbon footprint of your worship? How would your faith and worship life change if electrical power rates tripled and gas went to five or seven dollars a gallon?
What's the center of the words that are sung? Homocentric or theocentric?
If the building went up in smoke or to bits and pieces in a tornado, where would the discipleship be focused?
Would Christ still be able to do His work? Would our lives of faith have all the colors of spring?
Or would they maybe have all the colors of fall that can sometimes blow spring right out of the water?
Ponderings...
Pastor Roger
That photo on the Alms From The Poor post below... We took that last fall in the neighborhood on one of our walks after Jean's brain surgery--craniotomy to medical folks. It was a reminder of what's all around us and the intense beauty of that other season that rivals spring and in my mind surpasses it. What season for you has all the colors of life?
Different subject but similar concept: What's your model of church? No, I don't mean what model of church do you have, as in what denomination. And I don't mean the style of architcture, as in Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Art Deco, New England red brick with white columns, industrial warehouse, or latex-stucco-over-over-styrofoam-insulation-that-can-double-as-a-prom-venue-rock-concert-or-mortuary-when-the-church-folds. I don't mean your organizational structure of elders and deacons or council and officers.
Is it the pomp of the royal court going back to the fourth century when Constantine's Byzantine churches made worship look like the coronation of the imperial court--which it was? Is it the bare-bones of a prairie schoolhouse with hard wooden benches and a wood stove? Is it the preacher-centered podium of a party propaganda rally? The wood panels and high backed chairs of the British Parliament or courtroom? Is it performance-based with a stage instead of an altar? Is it "American Idol" minus (or not) only a few of the lights and 20-foot LCD screens?
What's the carbon footprint of your worship? How would your faith and worship life change if electrical power rates tripled and gas went to five or seven dollars a gallon?
What's the center of the words that are sung? Homocentric or theocentric?
If the building went up in smoke or to bits and pieces in a tornado, where would the discipleship be focused?
Would Christ still be able to do His work? Would our lives of faith have all the colors of spring?
Or would they maybe have all the colors of fall that can sometimes blow spring right out of the water?
Ponderings...
Pastor Roger
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