Last night I went to the 5:30 service at Jacob's Well. When I was leaving, I had this spirit-felt sense that I was so glad I had been there. The word that came to mind for it was "sweet," yet I know how hackneyed and sacchriney that sounds. Not "Precious Moments" sweet (gag me with a spoon...I have a vendetta against all things "precious moments"); not even Thomas Kinkeade "sweet"; and not even "There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in this Place" sweet. Just lovely, and sort of beautifully innocent (but not naive)---wow, am I ever having a hard time describing it. Peaceful, beautiful, those come close but not quite. At any rate, I was so touched by the music last night. Rachel sang an old hymn, the title of which I have seen all my life, but the hymn itself I don't believe I've sung, "In The Secret of His Presence." She even gave me the copy she used to sing from, with guitar chords and all. And, there were two, count them two, Charles Wesley texts that were sung last night..."Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." I was in a conference meeting recently where I believe we were brainstorming ideas for next annual conference...I suggested we might want to do something pertaining to Charles Wesley, since this is the three hundreth anniversary of his birth...the only reaction I got were snickers (I don't mean the candy bar) and somebody saying "now that really excites me..." (sarcasm, by the way) To which I did at least reply, "It is still beautiful poetry." However, no one heard me, I don't think. Charles wrote these hymns as expressions of his own faith, but also to put to verse the theology of the Wesleyan revival. When you sing his hymns, you are singing the Wesleyan understanding of grace, and hope, and freedom, and deliverance, and salvation. Last night was not the first night I have been present when these hymns are sung at Jacob's Well. Sometimes they are put to a 21st century tune; sometimes set to the common tune, but with a different feel. And when I hear these hymns sung at Jacob's Well, I am so totally delighted, and also so eager to more thoroughly lead our denomination into the emergent song that is happening across Christ's church. We as United Methodists, if we could just become aware and celebrative about it, have been already singing the songs that resonate and articulate the praise and faith that many in this conversation find meaningful. And yet we have become so bogged down, so "stuck" in the minutia of the church that we can no longer hear the beauty, the profoundness, the relevance and, yes, the sweetness of what those in our younger genernations are singing back to us with different tunes. I am so eager to lead the workshop in January at the Congress on Evangelism "Standing on Mr. Wesley's Grave: Following our Founder into the Emergent Conversation." I need to be careful that I am standing on his grave, though and not on my own soap box, though, praise God, I think they often are the same these days.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Susan,
Thanks very much for this post and for your witness. I share your delight and enthusiasm for the hymns of Charles Wesley. There is a slight correction though. 2007 is the 300th anniversary of his birth, not the 200th.
I'm convinced we need to recover the practice of singing Charle's hymns. You are correct in asserting that his hymns contain the theology and spirituality of the Wesleyan movement. It's no wonder, therefore, that most United Methodists are ignorant of the rich and spirit-filled theological heritage of their church. They so rarely sing these theological rich hymns. They have been supplanted by insipid praise and worship choruses and songs.
Charle's hymns were of equal, if not greater, importance to his brothers sermons, tracts, and books to the Christian formaiton fo the people called Methodists. Every Methodist gathering included singing one, and usually more, of his hymns. I'm convinced that singing those hymns helped to move John's teaching/preaching from the head to the heart.
We would do well to use 2007 as a year to reintroduce Charles Wesley and his hymns to The United Methodist Church. You may be interested in the article I wrote recently for the GBOD worship web page, "Top Ten Reasons United Methodist Should Sing Charles Wesley Hymns" (http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=22654)
You may also be interested in joining me and Dr. Paul Chilcote on the Charles Wesley Tercentennial Pilgrimage we'll be leading in England next summer (http://www.gbod.org/charleswesley300/)
Steve
Thanks Steve for the post. My mind is post-charge conferece mush...I will correct the entry.
I will take a look at the pilgrimage possibility, too.
Susan
This post is right up my alley. Looking forward to meeting you in person at Congress on Evangelism!
Susan, I have found reading your posts both exciting and frustrating. That is a reflection on me rather than your writing. A couple of observations.
1. I am somewhat amazed when people bravely declare that we are in a new age and that wholesale reformation of the church/society is either happening or at least called for. The amazement is that some are so sure "the times they are a changing." I remember singing that Bob Dylan song (I still listen to it with pleasure) and thinking how true the text was. Now 30+ years later I am not at all sure that much has changed. To be brave enough to confidently declare the traditions and institutions of the past/present are not long for the new world strikes me as presumptuous.
2. This "emerging" concept is still new to me having first encountered it a couple of years ago. How does one assess what is "emerging" when Wesley's hymn texts are celebrated, but the way we use them appearently is not meaningful? Who decides? Who decides for me, you, your kids, mine? My own twenty and thirty something kids don't generally relate to video experiences, have musical tastes that run from classical to leading edge jazz. Just what is emerging?
Carl
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I have just sent you a rather long and laborious response to your personal email...
Hope Manchester is experiencing the season with joy and delight and that its senior pastor is, too!
Blessings
SKCJ
I thought you meant sweet in the way that landing a complicated skateboard trick might elicit the word. Sweet!
Wesley kicks butt - whoever it was on the cabinet who snickered ought to be sent to the corner. "Changed from glory into glory until in heaven we take our place, until we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise." Come on, you can't get much better than that!
Carl - "Who decides" is a modern question and doesn't really fit into a postmodern world. The answer is "you." YOU are the person of the year, man! Of course, it is not going so far as "anything goes" - there is a such thing as communal accountability. Point is, you can either try to classify what is emerging and what is not, or you can just let it emerge and enjoy the moment.
Emergingly,
Andy B.
Sweet, Andy, Sweet....
Yes, I knew the "you decide" would come from somewhere. Maybe its just my advanced age, but I long for some community choices. At some levels, of course, I must trust my own choices and live my own life. But my judgements must, I think, be run through the filter of a community and a tradition. Collective judgements on what is sweet and what is just saccharine are more reliable than mine. Over the years I am not likely to get sustained energy from sacchrine , even if it does taste temporally sweet to me.
Yes, the future emerges. It cannot do otherwise. The church evolves/emerges also as the spirit works and we know not where it is going. That's the way it has always been. So what is so different, so new about "emergent church"? Hasn't it always been emergent? What's different now and from where comes the chutz pah to to claim something new is happening?
Post a Comment