Contemporary Worship’s Problem

An interesting perspective from Liturgy Solutions.

And yet many in the church today believe that both congregations and singers, especially young ones, can only connect with the most recent of musical constructs. If something historic is done, then it at least needs to be done in a “contemporary” way. Now I am all in favor of new interpretations of existing melodies. It is a time-honored church tradition after all, and one of the strongest arguments for using traditional hymn melodies is their objective strength, i.e. they are sturdy enough to “hold up” various styles and musical treatments.

But it struck me after the service that all this emphasis on “new”, “fresh”, and “contemporary” assumes that somehow singers and congregations today are different than those of previous generations. Somehow what has served the Gospel well for dozens of years and even dozens of generations can no longer “work” today. No reason is really ever given for this, it is just assumed that “that was then, this is now.” But do we really have different chromosomes, brain cells, and hearts today? Has our technology or our culture really changed us that much? Or are we in 21st-century America just full of ourselves. I think it is the latter. The church suffers because of it. The proclamation of the Gospel suffers because of it.

Perhaps instead of trying to “change” the way worship is done in hopes of bringing people in, we should place more trust in the Lord.  For it isn’t the music during a worship service that will bring people to God, it is the Holy Spirit working in their hearts as they hear His Word.

Related articles

• Contemporary Worship, Adiaphora, and Being Benificial (confessionalgadfly.blogspot.com)
• Seven Reasons Why Lutherans Should Not Jump on the “Contemporary Worship” Bandwagon (realrealityzone.com)
• “Why Non-liturgical” Worship Cannot be Lutheran” (confessionalbytes.com)
• What is REAL Lutheran Worship anyway? (intrepidlutherans.com)

Philadelphia Not Just Known for Brotherly Love

Apparently Philadelphia is also the place to collect a huge pension as an elected official while still working for the city.

City Councilwoman Marian Tasco will retire on Friday, collect a six-figure pension payment and then return to work after she is sworn-in on Monday to serve her seventh term.

Francis Bielli, executive director for the city’s Board of Pensions and Retirement, said he was recently notified that Tasco, who is enrolled in the controversial Deferred Retirement Option Plan, will retire on Friday and collect $478,057.

Tasco was reelected despite her participation in DROP, which drew public ire after elected officials entered the program, ran for re-election and retired for a day to get hefty pension payments, only to return to office.

Retiring Councilman Frank DiCicco, who is also in the program, considered running for re-election, but after controversy erupted over DROP, he decided not to. Retiring Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, who is also enrolled in DROP made a similar decision. Councilman Frank Rizzo lost reelection due in-part to his participation in DROP. Retiring members Jack Kelly and Council president Anna Verna are also DROP participants.

However Councilwoman Tasco isn’t the only elected official in Philadelphia “retiring” and returning to work the next day.

Another elected official set to return after collecting his DROP payment is Register of Wills Ronald Donatucci, who retired Dec. 23 and will also return on Monday, Bielli said. He collected $366,797.

Perhaps the coverage of this, coupled with new council members in January, will help Philadelphia mayor Nutter achieve his goal of abolishing the program.

Mayor Nutter has tried in vain to eliminate the DROP program. In September, Council voted to override Nutter’s veto of a bill, sponsored by Tasco that would preserve the DROP program, while reducing its cost.

Nutter has vowed to work “tirelessly” to abolish the program.

A prime example of elected officials looking out only for themselves, not the well-being of the citizens they represent.

H/T – The Daley Gator

Related articles

• Tasco to exercise controversial DROP payout (philly.com)
• This Philadelphia Councilwoman Will Collect A $478K Pension Friday And Go Back To Work On Monday (businessinsider.com)
• Double-dipping, Texas-style (norunnyeggs.com)

Paul Ryan Named Conservative of the Year

Congratulations Representative Paul Ryan.

Image via Wikipedia

When you think of Republican congressman Paul Ryan, terms like earnest, serious and important come to mind.  So does the term old-fashioned. Ryan comes from an old-fashioned place, the blue-collar town of Janesville, Wisconsin.  He cherishes the old-fashioned values of a faithful family man. He even looks old-fashioned, with his white shirts and striped ties.  And he uses old-fashioned argument skills, persuasively weaving big-picture themes with the numbers that back them up.

And Ryan has old-fashioned goals, too, like saving America from fiscal bankruptcy, economic stagnation and a European-style entitlement state.

“Just look at what happened across the Atlantic,” Ryan told me in a year-end interview.  “We have to avoid that.  We must reclaim our founding principles of economic freedom and free markets.  We must preserve the American Idea.”

With this vision, and with a pro-growth budget framework called “A Roadmap for America’s Future,” Ryan’s serious ideas have seriously gotten under President Obama’s skin.

And in the process Representative Ryan became very influential.

No, Ryan’s reforms didn’t quite resonate in the White House.  But they did force a serious debate about domestic policy and the economy throughout the country.  With his comprehensive budget of deep spending cuts, entitlement reform, and tax simplification—a plan that would strictly limit government and unleash growth at the same time—Ryan became the most influential Republican of his younger generation.  Quite likely, he became the most influential thinker in today’s GOP. For all these reasons, Paul Ryan has been chosen as the HUMAN EVENTS Conservative of the Year.

So just what is the vision of Representative Paul Ryan?

Ryan talks about “reclaiming founding principles,” and about “fighting paternalistic, arrogant, and condescending government elites who want to equalize outcomes, create new entitlement rights and promote less self-government by the citizenry.”

In other words, Rep. Paul Ryan is offering a completely different vision from the one Obama outlined in his Osawatomie, Kan., campaign speech in early December.  Ryan wants “the right to rise,” not a third wave of liberal progressivism.  He wants to stop Obama’s attempt to add to the New Deal/Great Society with the statist universal-healthcare program called Obamacare and an effective nationalization of the energy and financial sectors.  And he completely rejects Obama’s divisive, big-government, punish-wealth, tax-the-rich leftist populism.

…

for the 2012 election, Ryan has a political vision:  Republicans must develop and communicate a clear policy agenda along the lines of his “Path to Prosperity.”  Then, should they win, the GOP can use this agenda to govern effectively.

“Reagan had this right,” Ryan told me.  For the congressman from Wisconsin, it’s the American Idea.  That’s Ryan’s vision.

The question is this though.  Are the contenders in the GOP Presidential primary and Republican candidates in races across the country smart enough to embrace this vision that may be the only way to victory?

Especially when sound policies like those of Representative Paul Ryan drive the liberals and Democrats nuts.

Related articles

• Can Paul Ryan – and His Agenda – Be Beat? It’s Possible | The Nation (tribuneofthepeople.wordpress.com)
• Paul Ryan questions Gingrich’s leadership on budget issues (thehill.com)
• Paul Ryan for President (freedomeden.blogspot.com)

Few Complain About School Board Member in Walker Ad

For all the media coverage regarding this ad,

there were few actual complaints to the Waukesha School Board.

Only 22 people contacted the Waukesha School Board and District about a board member’s appearance in a Governor Walker ad, and many of them were not Waukesha residents according to information gleaned from an open records request filed by the MacIver News Service.

Not surprisingly some members of the school board complained.

On November 29, the school board’s policy committee discussed the ad. The committee consists of Rajnicek and her fellow board members Ellen Langill, and Barbara Brzenk.

Langill demanded a public apology from Rajnicek for breaking a Waukesha School Board policy (Number 8300) that states board members may not represent the school board without permission. Rajnicek did not apologize.

At the time of that meeting, the district had received ten to 12 complaints.  (Two complaints did not include any identifying information or date). Only four were from Waukesha residents, and three of them were former teachers or education professionals.

Following the meeting ten more complaints were received, the majority of them supporting Karin.

After the November 29 meeting and the subsequent media attention it received, the District only received emails from another ten people about the ad and seven of them supported Rajnicek. Six of the emails were from Waukesha residents; of those, four supported Rajnicek and two criticized her.

Robert Kohl, Waukesha resident, wrote “As a citizen and a taxpayer of Waukesha school district, I will not tolerate the constant drumbeat of harassment that seems to greet anyone who supports Gov. Walker.”

Chad Vendette, Waukesha resident, wrote “They may think you do not speak for them, but I can assure you Ms. Rajnicek, you DO speak for us, the Taxpayers of Waukesha County.”

Kurt Burie, another Waukesha resident, wrote “Based on your attempt to admonish Mrs. Rajnicek for her support of Gov. Walker, I will assume that you are against the collective bargaining reforms so I will not be voting for you in the next election.”

So what are the chances these supportive comments will be publicized by the MSM?