Missing Something

As much as I thoroughly enjoy what we refer to at our home church as "blended worship" I miss the weekly recitation of The Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed. Of course we can say them in our home, and we do, but when in a larger body of believers it takes on something "more". I miss singing "Holy, Holy, Holy" in traditional style. And watching our wedding tape again recently I remembered that we sang the hymn "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" at our wedding 19 years ago and I just love that hymn.

Don't get me wrong, I like contemporary Christian music. I'm happy that my husband likes "Skillet" and can enjoy it with our teen and pre-teen. (Not me so much) I just really miss singing hymns in their original form, because what we usually do is sing the hymns with a contemporary beat. I want to sing the praise songs like praise songs and the hymns like hymns. (okay, that sounded a bit whiny, but you get it, right?) There is richness and meaningful worship in both.

Okay, while I'm on my bandwagon, and since it IS my blog....can I just say that I simply do not like the emergent church style. I'm only talking style here, so don't ream me over doctrine right now. That's a whole other topic.

The church we frequently attend at the beach has moved from contemporary to emergent. In my opinion that moved us from being a worshiper to an audience member. The last couple of times we attended it was an all out rock show with dark seating area, flashy lights and drama. If I needed to communicate with a family member I had to yell to be heard. I never felt that I was part of a worship experience. It truly had all the makings of a great Christian rock concert. I like rock concerts, but not for a worship service. Unfortunately, the message there has also gotten shorter and "lighter". It looks like we are looking for another "church away from home." Since we spend as many as 20-25 Sundays a year at the beach house, it's pretty important that we find a place where our family can focus on God and not on the pizzaz.