Back in November, we attended a Thanksgiving Community Service held at a local church in Manteo.
Sarah and I made our way into the back of the jam-packed sanctuary and wedged ourselves into the few remaining seats as Steve went and joined the other participating pastors. I stuffed my coat under the chair, settled my Mom Purse at my feet and opened the bulletin to see what was in store.
After four seconds of a quick and professional perusal of the lineup, my first thought was, “Oh boy. This looks like a sure-fire recipe for an ecclesiastical disaster.”
Here were the ingredients:
I thought, “This ain’t gonna be pretty. The silver-haired saints are going to frown at the rappers and the funky young folks are going to frown at the Southern gospel group. People are going to be offended on every side and they’re all going to go home even more convinced that their church is the only one doing it right. “
After the welcome by the host pastor, the Call To Worship was announced. But this was not like any Call to Worship most of the folks in the pews were used to. No sirree, this was different altogether.
As these gentlemen performed a really cool rap tune with lyrics glorifying God, I looked around the room for any burgeoning signs of alarm. There were none.
The younger crowd was of course pumped. The older folks weren’t exactly pumped but they were nodding their heads sedately. Most importantly, no one got up and stomped out of the room in a show of self-righteous indignation at having that kind of music in a worship service.
Then it was time for congregational singing. The music director invited us all to stand up, take our hymnals and sing How Great Thou Art. And we did.
The older folks smiled broadly and sang loudly. This was their kind of music.
And the younger folks? They held the hymnals and sang their hearts out. It wasn’t their kind of music but it was their kind of message.
Then the Southern gospel quartet did a couple of numbers and even though Southern gospel fans are not a huge part of the nation’s demographics, the group got a resounding round of applause when they were done—from oldsters and youngsters alike. From rappers and hymn-lovers alike.
And then it was time for the message.
To people used to a pastor in a robe, or at least a suit and a tie, the appearance of this fella on the stage elicited a small murmur of whispered exclamations. (Note: these pictures are from the church’s FB page; I didn’t have any photos of my own.)
Pastor Frank Losson, pastor of The Source, was not your typical preacher.
He doesn’t pastor a typical church.
But when he got up during that Community Service and spoke to a mixed group from every age group and background? Well, he was accepted. He was applauded. He was amen’d.
Even though he looked different and sounded different and talked different, he was passionate about his message, articulate about what he believed in, and transparent about his journey of faith.
Sitting in the back gave me a good view of the place and I can honestly say that as he preached, I did not see even one single frowny face. On the contrary, the whole room was one big smile, one big community of believers who had gathered together to put action to the words, “They will know you are Christians by your love.”
People who don’t attend church very much often say that all Christians do is fight with each other; that all churches do is compete with each other for money and for members. And unfortunately, in some cases, that is true.
But on that November night, in our village by the sea, I saw Christians gathered together under one banner. They respected and they honored singers and preachers who were light years away from them in their style of worship, music, and communication. But they didn’t let it matter.
I saw a whole crowd of people united in one huge truth which is this, “The methods may change but the Message remains the same.”
I heard and saw and felt the power of the Message, even as I happily crossed off the last of the ingredients of disaster from my mental list.
The church did good that night. And I believe God was smiling.
I know I sure was.
Awesome post Becky! I wish I could have been there. It sounds like it was an amazing time for everyone who was there!
Debbie, it really was a cool evening. How often does one get to see that many faith traditions and music and worship styles coexisting perfectly. Wish you could have been there, too!
Becky, this is so faint when I type that I cannot read it myself. The new font isn’t working for me to read – doesn’t matter if I make it super tiny or super big, it’s the spacing between lines that makes it all scrunched. Wish you could go back to the old format. Forgive typos – again, when I type these comments they are totally grayed out!!! Frustrated!!!! And yes, I have an uptodate Mac, and I don’t have this problem with any other blogs I read, and I read many. It’s just your new one.
Becky, this is so faint when I type that I cannot read it myself. The new font isn’t working for me to read – doesn’t matter if I make it super tiny or super big, it’s the spacing between lines that makes it all scrunched. Wish you could go back to the old format. Forgive typos – again, when I type these comments they are totally grayed out!!! Frustrated!!!! And yes, I have an uptodate Mac, and I don’t have this problem with any other blogs I read, and I read many. It’s just your new one.
Christine, I agree with you completely; that gray font is terrible! With my (almost) 50-year old eyes, I have a hard time typing with it, too. Since I couldn’t figure out how to change it, I’ve asked someone who knows a lot more than me to take a look and see if he can figure out a way to change the gray to black.
I’ve not heard anyone else mention that the spacing between the lines is scrunched; I know that must be very frustrating when you try to type. I will check around and see if anyone else is having that issue–having the scrunchiness in addition to the gray font, you did great just leaving a comment at all!
To God be the glory, great things He hath done! We need more of getting together because we need to realize our church will not be the only one in Heaven. We have some in our town who think that and it is sad. Thanks for an unlifting post, Becky.
Ann, we need more of “getting together,” indeed!
I liked your line of, “It wasn’t their kind of music, but it was their kind of message.” Kind of sums it up for me! Great post! And a lovely new site! 🙂
Love deb
Deb, how nice to hear from my very own sister on my new blog! 🙂 Love you!
How wonderful to have so many people gathered in one church for Thanksgiving.
I’m one of those old folks who enjoy singing How Great Thou Art because many moons ago on Designing Women, Dixie Carter sang that hymn, and added a descant ending… so dramatic. so
now whenever that hymn is sung at Mt. Z. (where I lead the traditional service), I always enjoy hitting that high note.
Neither one of my churches join other churches for Thanksgiving (but, both used to) and I miss that.
Would love to hear you hit that high note, Mrs Pam! I only have the gift of low notes.
And that is how it will be in Heaven! All different colors, styles and methods…BUT ONE message and ONE SAVIOR and for that I am ONE thankful child of God!!
Thankful with you, Lisa!
Yay, Church!
Yay-ing church right along with you!
I think one of the biggest reasons there is often much animosity among church denominations is because we tend to glorify our RELIGIONS rather than glorify our GOD. Somehow, He gets lost in the hoopla of proving who is right and who is wrong.
I figure that if God made us all–and in His unique image, to say the least–then what is right is not to be defined by man.
It isn’t about religion. It’s about glorifying HIM, edifying HIM, and following HIM.
Our problem is that too many of us would rather be right than righteous.
Preach it, sister! That’s good stuff.
What a wonderful post, we have community services with other churches in our community and like you sometimes it is a worry, BUT a needless worry. God’s people will all be together one day, we should get used to worshiping our Lord together, after all, he is God to all of us alike. God bless you Becky, your posts are uplifting..
Glad to hear of other towns having community services; as you said, it is a preview of heaven!
Beautiful post!! And, is that not exactly why Jesus came to earth- for ALL people, with all their uniquely glorious, God- given individual styles? I truly believe that God wants to embrace all people, and that it saddens him when some Christians try to force their own style of worship and appearances on others. Cannot God be glorified with rap music as much as hymns, by a person with tattoos as a person in a tie and jacket?
“Glorious styles” is a perfect way to put it. They are glorious in themselves and they bring God glory!
LOVE this post! I had a similar experience last year. I went in expecting a NASCAR quality disaster and it ended up being a beautiful, God glorifying evening.
Thanks for the post!
Adam Legg
http://www.adamlegg.com
NASCAR quality disaster–that’s a great line. And a great description of what that evening could have been like. Thanks for dropping by!