Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Pipe-organs, ham, and the open road...

This past Easter has probably been one of my most memorable family holidays in recent history. we didn't make the long haul up to warroad (although we really wanted to), we didn't go on a long vacation, we didn't even have Easter baskets. but this Easter was very very special.

as many of you know, i'm due to be a brand new daddy in July. Corrine's a solid 25 weeks along, on the downward trek towards birth, and upon the arrival of the crib mattress the nursery will be complete. this is number one reason why it's special. this time next year, melody will be a rambunctious 9 months old, Corrine will be done breast feeding and feeling somewhat normal (read not-pregnant) again, and we will be a happy little family.

reason number two this was a special Easter, we spent it with Corrine's mom's family. BIG family, BIG meal, LOTS of food...too much food...it's always nice to have to plan a small breakfast because you're going to eat a huge meal around 1pm and aren't planning on eating the rest of the day...

and finally reason number 3 why i loved this Easter. this is probably more important than number two, but if i didn't save something grand for the end it'd be a great let-down to readers (all 3 of you), and i don't want to let my followers down! now, onto 3... me and Corrine are members of the First United Methodist Church in Worthington. our church is not contemporary, not emerging (far from it), the simple fact that i had to debate whether or not i should wear shorts to work (i'm the youth pastor) should indicate to some level my church's culture. we have one contemporary service a month which in one congregant's words, "is more like Lawrence welk than anything..." to which i agree. BUT what makes our church special is how much we LOVE hymns. now this isn't a sarcastic statement by any means. i grew up in the Methodist church in heron lake, my mom putting the organ to the test making beautiful music. i grew up with these hymns and as such they hold a special place in my life (same with Corrine). and i am a sucker for tradition (to some extent) especially tradition in the Methodist church. but the cool thing about my church is that they are on the edge of being progressive (read, they don't shy away from new things) but still embraces their traditional roots (read, we loves our john Wesley). what is even cooler for a small town boy who grew up with classical/traditional/billy Joel musical inspirations, is that most of the Worthington schools' music instructors attend out church, which means our choir rules, the music selections are awesome, and EVERYBODY sings out. we have a large sanctuary, and we FILL that space. we fully by into Wesley's Directions for Singing. another cool part is that each Easter at the end of the service the choir director invites anybody that wants to, to come up and join the choir in singing the "Hallelujah Chorus"...think of this, 60 people all singing their hearts out to that song...awesome. i tell you this, there was a stronger worship atmosphere in that sanctuary at that time than i've felt in most contemporary services i've been to. the one complaint that i have (and after you read this you are fully welcome to call me a momma's boy) is that we don't have an organist that can play the pipes like my mom can. i was spoiled as a child growing up with my mother's organ skills...but that doesn't matter.

anywho, what i'm getting to in this post is this. over the course of my 25 year life, i've been to many different church services. i've been to everything from a Catholic Good Friday Mass to a Charismatic Pentecostal Healing service. I have regularly attended Methodist, Baptist, E Free, Non-Denominational, Congregational, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Assemblies services. when i left to go to college i went out to experience worship that i felt would bring me closer to god. i spent years searching for the church that was the correct way to worship. and it only took me to get away from all the contemporary worship and charismatic services to finally understand what it actually means to worship as a church. only after i had experienced all of those services could i come into my current church and fully feel God the same in our traditional service as i did at the Pentecostal churches. now i understand a lot of people will disagree with me on this and think that traditional services are for people that like a feel-good message and short church service (which may be true for some). but what i've finally grasped is that it does not matter how you worship, rather it matters that you worship. God cannot be confined to the models and services that we put him in. God is transcends denomination, worship style, and liturgy v. free prayer. God resides in each and everything that we experience, encounter, and engage in. we cannot limit God, we limit ourselves.

so may you find God's transcendence and may you ask him to take him with you in his epic journey we call life...

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
For ever and ever, forever and ever,

King of kings, and Lord of lords,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
And Lord of lords,
And He shall reign,
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings, forever and ever,
And Lord of lords,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!

2 comments:

Brittney said...

I'll comment on yours if you comment on mine. :)

Happy Easter!

Anonymous said...

Hey Kyle.. I really enjoyed reading a few of your blogs! I'm glad you "promoted yourself" on Facebook.
By the way I'm really really excited for you and Corrine, #1 THE BABY IS ALMOST HERE! #2 It's good to hear you are loving your church and its atmosphere.. I totally agree with what you said about just simply finding a place where you can worship and meet with God, it doesn't matter how traditional or non-traditional it is if it's a place where you can worship.
Love you guys!
-Tasha