RE: DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE? WHY?
Donald Bloesch wrote:
"Not long ago a friend of mine reported that a church he had previously pastored in New Zealand removed the large, central pulpit (its only pulpit) and substituted a screen, which is used for praise songs and choruses and also to relay graphically illustrated biblical stories and sermonic messages."

One of the things about Eastern Orthodoxy which initially caught my attention was the level of mutli-media in the liturgy -- the use of light, images, color, cloth, texture, and incense. The attention to detail and beauty is engaging -- not at all novel -- really quite the opposite of my church experience but at the same not totally foreign to the media framework which is native to the way I process life.

And at the same time there is so much scripture -- so much Word. And when it is healthy, Eastern Orthodoxy is characterized by great preaching. One of the greatest expositors of the Bible was old Golden Mouth himself -- St. John Chrysostom! In the EO world the line between the spoken world and the visual world is diminished -- not unlike in the OT temple.

This is where Reformational thinking got off track -- especially on the Reformed/Presbyterian side of the street. They drew a sharp line between the audible and the visual -- the word and the image. Things got out of balance -- emphasizing word over visual.

This is also where "Postmodern" thinking gets off track. They draw the same kind of a sharp line between the audible and the visual -- the word and the image. Things are out of balance -- emphasizing visual over word. (All because the rest of the world seems to be doing that -- lame).

This is not an either/or situation. Both audible and visual can and must co-exist in order to be balanced and healthy (and not only in Eastern Orthodox churches!).

Now, there are a few qualifiers:

1. Context. If you serve in a congregation or with people who aren't very visually oriented, pastoral prudence suggests that you have to move slowly and gently -- or you will unnecessarily divide the church -- and in doing so you won't be showing the love of Jesus -- no matter how powerful of a statement you make.

2. The use of multi-media is often overdone to the point where the point seems to be the media. (This happens in Eastern Orthodoxy, too, where people are occasionally more enthralled with the icons than the God they point to). In pomo worship the desire to be cutting edge sometimes overshadows the Word.

In some ways the media should be "invisible" -- not that it isn't seen but that it doesn't draw the attention to itself. When the media becomes the focus we're buying into the same marketing mentality that some of the big production churches used in the 70's and 80's. "Come worship with us because we've got the latest and the flashiest video. We'll rock the socks off you." Worship then becomes focused on pleasing the consumer.

If you're going to use art -- just do it. Don't advertise that you're an artsy church. Don't make that a part of your statement of purpose -- or worse yet your "church slogan". If you use video -- don't stand up there and tell everyone how cool they are because they get to see movies in church -- don't try to be overly cute with it -- just use the video clip -- let it speak for itself. If it's as powerful as you think it is, you won't even have to explain it too much. It will speak for itself. If you have to explain it then it's probably not worth using. Jesus often left his parables unexplained.

Professor Bloesch also wrote:
"Extended Scripture reading as a preparation for
the sermon is also becoming less frequent..."

Bloesch is just enough of a Barthian to misread this (pun intended). Scripture reading is not preparation for the sermon. The sermon is response to the scripture reading. The reading of scripture is a high point in corporate worship. This is God's Word -- so we need to make a big deal out of hearing it. And because it is God's Word we move on to proclaim it, expounding on it, and drawing out the implications for the hearer.

Again, great preaching isn't the point. Hearing what God is saying to us is. If the message is communicated in an exclusively audio manner -- great! If there are occasional video clips or dramas or soloists to help make the point -- great! Just make the point! We're way too hung up on the method of delivery. And that's not good news.