Posted on 03/18/2008 7:46:52 AM PDT by Terriergal
Several Central Jersey churches are ushering in Holy Week — the week preceding Easter Sunday — with a variety of new and unusual programs, some of which will tap into entertainment value to plug parishioners into enlightenment.
Concerts, plays and dinners are just a few of the programs on the Christian worship menu this week, along with inventive ways of pursuing prayer.
Celebrate Recovery, the biblical-based 12-step program at Community Christian Chapel, 211 Route 206, Hillsborough, will follow its 7 p.m. meeting on Good Friday with a concert by Nashville-based Christian rock act Kathleen Carnali…
…The combined United Church of Christ/Presbyterian Church USA congregation has set aside the traditional Good Friday Tenebrae and crucifixion pageants to offer a time of reflection, which it also did to start the Lent season on Ash Wednesday. In addition to walking and praying in the labyrinth, participants will be able to light candles. (Photo credit: MARK R. SULLIVAN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Walking the labyrinth is entertaining? It's false doctrine/mysticism but... entertaining?
Hey, if you want some entertainment value, why not invite brother Jeremiah Wright in as a guest speaker?
***The combined United Church of Christ/Presbyterian Church USA congregation***
Quite a combination. Aren’t their theologies somewhat incompatible?
Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 03-17-08, Monday of Holy Week
Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 03-18-08, Tuesday of Holy Week
That's a shame. I attended a Tenebrae liturgy at my church and it was incredibly moving.
From Wikipedia:
...the office of Tenebrae contains 14 psalms, 9 readings, and one canticle, the Benedictus (Song of Zechariah). Lighting is gradually reduced throughout the service. Initially 15 candles are lit and are placed on a special stand known as a hearse, which are extinguished one by one after each psalm. The last candle is hidden beneath the altar, ending the service in total darkness. In some places the use of a strepitus (Latin for "great noise") is included as part of the service. The great noise is usually generated by slamming a book closed, banging a hymnal or breviary against the pew, or stomping on the floor, symbolizing the earthquake that followed Christ's death.
I don’t personally go for the high intensity stuff, but in this day of immediate gratification and short attention span it might be a useful tool in getting non-believers in the door so they can hear the Word as long as it is not the focus. They sure won’t get it in schools and on tv.
I was wondering where the usual external attacks on the church were during Holy Week.
It seems that there are none needed, as churches are now filled with such nonsense.
No, they are both apostate leftist in core values, although there are a few self-deluded Christians in each that haven't figured it out yet.
If you really want entertainment value...make Westboro Baptist and the Metropolitan Community Church in Topeka have Easter services together.
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