PUTTING AN END TO WORSHIP WARS - Elmer Towns

CHAPTER NINE
THE LITURGICAL CHURCH
About five minutes before eleven, the congregation begins silently finding their place in
the pews of the old church at the corner of Main and Washington Streets. The sun filters through
the stained-glass windows. For the past fifteen minutes, the organist has taken her place in the
balcony and has been softly playing arrangements from Mozart's more familiar themes. With
bowed heads, those gathered in the pews below are aware of the soothing music as they reflect on
the activities of recent days and prepare their hearts to worship God. Atmospheric worship is
important in the Liturgical Church.
Children do not run nor talk in the sanctuary, because it is the Lord's house, i.e. the
presence of God. People do not whisper nor is their irreverent motion in the sanctuary.
Two ladies sit together back on the left. They had spent much of the weekend together.
On Friday evening they had joined four other ladies in the church to sort out clothing which had
been donated for a special missions project in Mexico. A letter from the niece of the older lady
had alerted the group to the effort to clothe a group of children in a village where the factory had
closed six months earlier. As they packed the clothes, each of the ladies in the mission's circle
had expressed surprise at how much had come in from the church. Corporate donations from
several businesses owned by church members would certainly cover the cost of transporting the
boxes of clothes quickly to the missionaries who would distribute them to those who needed
them most.
They were again reminded of the generosity of the church late Saturday morning as they
helped stock the shelves of the church food bank. While member donations of canned goods,
cereals and powdered milk were helpful, these ladies were also aware of the food vouchers from
a neighborhood grocery store which were included in each box. Although the minister had not
indicated how the church had obtained them, they had it on good authority that the regular gift
from the grocery store was the result of the minister's personal efforts to insure the poor in the
community had groceries.
On the second row, the thirty-two year old man sitting with his wife and children was
thinking about the Monday evening little league ball game he would be coaching. As a child he
had enjoyed baseball and dreamed of someday playing for the Yankees. He never did play the
game well enough to entertain such hopes. A couple of summers ago he began assisting the
coach of his son's ball team. Although his involvement as an elder in the church kept him busy,
he felt it was important to take time to help young boys pursue their dreams of playing for the
Yankees. He knew his other responsibilities at the church would not excuse him from this
summer project.
As eleven o'clock approached, the robed choir took their place on either side of the
platform. They were followed by the minister who was wearing his distinctive Geneva preaching