At a funeral today, a parishioner from a different parish in the wider area cornered me to vent his frustration over his parish going to the American Evangelical worship route. I thought his comments were both insightful and humorous.

"And those songs! It's all one word over and over again - Jesus, Jesus, Jesus - no explanation!"

"And we've got this one fella who thinks he can play the guitar and so at Christmas time he gets up there and sings this song, 'Mary, did you know this?' 'Mary, did you know that?' Well, she knew before anybody else. . . "

I wonder just how many parishes have experienced significant conflict at the hands of the pushers of "contemporary worship"?

+HRC