Interesting Quote from President Kieschnick’s First Book Which has Now Hit the Shelves, by Pr. Rossow

I got a call today from some friends in St. Louis who have purchased President Kieschnick’s new book. They had not read enough to offer a critique but Pastor Thomas Messer, from Alma, Michigan dropped in a quote from the book over on the post from Pastor Wilken this morning.

Click here for information on the book from the CPH website.

Due to preparations for the BJS conference and parish duties I do not have time to pursue this topic much further at this point. Hopefully our readers, can provide some more quotes and commentary.

Here is the quote Pastor Messer posted:

“Many congregations in the LCMS offer a variety of worship experiences, including especially those with multiple worship opportunities each week. In quite a few cases, the ‘blended’ or ‘contemporary’ services may vary widely. Most involve musicians who play guitar, drums, violin, keyboard, and other instruments, along with a ‘praise team’ of congregational members who lead the congregation in contemporary songs of worship . . . Many pastors have testified that members of their congregations are much more likely to invite non-churched friends and family members to the more informal services rather than traditional services. When asked why this is so, they reply that the non-traditional services generally tend to be more informal, thus providing natural opportunity for visitors to feel more comfortable than is often the case in a formal, more liturgical service. They also indicate that the overwhelming majority of new members are first introduced to the congregation through the informal, blended, or contemporary services rather than through the traditional, formal services of worship.” (Gerald Kieschnick, “Waking the Sleeping Giant,” CPH 2009, p. 61)

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