What I Dislike About Evangelical Services

[Gnarwhal]

Funeral services..We go to remember the person-people who recently died...not to get the "Are you saved" routine. Save that for a regular service..
Honor the deceased...don't worry about my immortal soul at a time like that!

The last couple of funerals I've been to, I felt like A) what you described ended up happening (add a heavy dose of rapture fear mongering too), and B) The service became more about whoever was speaking than who had passed, lots of "I remember when I did this with so-and-so..." or "One time when I was here..."

A reflection of a larger sickness, I suspect...

 

[freezerman2000]

Yes, we do commemorate the person who died, to give thanks for their life, and prayerfully commend them to our Lord's eternal care. Our Church does not permit eulogizing in our Funerals. Our Funeral Liturgies are first and foremost worship services. To eulogize glorifies the person, when all the glory is God's alone (Sola Deo Gloria). If one want's to eulogize, there is the visitation before the service, there is also lots of time after the service.

Eulogies are part of the funeral services at my church (Episcopal),albeit short in nature.
It gives comfort to the mourners,
Not everyone is able to go to the visitation and after the service,most of the attention is given to the family members.
Public eulogies are given so that ALL of the people at the service can hear what is said about the deceased.

When my parents and then my eldest brother died,after the services,we PARTIED...just as they wished in their living wills.It was a time to celebrate their lives,not mourn their passing.
Those times were like Wakes,only after the services.

 

[usexpat97]

We go to remember the person-people who recently died...not to get the "Are you saved" routine. Save that for a regular service..
Honor the deceased...don't worry about my immortal soul at a time like that!

The last funeral service I attended...well, first off, the deceased was a little closer to me than I would like. It's not like it was my ex-roommate's friend's third cousin. But the pastor shamelessly, unapologetically asked everyone in the auditorium whether they were saved. And I do mean auditorium: the funeral was held in a public school. The deceased without a doubt was saved and in Heaven, and we knew that that's exactly what they would want said at their funeral. The pastor was honoring the wishes of the deceased and the family in holding an invitation to Christ--and if you don't like it, don't go to the funeral. We had a couple people accept Christ right there, at the funeral; and it was the pastor officiating who led them through the Sinner's Prayer. You never know when your number is going to come up, and when it is your funeral we will be holding. You need to be saved now.

 

[Knee V]

A couple years ago my grandma (Presbyterian) died, and her PCA pastor gave very much the "are you saved"-type message. Last week we went to my wife's great-grandpa's funeral (Pentecostal, of the Church of God variety, and he was a CoG pastor for several decades), and there was not a hint of "are you saved". My intuition would have swapped those two, but it is what it is, I guess.

 

[freezerman2000]

I specifically insist in my living will that that does NOT happen at my memorial service.
I have been to a couple where the widow or widower got HIGHLY upset that it happened,as if they didn't already have enough going on already.My mother in law was one.She changed Churches within 3 weeks.If the preacher takes it on himself to do such a thing,I,and quite alot of others consider it to be very tacky.
A funeral is a time for praying for and remembering the deceased and their loved ones,not praying for yourself.

 

[freezerman2000]

A couple years ago my grandma (Presbyterian) died, and her PCA pastor gave very much the "are you saved"-type message. Last week we went to my wife's great-grandpa's funeral (Pentecostal, of the Church of God variety, and he was a CoG pastor for several decades), and there was not a hint of "are you saved". My intuition would have swapped those two, but it is what it is, I guess.

That surprises me.

 

[usexpat97]

I would want the Gospel preached at my funeral any day, just like it was at my wedding. I don't need to be "honored" at my funeral. I will be dead, I really don't care. What is more important is the well-being of those left behind. And first and foremost among that is where they are going when their funeral comes.

 

[Gnarwhal]

I specifically insist in my living will that that does NOT happen at my memorial service.
I have been to a couple where the widow or widower got HIGHLY upset that it happened,as if they didn't already have enough going on already.My mother in law was one.She changed Churches within 3 weeks.If the preacher takes it on himself to do such a thing,I,and quite alot of others consider it to be very tacky.
A funeral is a time for praying for and remembering the deceased and their loved ones,not praying for yourself.

I have to agree with you, I think when I get a bit older and consider drafting a will I might put something like that in there. The idea of using a funeral as a vehicle to add a few more notches on the proverbial belt just doesn't sit well with me and smacks of a gospel of fear, not love.

 

[Knee V]

I would want the Gospel preached at my funeral any day, just like it was at my wedding. I don't need to be "honored" at my funeral. I will be dead, I really don't care. What is more important is the well-being of those left behind. And first and foremost among that is where they are going when their funeral comes.

I'm a big fan of preaching the Gospel as well. I'm just not too keen on sales pitches.

 

[sunlover1]

The last funeral service I attended...well, first off, the deceased was a little closer to me than I would like. It's not like it was my ex-roommate's friend's third cousin. But the pastor shamelessly, unapologetically asked everyone in the auditorium whether they were saved. And I do mean auditorium: the funeral was held in a public school. The deceased without a doubt was saved and in Heaven, and we knew that that's exactly what they would want said at their funeral. The pastor was honoring the wishes of the deceased and the family in holding an invitation to Christ--and if you don't like it, don't go to the funeral. We had a couple people accept Christ right there, at the funeral; and it was the pastor officiating who led them through the Sinner's Prayer. You never know when your number is going to come up, and when it is your funeral we will be holding. You need to be saved now.

Beautiful story!
And the angels were celebrating so much that day!
Any time is a great time to share our faith and
add to the church.

I would want the Gospel preached at my funeral any day, just like it was at my wedding. I don't need to be "honored" at my funeral. I will be dead, I really don't care. What is more important is the well-being of those left behind. And first and foremost among that is where they are going when their funeral comes.

It is the capital thing.

 

[Gnarwhal]

I'm a big fan of preaching the Gospel as well. I'm just not too keen on sales pitches.

Ditto.

 

[daydreamergurl15]

Expository sermons tend to concentrate on small portions of scripture and some concentrate on a single word of a single phrase from a verse.

The Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, and Church of Christ services I've been to are ordered like this:

• Opening proclamation - a verse from scripture
• Call to worship & short opening prayer
• hymns (anywhere from one to three or four)
• Reading - usually one or possibly two passages from scripture, one being the intended theme of the sermon
• Prayer before sermon
• Sermon
• Prayer of thanks after the sermon
• hymns (usually one or two)
• Dismissal or doxology

A cup of tea/coffee and cakes or biscuits (cookies for our USA readers) usually follows with chatting.

And the order of the Orthodox church goes like????
Just curious.

 

[FireDragon76]

I think that's too stong. Billy Graham, one of history's greatest preachers of the Gospel, used altar calls and was responsible for more conversions than anyone you or I know..

That assumes that the Gospel can be reduced to "religious conversion" in a pietist sense. The Tent-Meeting preachers get people to have emotional experiences and agree to religious ideologies, but there's a serious lack of spiritual maturity in that mindset. In consumerist societies like Europe or the US, this is especially true.

 

[MoreCoffee]

And the order of the Orthodox church goes like????
Just curious.

I don't know. I am not Orthodox. I'm a Catholic

 

[SQLservant]

Those baptists can cook!

Don't forget the Wesleyans... they can cook like nobody's business too!

It's true, although I'm sure there are non-denoms, evangelicals, etc. who would say they aren't like that.

And the reason for all this showmanship that you are speaking of--and which turns me off, too--is that they are trying to attract the unchurched. Like any sideshow barker, you've got to have some hook or schpeel in order to get the prospects into the building where the real thing takes place.

Although it's not my way, I can sympathize with that. If this is what it takes to get a non-believer to notice the Gospel....well, maybe that's justified.

The problem then becomes the fact that they continue it in every worship service thereafter! There's no worship or instruction that isn't continuing to use the tactics used to first attract the unchurched.

I think that's another of my big objections. I like Metallimessu, and it even crossed my mind to wonder what effect a BCP Communion service in Klingon would get if held at a Trekkie convention (Eucharistic Prayer C, naturally), but it's unthinkable, for me, to have that all the time. The Proverbs passage about wild honey comes to mind.

 

[Albion]

That assumes that the Gospel can be reduced to "religious conversion" in a pietist sense.

The wording might make some difference, but Faith in Christ IS the main point of the Gospel. No two ways about that. So, while the Gospel is somewhat more complicated than that, this is the starting point, which is why I don't completely fault the style we're discussing.

The Tent-Meeting preachers get people to have emotional experiences and agree to religious ideologies

They're not the only ones to preach to the unchurched. I won't make some stereotype the reason for denouncing all revivalists, all altar calls, etc.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Do tent meetings have an altar?

 

[Albion]

And the order of the Orthodox church goes like????
Just curious.

Very similar to the Roman Catholic Mass, but much more elaborate and lengthier.

 

[Albion]

I think the scales have been unfairly tipped towards Catholics enough as it is.

Perhaps, but, after all, it is the largest denomination by far and the historically most significant, right or wrong. To have more threads dealing with questions about Roman Catholicism than, say, the Hutterites, doesn't seem to me to be at all unusual or perverse.

And considering that a number of the Catholic posters are here only so that they can promote their own church, it can hardly be the case that it is someone else who keeps this subject popular instead of letting it die.

 

[OrthodoxyUSA]

Very similar to the Roman Catholic Mass, but much more elaborate and lengthier.

NOT

God be gracious to me a sinner.