Unexpected grace in unexpected places
MrsBeaky
Shipmate
My observation is that here on the Ship topics like church music style and types of beverage can and do elicit strong opinions and reactions from us all as regards other people's preferences.
IME it's the same in real life as many a time I've been on the receiving end of other people's strong dislike of my eclectic taste in music and on occasion I've also witnessed people sneering about other people's choice of beverage in a pub .
This got me thinking.
I grew up in the Catholic tradition (Both Roman and Anglican) and that is where I find myself still today and where I most easily find my connection to God.
However, my life's path has meant I have spent time in the UK, the US and in Africa in churches with a very different practice from my preference.
Despite sometimes finding that not at all easy, I have tried to find a way to worship God in what has often been a very alien setting for me.
Then occasionally something very special has happened when I have encountered a connection with God through something not my style.
One such occurred back in the 80s and early 90s, when my love for the Psalms took me to a chap called Ian White whose music I still listen to today.
You can hear him here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5Bc0imAlbngNDol-7-Z1-PmouWJxUvM4
So my question is this. What, if any, experiences do you have of encountering unexpected grace in unexpected worship settings?
IME it's the same in real life as many a time I've been on the receiving end of other people's strong dislike of my eclectic taste in music and on occasion I've also witnessed people sneering about other people's choice of beverage in a pub .
This got me thinking.
I grew up in the Catholic tradition (Both Roman and Anglican) and that is where I find myself still today and where I most easily find my connection to God.
However, my life's path has meant I have spent time in the UK, the US and in Africa in churches with a very different practice from my preference.
Despite sometimes finding that not at all easy, I have tried to find a way to worship God in what has often been a very alien setting for me.
Then occasionally something very special has happened when I have encountered a connection with God through something not my style.
One such occurred back in the 80s and early 90s, when my love for the Psalms took me to a chap called Ian White whose music I still listen to today.
You can hear him here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5Bc0imAlbngNDol-7-Z1-PmouWJxUvM4
So my question is this. What, if any, experiences do you have of encountering unexpected grace in unexpected worship settings?
Comments
That's lovely 😍
Connection with God through nature is something with which I can really identify. Was the Baptist setting your normal church environment or did you fond this connection in a setting which was out of your comfort zone? Please forgive me if the question is too intrusive.
Every term there was a school Eucharist in the sports hall (the only place that had room for everyone). As always, it was bright, echoey and smelt of sweaty feet. But in 1980 (?) we had a Eucharist for Pentecost where I was transfixed by hearing the hymn “Come down O love divine” for the first time (I’d grown up with the Redemption hymnal and 1970s choruses) during communion. I watched the deputy head queuing up for the chalice alongside teenage boys he’d put in detention earlier in the week and was secretly moved by the equality and the acceptance that we were all the same before God.
I got confirmed as an Anglican in 1986. I think my mum eventually resigned herself to this.
FWIW I can recollect very poignant and affecting moments both when I was in different traditions than I'm in now and when visiting churches of other traditions.
I could cite instances from Baptist, Methodist, Anglican and independent evangelical or charismatic settings, as well as occasional exposure to RC ones.
@HarryCH - if you were in an Orthodox parish the sight and sound of children breaking loose from their parents and guardians and hurtling around the place would still charm to some extent.
But there'd be times when you wished they were kept under control!
As an aside, I'm always worried when I see unsupervised children messing around with the candles and peeling melting wax from them to chew or to make shapes. I'm always concerned they might burn themselves.
It's the lack of grace not the presence of it that would surprise me.
I would, of course, draw the line at some things - and I think we all do that to some extent or other.
I'm obviously more comfortable in more liturgical and sacramental settings these days, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't expect to find grace operating in other contexts.
Perhaps it would have been better if I'd said "means of grace" rather than grace!
Due to historical personal damage for me it's all too easy to expect certain situations to be hard work or even upsetting so if I then find myself connecting with aspects of it spiritually then that lands as a means of grace.
There are certain expressions of the Christian faith I'd tolerate at best or avoid if at all possible for reasons of personal history.
I'd find it hard to cope with a full-on charismatic meeting these days, for instance and more moderate 'charismatic-lite' services feel trite and somewhat thin to me now.
That doesn't mean I don't believe they aren't a 'means of grace' for those involved in them. I'm sure they are.
As to whether they are a 'means of grace' to me ... well, I wouldn't dismiss them out of hand and I'm sure I'd find something edifying in such settings, whether it be a particular phrase in a song or a point in the sermon or the very evident faith and sincerity of those involved - even if it no longer feels like my 'bag' as it were.
One Sunday evening in 1962 I went to a Mass in the church of St Germain des Prés in Paris. To my surprise the priest celebrated the eucharist facing the people, something which was virtually unknown then. Although the Mass was all in Latin he spoke the words of the eucharistic prayer out loud, also something which, at least in the Roman rite,was not done ,as the words were considered too sacred to be said out loud.
It was ,for me anyway, an amazing moment which I have never forgotten.
Some time later ,again by chance in a church near Paris, the priest,celebrating Mass,said the Gloria in excelsis in French and encouraged the congregation to say it in French with him.
I don't think that I particularly liked this (it just didn't seem right ) but I knew that this was going to become the norm in the near future.
Since then I have grown to appreciate greatly the liturgy in the vernacular,but I always think that my experiences then must have been like those of the English people who were the first to hear the language of the Book of Common Prayer.
And @Gramps49 I do enjoy stories about children's engagement in worship in their own inimitable style.
I'm sure each and every encounter with others in church services has the potential to offer us opportunities to show grace to one another!
The thought I can't get away from and which prompted my OP is when I/we find something not usually my/our practice, be it musical or liturgical or something else that lands as an unexpected means of grace or encounter with God.
TBH I find it both challenging and encouraging.
As with everything else in our lives there are likes and dislikes but for me it is wrong to say that any particular style of music cannot be used for the praise of God.
As human beings we are unable to say definitively what motivates people to come to church. Nor can we say why they like singing or indeed playing any particular genre of music.
We cannot say definitively what motivated a composer to compose a particular item but we can either enjoy it or dislike it on a human level or even find it useful to help us raise our minds in praise of God and thank God for the opportunity to hear the music, as well as thanking Him for the company of those who for whatsoever reason come to church to share in worship.