I am going to be in Indian Orchard, MA (near Springfield) on Sunday 10/5 to attend a lecture about CS Lewis at Orchard Covenant Church.
I am the lay preacher at Concord Covenant on 10/12. I will be preaching on sacrifice. I'm going to try to keep it to ten minutes.
All preachers should keep it to ten minutes, BTW. It's a different style for a different culture.
I love going to CS Lewis lectures. You meet such fun people.
ReplyDeleteOnly ten minutes? You wouldn't last long in the Assemblies of God. Forty-five minutes is the mininum.
What do you mean by "It's a different style for a different culture."? Is the culture in Indian Orchard so different from the city you live in?
The different style is the modern, less attentive style. Each passing year our brains require more stimulation to keep us alert. Part of that is our adjusting to an electronic pace.
ReplyDeleteSitting still and listening is not just a willpower and discipline thing. Our brains require more input now, and mostly, that's a good thing. We think more.
AOG preachers likely make up for it by being more energetic that we are in Covenant churches. The ECC was founded by Swedes, after all.
Hmm. All the Swedes I've known were pretty excitable people. Maybe by the time they reach the west coast, they lose the dourness that the Prairie Home Companion chronicled.
ReplyDeleteHehehe. Keillor does talk about the Dark Lutherans and the Light Lutherans. Maybe the light ones eventually all move west..,
ReplyDeleteAVI, I agree with your ten minute rule but would allow a more generous twenty minutes myself. ;)
ReplyDeleteHowever, I wonder if it is less "a different style for a different culture" than it is some of what you describe in your newer post If You Give A Liberal A Cookie. We now have easy access to so much more theological "information" that many of us have higher expectations of those who would be our preachers as well...?