Church Experimentation

This Sunday, a good friend and I went to a to-remain-nameless Episcopal church in Boston, mainly because it was rumored that they performed a Bach Cantata every Sunday. This turned out to be true! But I have gotten ahead of myself. We were aware that the church's doctrine varied quite a bit from our own, but we were willing to check it out anyway. The service included glorious music during every aspect of worship. The hymns were all good, and it seemed like we had sung most of them recently in our own church. This could have been due to the fact that the music directors of both churches are very in tune with the liturgical calendar...but it could also be attributed to mere coincidence. Either way, they were familiar, they were some of the great hymns of the faith, the organ/organist was talented, and the congregation sang reasonably loudly considering the small congregation in such a large space. The choir was magnificent, singing works by Thomas Tallis among other composers, and after the sermon, the church orchestra had its own processional. This orchestra included a full string section, a bassoon, and two oboe d'amores, which was especially exciting for me. I've heard recordings of oboe d'amores before, but I'd never seen one or heard one played in person. And here there was not only one, but two!

This is a small part of the Bach Cantata they performed:



So all in all, the musical experience of the service was very meaningful and uplifting. Nevertheless, I don't think I would go to the church again, solely because of the theology. I have no right to judge what is correct or not correct, of course, but there are certain doctrinal elements that I do have opinions about. This particular church had very different viewpoints on those elements specifically, and since those are things upon which I cannot compromise, I suppose I will have to let the cons outweigh the pros in this situation. As another friend pointed out, it is not normal, but rather remarkable that this church holds such incredibly high standards for the musical worship, but I think that the teaching a church presents to its congregation should hold equivalent credibility.

After church, we went shopping on Newbury Street, ate some Chipotle-like amazing burritos and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and then headed for home. It was so much fun that we're hoping to try another Boston church in the near future...