It was a slow drift into an abandonment of liturgy and usual worship structures. Also a slow drift into a casual approach to worship. The final straw for me was when worship consisted only of a variety of special musical numbers, an offering, and a sermon. Each "act" seemed bent on trying to out perform the prior one for personal glorification of the performers, not God. The only thing missing was an applause meter. A lot of energy went into a dazzling multi-media presentation for each act and the sermon. It seemed as if the worship committee saw its task as trying to out dazzle the Sunday before in an attempt to attract new, younger members -- what I call "the church chasing its tail." I also grew intolerant of a pastor that led services looking like he just came in from weeding the garden. When you are a 55-year-old pastor, ratty blue jeans and sneakers in church don't make you cool or hip. And tuck in your shirt tail, for crying out loud.
I needed a church where I participated in worship (i.e. liturgy). I needed a church where there was a sense of order in worship. I needed a church focused on the basics without dazzle or distractions. I needed a church that was more reverential and respectful in its approach to and worship of the King of Kings. I applaud any UMC that has been able to retain that. There are some, but not mine.
And, by the way, I left with great guilt over separating from this church I had loved for so many years.
Thanks for sharing.
I guess I didn't realize that some UMC congregations went to that great an extreme in contemporary worship, and I didn't realize that some had gotten rid of traditional worship services altogether. Maybe that's part of the fear that some people in the traditional service have at my church.
Even our contemporary service has liturgy, although not nearly as much as our traditional service, which is pretty much a Catholic service. (Some people have left our church because they think our current pastor has made the traditional service to Catholic. Catholics that visit our church say that there is no difference in our service and what they are used to in Catholic services.)
We have communion at both services every single Sunday.
I don't want our contemporary service to ever be too casual with worship. What do you think made the one at your church too casual?
When you say that worship only consisted of a few special musical numbers, an offering, and a sermon -- what do you mean by a few special musical numbers? Were those songs that only performers on stage sang, and you had to listen to them like special music? Or was the congregation encouraged to sing along, too? Were the lyrics projected so that people could sing along?
And what do you mean by "act?"
In my opinion, the multi-media should only be to assist people in worship. That's it. For our contemporary service, that means lyrics projected on the screen for the songs so that people can participate, and prayers and other things projected. Nothing fancy. Just to help people participate.
So what was the multimedia like at your church? You said that a lot of time went into it, and it seemed that people wanted to out dazzle the performance of the last week?
I agree that reverence is very important. That is part of my issue with some non-denominational churches and popular Christian pastors that people follow after.
I'm sure it was very hard for you to leave your former church. It sounds like you made the right decision. I'm glad you found a church that fit in with what you were looking for.