I struggle to write concise blogs of my visits to other churches. Pflugerville Community Church is just like the dozen other Contemporary Worship churches I have visited. The leaders all, including the LCMS and WELS churches, address the congregation as ‘church’ not people of God, as it was in the 90’s. For example, “Good morning church.” “Let me tell you church.” And this go around I noticed the prominence of the pastor, worship leader, music minister, introducing themselves like so: “It is my privilege to be a – insert job here – at -insert church here.” They must all be dipping from the same well as they all dress, speak, and act the same. Yet all of them think of themselves as “independent” because they are non-denominational.
Though PCC stood out in that it gave you a service folder and what little order there was to the service was in there. Their 3-set song was not at the beginning a Welcome video was. The songs were more rock than country, and the 5 piece band had 3 women. The songs failed the Issues, Etc. test. They were more love song than worship and the verbs were all about what you do not what God did, does, will do.
As at most Contemporary Worship churches, you see the one hand up to one side in a wave, the two handed touch town, the two handed prayer posture, and the swaying. These are liturgical gestures. We’re in the area of adiaphora, but let it be noted that these gestures are meant to communicate even as our bowing, kneeling, signing of the cross are. Gestures communicate visibly what is going on in the inside. Confessional Lutherans stand for prayer because prayer is doing battle with the enemy, so we stand as one does for a fight. Likewise, the earliest church used the spread hands at the hip as the posture for prayer, and some rubrics indicate that when saying the Lord’s Prayer the hands are to be elevated to communicate the specialness of this prayer.
I left shaking my head at the mind-numbing repetition of lyrics in every song. It was dunning. I wondered out loud to my wife on the way out. “What does this mindless repeating of lyrics mean?” Liturgical people say the repetition is because the songs are so shallow. I conclude dunning is the point. When Jacob Strang debated Brigham Young’s representative, both men were trying to recruit more Mormons to their particular brand. Strang spoke for 4 hours, and the end of which Young’s representative was converted to his cause. I’ve been overwhelmed before not by the force of someone’s argument but by the unrelenting tsunami of their words. Maybe it’s the equivalent of the snake charmer. Mindless repetition leaves us open to suggestibility or like the infamous Chinese Water Torture it leads to giving up and in.
My wife summed up all that was so wrong with PCC. The Gospel was there but the focus was on the law. We were harangued by a pastor who prides himself in being non-denominational, he refuses to draw lines, he is standing up for those persecuted by doctrine. Non-denominational means you don’t take a stand on which doctrine of Baptism, Communion, Conversion, or the afterlife is correct. You welcome all as long as they agree not to talk about doctrine.
The message in June 2023 was part 3 in a 4-part sermon series entitled: “Four ‘How To’ Books”. This one was on Esther and titled ‘How to serve God’”. The 5 steps were 1) Humbly. I’m not the main concern. 2) God opens unexpected opportunities for serving. 3) Evil is real and resists God’s servants. Don’t be surprised. 4) Serving requires being wise in taking a stand. 5) We serve knowing the Great Reversal – the resurrection – has come and is coming. That right there was the “Gospel”.
Yes, you could come out of there fired up to do some standing up, some speaking out, even as you can come out of a Lee Greenwood concert a patriot. You came out with the desire to serve but no empowerment to do so. It was like the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s stewardship drive of the 80’s: “His Love – Our RESPONSE”. The pfocus in Pflugerville CC was on what you’re to do not on what God has done in Christ.
