Do you wish for a church service with beauty and ritual?

Do you prefer your church service to be very plain, or do you wish for vestments, flowers, stained glass windows, regular prayers said by the congregation?


When I visit a relative's church, I miss the beauty of the Lutheran service.


What about you?Do you wish for a church service with beauty and ritual?
OH I agree. http://catholicmass.com click on Commentaries - A lot of this will apply to the Lutheran church as well.





I agree with those saying that a service should be all about God.. the thing they are forgetting though, is that ';about God'; is WHY the services in the Main-Line Protestant (Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican/Episcopalian) and Catholic churches are so fancy and beautiful. It is HOW they are giving respect and reverence to God. it is HOW they are putting forth their BEST foot. HOW they are CELEBRATING God and ALL he has done for us.


It is natural to adorn and enhance that which you hold MOST PRECIOUS.





Like how most of us spend money to make ourselves and our homes look beautiful. How we put on our ';Sunday Best'; for church.


It is natural to show respect and to make the things important to us more beautiful.





SO, the Main-Line Protestant and Catholic churches agree wholeheartedly with the statement of those saying ';focus on God'; -- it is just that they have a different cultural idea of what the entails.





SO, what most people really mean, when they say ';focus on God or the bible'; IS -- ';do like I THINK you should do..adopt MY definition and opinion';





Just thought I'd point that out.





I agree with you 100%. WORSHIP in my eyes is all about humbe, reverence, respect, adoration, and celebration.Do you wish for a church service with beauty and ritual?
I don't go to church much these days.





Ibut used to attend Quaker meeting in Ann Arbor for many years, and the meeting house there is beautiful, but deliberately kept very plain.





Among Hixite Quakers or Friends, there is normally no music, no choir, no vestments, no paid minister, no stained glass, no regular prayers at all. The Quakers mostly meet in silence, although individuals can break the silence whenever they feel they have been inspired by the ';Inner light'; of the spirit to say something.





Some Quakers in my meeting really discouraged people from talking too much to break the silence, though. What some of us thought of as contributing messages gleaned from the inner light, these Quakers thought of as a ';popcorn meeting'; -- people just popping off about everything, in a disgracefully secular fashion.





I think there can be great beauty %26amp; power in the relative austerity of a silent Quaker meeting, and there are times when I thought the simple Meeting House was very beautiful, in its own fashion.





OTOH, I've visited a few Catholic cathedrals in Europe that were just about the opposite: acres of stained glass, elaborate statuary, lots of candles burning, lots of insense, lots of music. And I think that can be very beautiful, too.





The Interfaith circle of congregations in Washington DC sometimes holds true interfaith worship services -- with Christian hymns, a Jewish rabbi or cantor blowing a ram's horn to call people to worship, a Hindu priest in the service of Shiva blowing some other kind of horn, a Muslim cleric singing part of the Koran -- etc.





That can be quite powerful and exhibilarating too, I think -- based on the one time I attended.
I prefer an anointed worshipful service which allows for the move of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, ‘When he, the Spirit of truth. has come, he will guide you into all truth’ (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. He is truth essentially in himself, and he is the one who leads the church into all truth.





But what does Jesus mean by ‘all truth’? He does not mean ‘all truth’ absolutely. The Holy Spirit’s work is not to lead us into all historical, geographical, astronomical and mathematical truth. The Holy Spirit is to lead us into all truth concerning the mysteries of the kingdom of God, of the gospel, of the counsel of God about the salvation of the church by Christ (Acts 20:27). The Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth necessary for faith and obedience (Acts 20:21). Each believer is led into all the truth necessary to his own state and condition, to enable him to do his duty and work (Eph. 4:7). Christ gives to each according to his measure and needs.





Ritualistic worship often lacks the move of the Holy Spirit due to the pomp and ceremony, the stain glass windows and the vestments are used to project a sense of holiness which is often lacking. Paul tells Timothy in his second letter what it will be like in the last days:





2 Tim 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.





2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,





3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,





4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;





5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.





6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,





7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.





This passage describes what it will be like in the world in the last days even among those who claim God but never came to the knowledge of the truth to be saved. It is logical then that this passage is talking about those who have some form of religion. It also says that it occurs in the last days so it is only common sense that the end time religious organizations of the world would contain these faithless people.





What does it mean that they have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof”? I believe this verse is saying that these people claim that there is a God but they actually live their lives as if God does nothing supernatural on the earth and can do nothing outside of natural laws and the works of man. They keep the God of creation in some box in the heavens where He can accomplish nothing in His own creation. They claim to be people of faith but the only faith they display is in humanistic works. A second but equally important meaning is that they claim to believe in God but they deny the Son of God who by His power created all things in heaven and earth (Eph 3:19, Col 1:16).





In Christ,





gatita_63109
The cool thing about having different denominations is that different people like different styles of worship.





Our church used to be a warehouse and is in an industrial park. There are no windows in the sanctuary. They made it nice by painting the inside a dark brown. :-)





Lutheran churches are great and so I won't put them down at all. They do look nice and I have great friends that are Lutheran. When I visit Lutheran churches though, I tend to have a hard time staying awake. I like mixing it up a bit and having more modern music. See - different, but OK.





God bless,





Mike
I'm indifferent to the outer forms. I know that God isn't impressed by the fancy dodads and glitter. If it uplifts some people, great. None of it can compare with the beauty that one finds within their own being. Still it is important to express in this outward realm, the beauty and wonder of the inner realm.
I am in God's Kingdom when I am in the Greek Orthodox Church.


I touch God as the Kingdom of God is within me . Our Church is unsurpassed in divine grace and mercy..Kyrie Eleison .





Ecclesiastic Services and Gregorian Chants fill the Curch.





Our music is so Powerful that the Gregorian chanting is used in medicine for calmness and Healing


Read the Mozart Effect ( the Music of Mozart and Gregorian Chanting help Autistic children see calmness and tranquility.


The Music Of God.


The Mozart Effect


The Mozart Effect is a fascinating and inspiring book about the effects of sound ... The music of Gregorian Chant can help students to learn more effectively. ...www.positivehealth.com/Reviews/books/…
I like a church where people are excited to be a Christian. Don't get me wrong all the decorations are very beautiful. It just seems that the people seem to decorate a church more than the other things. for instance. I have seen where people are in a church with dirt floors, sitting on the floor, no ac, no heat and are just tickled as can be that they have a place of worship. In the US, if we don't have those luxuries then we get mad, complain, fall asleep in church, criticize the pastor or priest, say'; They just want our money';!
our church is an old store turned into a church we barely get by as it is small and most of us are out of work so donations excepted lol but i have to tell you when the spirit of the Lord takes over and runs the service there is nothing more beautiful any where i don't care how big the building is or how much it cost for when God is in it it is beautiful
Yes, I was raised lutheran, still am (ELCA) I have also attend LCMS lutheran,





yes, I love the look of the church, however since i wma 30 and most lutheran churches are a 50 and over crowd i now often go to a foursqare church.
I attended the Anglican Church as a young person and thought that was the best. However, when I got older I switched to a Christian Reformed Church, which is unlike any other Christian Reformed Church in our area. It is very upbeat, Word %26amp; Christ centred. That is really what matters to me seeing the name of Jesus lifted up.
I do not care what the building looks like,I want the Word of God preached, I want worship music ( with or without musicians) I want the Gospel told,I want to see an altar call : for salvation, for healing, for those in a back-slidden state to come back to Jesus, for people to become members.
the message of the service is more important than any flower or rituals.


Sometimes when a church invest so much money in the building they may can do more for the community.
Just think of all the food that those vestments, flowers, and stained glass windows could have bought to help the poor starving children. That's what Jesus would have done.
I prefer His Church, His faithful! No four walls needed to earnestly worship Him! God Bless!
The most important thing I observe when visiting a new church, is whether they are in alignment with the bible or not.
I like big cathedrals and the little chapels in Mexico. They have that european influence to them with a touch of rustic charm.
Catholicism still embodies those things. Lutheranism is the next closest Christian denomination to Catholicism.
Whenever I'm in a Lutheran service, I feel like I'm in Hell. The woman there made me sick.
NO! I'll take a Bible teaching service any day! All the glitter and fancy smancy stuff is not necessary!





God bless!
No time to discuss this as a committee...
did you realize that you were a champion in their eyes?
Our focus is to be on God, not our surroundings.
Cremation without any sermon - after all - it's game over.
i sadly wish that all churches would be abandoned as used as reminders to the idiocy of mankind