Volume, Vol. 2

Spouse & I are still trying to find a church that won't cause our ears to bleed.

I googled churches in my city. Friends Christian Fellowship was on the list. They didn't have a Web site.

So, a little research. There are four general flavors of Friends (aka Quaker) churches. Think of a 2x2 matrix: Liberal (similar to Unitarian Universalists) vs Conservative ("Christ-centered"), and unstructured vs structured.

Unstructured... Hmmm... If you're sitting silently waiting for God to speak to you and/or prod you to speak, then you probably don't have a rock band blasting you at 120 decibels.

Unstructured conservative would probably be perfect for us. And there are lots of these. In places like Pennsylvania.

The church here in town had no Web site. Odds were, though, since CA is a ways away from Pennsylvania, this wouldn't be an unstructured conservative service. But, if they're too small to have a Web site, maybe they're too small to have a rock band. Or, at least too small to afford big amplifiers.

So, we went.

This was an Evangelical Friends church. Going back to that 2x2 matrix, that would be conservative & structured.

Well, I was wrong about them being too small for a rock band. They were small, alright. I counted about 30 adults. But, they had the rock band.

The good news is, they do have a sound level meter. And, they claim to try to keep it at or under 90.

In fact, decibels ranged from 85 to 99, and that was with the drummer missing.

This may be as good as its going to get for us.

Meanwhile, Spouse & I are certainly not alone in our concern for aural safety at church. Others, including Nephew 1.0 and our friend Grant report that their churches are too loud. And,the Neph isn't an old fogey like us. Nor is it some weird California phenomenon. The nephew's church is in Wisconsin.

Maybe I really should consider going back for an M.Div. and starting my own church. The problem is, almost any seminary is going to require attendance at chapel services. Where they'll probably have rock bands.

He must increase, but I must decrease

Is there a verse that causes you to stop in your tracks, every time you see it? John 3:30 is that verse for me.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

An amazing declaration.

And, if you look at the context, John T. Baptist isn't saying this in some Eeyeore-ian tone of voice. No, he's happy. Like the best man at a wedding is happy.

With questions of who gets to sit on the right hand of Jesus' throne and who gets to sit on the left, one gets the impression that the disciples weren't saying, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

Their attitude was more like, "A rising tide lifts all boats." Yay! Go Jesus! More fame, honor, and glory for you means more for me, since I'm on your team!

I think most modern Americans can relate a little more to the disciples point of view than they can to John B.'s.

But, there he is, in the third chapter, quietly among his own disciples, saying, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

And, just in case his disciples don't quite get it, John B. adds, "He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth...."

In other words, "Guys, He's God. I'm not."

It seems people today really want to be their own god.

Well, they've always wanted that. But nowadays they're a lot more open about it.

A former coworker was into Etherian Mysticism. She'd left an article by the reigning mystic on her desk. It said something that pretty much boiled down to "You are God."

Yeah, lots of people seem to like that nowadays... being their own god.

But there he was, John T. Baptist, happy to say, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

I think I would like to have known him.