Is singing + a sermon what church should be?

P92 said:

Do you mind sharing where it is you attend? Forgive me if I find this hard to believe.

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It's nothing personal, but I simply do not give that information out on the internet. I trust you understand.

P92 said:

Can you elaborate on how your church fulfills 1 Cor 14:26-33? What does that look like?

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Bullet point 3 was "edification." The passage you cited was not the net sum of edification. However, you'll notice in that passage Paul is saying if these things happen, here is how they should and should not take place. It's not a dictate to do those things, but rather, instructions for how they are to be done if they take place.

P92 said:

I did not claim it was.

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Then asking me how my church "fulfills 1 Cor 14:26-33" is irrelevant to whether or not edification takes place.

P92 said:

In your earlier post, you said:

"I can't speak to your church services, but ours manages to hit all four points above while also fitting into the "singing, announcements, message" format you describe. "

The particular type of edification I had in view was that spoken of in 1 Cor 14:26.

Does your church practice this particular type of edification?

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So you weren't interested in edification so much as one particular type of edification? No, the church I attend is not Charismatic.

P92 said:

Surely, we must sing/praise, and surely there must be teaching, but is that the totality of what the assembly should busy itself with?

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I've never thought so. Back when I was adrift in the evangelical world, I was regularly dismayed to see people leave after the "worship section". It was like they wanted the emotional high (or whatever) of the loud guitars.

But the "message" (seriously, why can't these things be called sermons or homilies?) might not be worth sticking around for anyway. Nine times out of ten, it was either about how we should give more money (a lot of us were broke but were willing to volunteer for stuff, although nobody seemed interested in that) or else how we need to luuuuuuuuuuuuuuv people more.

The Protestant (or at least evangelical) tendency to place the sermon at the center of things is logical considering their theological convictions. But it places burdens upon the pastor to be an engaging public speaker when that might not actually be his talent. A pastor who isn't a skilled orator could be doomed to unemployment... even though he might be a talented leader, organizer and so forth.

You don't need to be a Bible scholar to attend the Mass. What I enjoy about it is how the Eucharist is at the center. There might be bad homilies or good homilies but I've never received a "bad Eucharist". You can listen to the readings (as I do), sing the hymns (which I fail at doing because music isn't my thing), recite the creed and receive the Blessed Sacrament.

The Mass gives people what they need... no matter what they need.