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Anatomy of a
Service
(originally posted on the forum,
"Ex-Apostolics," on 1/30/02)
by Jay Ketcherside
I was just reading some posts about
Pentecostal worship, and remembered something odd about services where I
attended for twenty years.
Before the services would start - that ten to fifteen minutes between
the prayer room and the beginning of worship service - the church would
be alive with socialization. Groups of friends, cliques and couples
would all be huddled according to their alliances all chatting and
laughing lively, as any group of humans in any social setting would do.
This was when people would catch up with each other, communicate as
honestly as the could, being "real" to some extent with each other.
Often it would be so loud, that the organ would have to really "pump it
up" to interrupt the hundreds of conversations in order to start the
service.
Then, the crowd would find their self-assigned seats, or assume their
appointed positions for the service. They would all in unison assume the
worship mode. Now, as we former profession Pentecostals know; there's
two kinds of worship. . . 1) auto-pilot mode, and 2) of genuine
expression. The second kind was the kind during special services when
the congregation would react to particular song or sermon -- something
that would touch them in a new and unique way, a way they hadn't been
touched before.
The first kind (auto-pilot) was the kind you did when service started.
You stand, clap, stomp, jump a little, raise your hands automatically --
just because service had started and music was playing, and because you
were in church. Of course, this wasn't openly acknowledged, but one knew
what expectations were, and one certainly didn't want to be the target
of the backslider vultures waiting to haul the "discouraged" down to the
altar. Over the course of the opening songs, auto-worship would segue
into "genuine" as the emotions began to be pumped up by the ecstatic
music and the spiritual calisthenics of those around. Now, "genuine"
didn't mean the individuals were really into the song and it's lyrics,
just that were perceptive to the atmosphere. I'll bet if you asked half
of the worshippers what was it about that song that made them start
"shouting," they would say it wasn't about the song, they were just "in
the spirit." That statement - now - of course begs the question, "Why?"
"Why were you in the spirit? Did you experience anything particularly
spiritually uplifting today, or is this just what you do when you come
to church?" Hmmm.
Then the sermon. The crowd quickly quietens and stands as the pastor
reads his passage. They assume the quiet, deliberative mode now; only
occasionally uttering groans or shout, accentuating the mood the pastor
intends.
At the end, the altar call which either comes directly after the sermon,
or after tongues-and-interpretation are performed. In either case, the
crowd unanimously adopts a somber tone indicative of the atmosphere of
gloom and doom around the building. Sinners and backsliders find their
place to win their temporary reprieve, and "rescuers" and "vultures"
descend to assist the lost souls. Afterwards, the pastors final words,
and perhaps a song with everyone standing down front. This is more
intimate usually, but not much mass participation at this point --
mostly due to mass exhaustion (this in the most exercise many will get
all week).
At the end, after the emotional outbursts at the beginning, after the
message of condemnation and reproach, after the single life buoy tossed
out to save a damned soul, the service is over. Although Heaven and hell
have potentially increased their numbers that day or night, and many
have made or re-made decisions affecting their souls forever, when the
pastor says his final "Amen," everything goes back to normal.
As the eternal "souls" make their way out of the sanctuary, the
interacting resumes with full force. Conversations pick up where they
were left off, dinner engagements are made, shopping trips planned,
gossip interchanged. Laughter and smiles, and waves replace the groaning
and moaning that had taken place only earlier, often on the same faces,
now blotched red, and wet with tears.
Such is the experience of an Apostolic on worship night! Emotions run
high, but in the beginning and at the end, they all return to the human
race that they'll continue to participate in until death. But, for that
moment in time, for that hour and a half to two hours. . . they were
entranced!
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