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Month: September 2013

The Vicar Installed #iOS7

I’ve been avidly following twitter over the last 24 hours as the installation of #iOS7 has taken place at the parish of St Francis. One tweeter was aghast to discover that #iOS7 had replaced the familiar pews with plush red chairs. “I’ve been a worshipper up at Galaxy since that time when the previous vicar played Shine Jesus Shine on his iPod but they should have asked us before they took out the pews down at St Francis”.

One member of Christ The Pilgrim Congregation of the Windows Church of God North tweeted “Of course we don’t have to use #iOS7 in our church because we got rid of all that when we moved to using a windows church. Windows churches don’t even have an operating system. Anyway, #iOS7 is stuffy and boring and crap. We’re a 21st century church”.

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Mr Sinjun-Smythe tweeted that “this new fangled #iOS7 is the reason no one comes to church anymore. It was much better in the days when the numbered keys also worked the letters. I know it was harder then but it was a mark of respect for God that you had to press 37 keys to pray ‘praise ye the lord'”. He also spent fifteen minutes talking about how his church still uses a Nokia 3310. They tried a 3330 even though it wasn’t authorised but they soon went back to 3310 as it was the core of the church’s faith.

I’ve got to stop following so many church people on twitter. You guys are hilarious.

Rock Mass?

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I was just picking up some guitar parts in PMT Leeds when I spotted this =D

Vision Upon Vision, a Review

Monks are free from the social rules that everyone else has to follow and George Guiver CR has been telling it like it is for countless years. I’ve chatted with him on numerous occasions whilst at the College of the Resurrection and he has a propensity for dropping huge theological bombshells into the conversation and then wandering off for one of the monastic offices.

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Vision Upon Visions is the first of his books I have read since I was a candidate for the priesthood contemplating The Fire And The Clay. Vision Upon Vision was recommended as an important source for my research into Anglican liturgy and inculturation. Within its pages are a rather comprehensive look at the history of liturgical development and the place of worship within society throughout the ages. This may sound like a dry topic, but Guiver’s refreshing directness cuts to the heart of the matter like a surgeon wielding a sternal saw.

The midsection of the book is an inspirational exploration of the relationship between the worship of the church and the culture in which it occurs. Guiver has prompted many questions that I suspect were already unspoken in the recesses of my mind. Do we check our culture at the door and worship as incomplete expressions of ourselves? Do we allow our liturgical responses to God to critique and inform our culture? These and countless other questions I will seek to explore in the coming months.

The final portion of the book is dedicated to the future of Christian worship. In a world that is shifting culturally with ever increasing speed, what is the vision for worship in the future? Guiver asks some provocative questions about worship from all traditions as he lays a vision for worship that both inspires and challenges the worshipper whilst edifying and glorifying God.

This is by no means a lightweight read; it has a distinctly academic depth to the material covered but Guiver’s style is easily accessible. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who is involved in leading worship.

What is Your Congregation Like?

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“So what are your congregation like?” came the question at a dinner party.

“Oh they’re wonderful,” came Ruth’s reply, “you couldn’t hope to meet a nicer bunch of people. They are warm and welcoming and they have a real desire to see the place thy live transformed for the better”.

With a slightly puzzled look upon his face the dinner guest made his response. “I didn’t mean that, what are your numbers like?”

#truestory

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