What one finds in a daily newspaper:"The Mission Church stresses openness in its new topical service
"A Song of Milky Way" is the name of a new theme in a Mission Church in Huskvarna (a town nearby I live). 'It is a topical service with music and thoughts around life,' explains the secretary of the congregation, Åke Johansson.
- Before we always used to have traditional Sunday service. Now we will put emphasis on a musical service for those who are not very churchly.
Emphasis on music
The emphasis during the Sunday service is put on song, music and personal experiences and thoughts.
The choirs, solo artists and musicians from the congregation take part, but there will be also an opportunity for everybody to sing along.
- We do not have any sermon, and the songs are to carry the message, explains pastor Lisbeth Stigemyr.
She says that the inspiration comes from the former bishop's, Martin Lönnebo's, rosary, called "saving wreath". This Sunday is the "I-pearl", and the conversation is going to be centered around it.
- This means that a person may look at his own life. We are created by God, and therefore each and every one of us has a spiritual value.
The youth leader, Marcus Josephson, who has studied christian music at ITM, is a composer of "A Song of Milky Way", put together especially for this form of service. The beautiful title comes from the street name, the adress of the church, says Marcus.
- We wanted to have a signature melody that sums up our intentions about this service. So I wrote a song with a melody that is easy for everybody to sing along, he says.
New faces in church
It is planned that "A Song of Milky Way" service is going to be played several times a year. Already when it was performed the first time in the beginning of the year, there were some new faces in church, say the pastor and the composer gladly.
- We want to show that we are not about admiring one another within the closed club. Our services are open for everybody and we want to welcome people to everything we do, says Åke Johansson."
How should we comment on this...
I do not even know where to begin, folks. What is Mission Church, you might ask. Well, read their own description at the end of this post. They have their own Bible schools, own pastoral ordinations, but they also have a close cooperation with the Church of Sweden (the apostate one, remember?), and the Methodist Church. Those three can exchange pastors, services, etc. Not nasty enough?
They have female pastors - like in this example here.
And they have... well, not much more than that. As you can read, the sermons have become obsolete, in favor of human experiences, music and song. I have no problem with the songs. I love music. I cannot live a day without it. I feed on music, lately on Christian music solely, and it is good to have music. But you cannot have ONLY music, instead of the WORD!!!
Well, you can, if you are seeker-sensitive and want to provide a form of Sunday entertainment. But do not count me in, please.
Folks, this is the picture of Sweden. Sweden on a Sunday is not a country of sound doctrine. Rather, it is a country of curing a hangover, a country of repairing your car, resting and doing secular family stuff. Those attending churches are tolerated and looked upon as strange, but harmless individuals. But they are not too many, so, as we can see, some churches will not stop at anything in order to draw the crowd. Sermon? No, too boring, all that stuff about sin and cross - get rid of it.
BTW, have you listened to The Narrow Mind this week? Pastor Gene gave an example of a church getting rid of "Amen" in favor of "Boo-yeah". Is there anything that is going to surprise me any more?
Pray for Sweden, brothers and sisters. Pray for us. Especially after reading their own description below:
Mission Covenant Church of Sweden
The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden, MCCS, wants to make room for life’s essential questions and to meet the longing we all share of belief, hope and love in the message of Jesus Christ. MCCS wants to make room for life in a society consisting of people with different beliefs and outlooks on life. The MCCS is one of the largest churches in Sweden with an active children’s and youth organization, the Mission Covenant Youth of Sweden, SMU.
MCCS is the second largest church in Sweden. Some 130,000 people take part in services and other activities at 732 congregations. Over 65,000 children and youth are active in the church youth organization, SMU.
The three main components of the congregation are church services with the Word of God, baptism and communion. The congregation provides an open invitation not only for contemplation, but also the opportunity to participate in building a better society. Music and song also play an important role in our fellowship.
Together with Christian churches worldwide, we confess Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, as stated in the Bible. We want to spread this conviction further; both through the congregations in Sweden as well as through mission work in other countries.
With Christ as the obvious center for faith, MCCS invites open fellowship with space for the numerous perceptions of a varied people. We believe that different ways of interpreting the Bible enriches our fellowship.
The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden strives to be a free and open church. Free in its invitation for others to take a position on and interpret Christian belief; open to the varied needs of all people.
7 comments:
This post is pretty scary...but unfortunately I think it is headed our way and in many instances it is already here! I will be praying for Sweden.
As a side note...My paternal side of the family moved from Sweden and Norway in the late 1800's to Minnesota. My grandmother researched the history on this. My family was Lutheran...when they acknowledged God.
It's sad that this is happening all over. My pastor used an illustration yesterday of a church that started serving grilled chicken dinners, to increase attendance. They called themselves something like the "Church of God Chicken House"...well a few years went by and pretty soon it became a restaurant bringing in pretty good money. At some point they quit being a church, but they kept the same name. Lost their focus.
We need to pray for revival across the board, America may have been founded on Christian principles, but we're deader than a church doornail. I know there are many godly people, so forgive my bluntness, but suffice it to say there's room for improvement, including me!
"Church of God Chicken House"???
Oh dear, I will have to write Gene Cook about it, he collects such pearls...
But seriously - this wave of "evang(j)ellyfish"-like Christianity is growing rapidly.
Stand on the word - always!
Hello Ann! I understand that you don't like what we have been doing in our church. Yes. It's me, the youthleader of the church you are describing, who is writing. I just googled myself to see if someone had written anything about me, and apparently someone had... Just wanted to make you realize that you don't have a clue what you are talking about. Yes. The "Mission church" has got a lot of flaws, but what you are criticizing is based on an articel in an atheistic newspaper... Yes, we don't call the sermon for "sermon" but we sure do use words. In many ways. And if you know anything about the "saving wreath" you know that it contains a lot more things than just love, laughter and other "weak" things. Ok. It is hard for me to write more as my weak english comes inbetween. But if you want to talk more, please mail me at marcus.josephson(a)home.se. I'd love to hear how your beliefs are better than ours.
I translated the article and commented on it. In March 2007. But that doesn't matter, really, because I stand by what I thought then, now more than ever, having my son put through the Scouting group in Mission Church. He still, after over 2 years there, has not heard the Gospel preached there. Not once. What is the centre of your theology? Goodnss of man's heart? Welfare? Or Jesus crucified for our sins? I wonder...
The pitiful state of evangelicalism in Sweden is visible to many. Church bending to the society, giving in to the trends, accepting "tolerance". You might as well call it a social activity for nice people...
I am a Reformed Christian, taking Bible for what it claims to be - God's Word. Whole of it. And I am not ashamed of the Gospel, and am not hiding it begind phony activities and gadgets.
What you win them with is what you win them to - weak evangelism produces weak believers. I am not in favor of Rick Warren - type of teachers, neither in favor of emerging church of MacLaren style.
We are to preach repentance and salvation, we are to preach the cross.
Jag insåg precis att jag inte behöver skriva på engelska... Det förvånar mig att din son inte har hört något om Jesus på scouterna. Väldigt konstigt! Är det i vår kyrka han går alltså? Jag kan inte säga något om andra kyrkor än vår egen, men jag vet att vi många gånger under en termin, bland annat på scoutgudstjänsten vi har en gång per termin, predikar ett klart och tydligt budskap om Jesus. Kanske inte ett "vänd om eller dö"-budskap, men ändå något som vi tror hjälper barnen och deras föräldrar att få upp ögonen för vem (vi tror att) Jesus är. Sen så kanske du tycker att det är vagt, det vet jag inte. Vi har inte riktigt samma referenser i och med att du säger att du inte gillar Rick Warren, vilket jag gör. Men det som stör mig mest med dina blogginlägg här är att de känns hårda och dömande. Jag vet inte vad du gör för att sprida evangeliet, men ärligt talat så känns det du skriver här inte direkt som ett glädjebudskap. Hårda ord och svindlande teologiska resonemang verkade inte vara Jesus linje. I alla fall inte i den Bibeln jag har läst. Vi är ärliga människor som ärligt försöker dela med oss av vår tro. Vi skäms inte heller för evangeliet, men vi är öppna med att vi inte förstår allt. Och att vi inte tror att man måste förstå allt för att kunna ta emot Jesus som sin Herre och räddare.
Marcus...
Engelska är mig närmare än svenska, men ok. Jag är inte svensk.
Min son deltar i scout-verksamhet i en annan kyrka. Jag har inte något negativt att säga om själva verksamheten, aktiviteterna, osv., men den religiösa delen fallerar, kanske orsaken till detta är just "seeker sensitive" attityd... För att inte förolämpa någon berättar man inte hela sanningen, och halvsanningar blir till lögner, tyvärr.
Rick Warren predikar inte nådens budskap. Hans budskap är gärningar och egna ansträngningar, dessutom mishandlar han Guds ord och tar verser ur sammanhanget för att uppnå sina syften. Enligt honom en av de viktigaste saker Jesus undervisade om var pengar. Enligt honom skall framtida kyrkomedlemmar få bestämma vad som det skall läggas vikten på i predikan och studier... Han har lämnat Biblen för länge sen...
Du säger att Jesus var den mjuka och älskande människan. Är du säker på det? Var han det mot fariseer? Var han det mor försäljare i templet? Var han det när han berättade om helvetet? Han älskade sina egna, men sparade dem inte ifrån prövningar och döden...
Tycker du att kärlek är djup om man döljer sanningen?
Vad skulle i så fall hända med de profeterna som var utsända av Gud i Gamla Testamentet, och som bar med sig mycket hårda bud? Skulle de hålla tyst för att inte såra någon? Kommer du ihåg Jeremias? Jesajah? Och andra?
Vet du, vad som stör mig i den frikyrkliga rörelsen? Oviljan mot Reformationen, dess historia, dess grundare. Oviljan att lära sig, oviljan att erkänna sina rötter. Ja, jag är en kalvinist. Hatobjekt i Christianity-light movement. Vi är inte så många i dag i Sverige. Men Bibelns budskap om Guds Makt och Bestämmande över syndaren har alltid stört dem, som vill behålla makten i egna händer.
Vi har alla varit synergister en gång i tiden. Vi skall alla vara monergister den dagen vi står framför Honom. Det är min tröst.
God Jul, Marcus.
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