It's 84 degrees here at St. Olaf. I think that's the warmest weather I've experienced since I got here. I am distinctly reminded of Florida winters. Someone at lunch today warned me that if I walk to class with wet hair in the winter it will turn to ice. I won't be trying that.

The most significant thing that took place this week was my decision to stay on campus today and participate with my choir in the on-campus worship service. You all probably know St. Olaf is a college of the ELCA (Lutheran). There is a congregation made up mostly of students which worships here every Sunday. My initial conviction was that I should not participate and, operating on that, I went to talk to Ferg about it. The short version of this long, boring story is that after talking with him I thought a lot, talked to Dad, talked to Pastor Skogen, and came to the opposite conclusion: that I could, and perhaps even should, stay and sing with my choir.

The by-product of this whole situation is that I think Ferg & I have grown in mutual respect & appreciation for each other, and we've gotten some things explicitly laid out on the table at the beginning of my studies with him. I am grateful that through this situation he saw and commended my commitment to think everything through and act on my convictions. It appears one of God's plans for this situation was that Ferg would see at work from the very beginning my complete devotion to following God's Word.

So after coming to this conclusion on Thursday I went to choir on Friday and Ferg was there to walk us through the liturgy. It was so beautiful! Ironic, I think, that the ELCA reads more Scripture than most Reformed, evangelical, truly Christian churches I've ever experienced.

Here's the liturgy from today:

The service began with a procession (of the cross--yeah, a lot of it was a little Roman Catholic-ish) while we sang the Kyrie. Following that we sang Holy, Holy, Holy and then there was an opening prayer.

Then there was a Scripture reading. (Alwasys followed with "The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.") The first reading was Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, and 24-29. Then we chanted a beautiful setting of Psalm 19, which was followed by the second reading, James 5:13-20. Then we sang a Jewish song in response to hearing the Word called "Open Now Your Ears, O Faithful People." Afterwards was the Gospel reading from Mark 3:38-50 and then the painlessly short sermon by Pastor Jennifer Koenig, which I pretty much didn't listen to.

After that portion we sang the hymn "Lord of All Hopefulness." At this time the choir processed to the front. Then was the Apostles' Creed and a time of prayer. After this and the ever-so-Lutheran "Sharing of the Peace" was the offering, at which time Manitou (my choir) sang Mendelssohn's amazing Latin setting of Psalm 113. Following this was another hymn in preparation for the Lord's Supper, "Seed That in Earth is Dying," and then the offertory prayer.

The Lord's Supper was also beautiful. Something Ferg said, taken with a grain of salt, was present in my mind at this point. This is the Lord's table, not the ELCA's, not St. Olaf's, not anyone's. This leads the ELCA not to bar the table at all, whereas it would lead others to set a careful guard around it. But anyway, with that in mind I was able to participate--indeed, in the whole service--with freedom of mind, knowing that my heart, truly lifting itself up to God in worship through the means He'd ordained, was pleasing to God, no matter how vain was the "worship" of many in attendance. What I shall have to do for my sojourn here, and I will grant that it's not ideal, is dismiss the complaint that Lutheran theology (even orthodox, historic Lutheran theology, let alone today's Luheranism which seems so nearly Roman Catholic) misunderstands the Lord's Supper. It is the Lord's table and those who feed on Him in faith do well.

Back to the liturgy... A long portion called "The Great Thanksgiving" was chanted, the congregation in response to the pastor:
The Lord be with you
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Following was a much longer call to thanks in light of the person and work of Christ, chanted by the pastor, and leading into a beautiful Sanctus. Pastor Benson then read the words of institution and we recited the Lord's Prayer. Then, as people came to the front to partake, we sang first a congregational Agnus Dei and then the choir sang Great Is Thy Faithfulness, followed by another congregational hymn called "Stay With Us," at which time the choir returned to their seats or to partake. Then we sang Blest Be The Tie That Binds and as the last people partook, Dr. Rodland improvised on the piano.

The service ended with prayer, a benediction, a closing hymn, "The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve," and a dismissal.

It was a beautiful service. I now see first-hand the reason that many young Reformed folk are being enchanted by the high-church denominations...Lutheran, Episcopalian, Anglican, etc. Much as I love this liturgy, I love truth more. I will stick with the truth if I have to choose between the two. But I am even more convinced than before that the Reformed community must elevate their worship to this level of beauty and reverence and finery. And that, I muse, is my motivation for being at St. Olaf.

It's only fitting that I follow up with some information about my new church. Jay pointed out to me this week that I've written very little about it. So... It is a very small church and therefore a very close-knit fellowship. It is a healthy balance of older and younger families, with my addition numbering a total of 3 "single" people. One of the other two singles is Caroline, recent graduate of Baylor, who came to Reformed understandings during her time at Baylor. She and I will doubtless be good friends.

Pastor Morgan is wonderful. He's currently preaching through Hebrews, some of the most clear, solid, in-depth preaching I've heard. He has a wonderful pastor's heart and ministers well to his flock. He is passionate about theology and about God's Word. The worship is simple and intimate, it being such a small group. There is a time where everyone shares prayer requests and then an elder prays straight down the list. We sing mostly hymns, but a few praise songs from a little book compiled by the church.

One of the men in the congregation is teaching a Sunday school class right now on ethical issues, the primary focus of which these next few weeks is abortion. It is very good. He is intent on arming us to understand the issues, debate them well, and stand up for truth.

I haven't spent much time with anyone in the congregation yet--it's been limited to the lively fellowship that goes on after service. But they have already enfolded me among them as one of their own and I feel very much at home with them. Last week I played the piano for the second half of the service so the usual pianist could go home, since she was sick.

Well, that's quite more than enough for one Sunday afternoon. I miss home like crazy right now. My family called me while everyone was gathered singing after Sunday dinner today and it made me really homesick. I've been thinking all week how much I want to be home where I can just sing for singing's sake, and not always be obssessing about my voice quality or technique.

For prayer: Continue to pray for Eliza, Michael, Jay, and Linnea. Pray also for Karin, my study buddy for German, who was intrigued last week by my use of Sunday. Pray that I will find time this week to finish work on Silent Word in a timely and excllent manner and finally get that done once and for all. Pray for strength and no tendinitis trouble through another week.