Monday, June 25, 2007

Liturgical Dance Conference


I’ve wanted for sometime now to tackle liturgical dance. Ever since my niece called from Concordia University Chicago and told me folks were prancing around in leotards in a midday chapel service, I’ve really had the urge to let loose on this one. But, I just couldn’t think up any way it was possible to deal with the seriousness of the issue without appearing just outright mean. I poke a lot of fun at things here, but I always try balance that out with a little humor. Even the site logo, which Morning Glory graciously helped me put together, combines both a serious theological side with snarky humor.

Then the email came.

Not everything I poke fun at here is forwarded to or even found by me. Every now and then a gem just simply pops into my email. I got placed (somehow, and not desired at first but later realizing that even heterodoxy can be a gift on some level) on several small group, church growth, everyone can be a priest spam lists. That’s where this one highlighting a liturgical dance conference came from. Sometimes real life is far more strange and convoluted than even the bizarro ideas crawling around my noggin could ever dream of. The thing that jumped out at me was one of the classes offered. I went ahead and circled the appropriate line in the enlarged section of the photo.

My commentary is short and it is this; Men, teaching other men, how to dance with men, for a man-god.

2 comments:

Emily H. said...

I left for college just when my "home church" was starting up a contemporary service. A couple of years ago when I was back home visiting my parents, they wanted us to come to church with them. Lo and behold, were we ever in for a suprise. They had liturgical dancers that day in church. Gaahhh! - and that's all I'll say to that.

Frank Gillespie said...

Hi Emily, I’m sorry to hear about your home church. Once we start down the road of contemporary worship, many things are possible as well as permissible. My niece likes to remind me liturgical dance is nothing more than entertainment for men as the dancers are normally women dancing around in leotards. That’s why the men teaching men class really gave me a laugh. My missus would be on the floor laughing herself silly if I ever showed up at church ready to dance a jig. She would also walk out of the service if she could recover from her laughing fit.