Comments on: On Liturgy (which I Dislike)

By: Anita Mathias

Anita Mathias — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 09:48:44 +0000

In reply to Gail Daniels. No doubt temperament, and the first liturgical expressions in which we experienced God have an important part to play. For me, a lot of my early Christian (Roman Catholic) was boring...but I do love many of the old hymns.

By: Anita Mathias

Anita Mathias — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 09:47:07 +0000

In reply to Gail Daniels. Pentecostals are the dancing feet--what a great image!

By: Gail Daniels

Gail Daniels — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 17:56:23 +0000

PS – I am happy to report I can now dance and raise my hands in praise to the Lord without the old discomfort, tho it has taken another 37 years to get here. Maybe the Catholic Liturgy is the backbone of the church – holding erect the less rigid parts of the body?

By: Gail Daniels

Gail Daniels — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 17:47:19 +0000

Hmm – I was christened and sent to High Anglican as a child – totally bored – so when my parents wouldn’t let me stop going cos I had to take my little sister, I switched to Methodist “cos they had more fun”. 32 years later when I finally emerged from agnosticism to the discovery of Jesus as my Saviour, I was overwhelmed by attending a Pentecostal Church, by the clapping and dancing and being slain in the Spirit, happening all over the place every Sunday. Part of me loved the music, but being stiff-upper -lip British, could only manage to clap my hands as a restrained expression of joy. I went home confused and prayed to the Lord to show me whether this really was of Him, and he led me to 1 Corinthians 12:15-21 – which answered my question very nicely – I think the Pentecostals may be the feet that are dancing, while other denominations are all different parts of the body. Loved it!

By: Anita Mathias

Anita Mathias — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 21:51:06 +0000

In reply to John. Yes. He engraved a bowl for the man who led the church's building project. He sometimes leads worship for the evening service which I attend. I like it when he does so.

By: John

John — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 12:26:34 +0000

In reply to Anita Mathias.

Oh, how nice. I knew Phil from the 70’s and have stayed more or less in touch since. He used to lead worship – I think he still does; we used to argue about who had the best guitar. His glass engraving is outstanding – have you seen it?
http://www.glassengraver.net

By: Anita Mathias

Anita Mathias — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 11:45:11 +0000

In reply to Dan McDonald.

Yes. I guess it’s really different strokes for different folks. For me, I am thinking of one gem, while it’s rolled on, and I realise it’s becoming just noise that I am tuning out to focus on that one gem!
“What is clear is that apart from the Spirit we receive nothing.” Indeed!

By: Anita Mathias

Anita Mathias — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 11:42:40 +0000

In reply to John.

I struggle with driving places for prayer meetings too. I guess the communal prayer does provide focus, and there’s the “where two or three” thing too.
Nope, I didn’t have TV when growing up in small-town India, and have never got into the habit of watching it. One day perhaps.
Incidentally, I met a friend of yours Philip Lawson J. who goes to my church, who mentioned he has a drink with you when you’re in Oxford. Add us to the list next time 🙂

By: Anita Mathias

Anita Mathias — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 11:39:36 +0000

In reply to Helen Murray. Lol! Thanks, Helen. Exactly!

By: Helen Murray

Helen Murray — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 11:17:23 +0000

Yes! Oh, Anita, are we allowed to say that? Because I am here nodding ‘Yes, me too.’
I’ve always felt slightly ashamed of my urge to check my phone during the liturgy – clearly I am not grown-up enough for proper church. But perhaps, you’re saying, it’s like tomatoes; no matter how often I try them, I just don’t like them. People are shocked, ‘What do you mean, you don’t like tomatoes?! Surely not! Everyone likes tomatoes!’ I can manage them on pizza, in small doses, but a plate of tomatoes – no, thank you. And no, even the smallest, sweetest cherry tomatoes do not taste like grapes. You have your tomatoes and enjoy them. Me, I’ll have something else.
So – thank you, Anita. I’m with you.