Christopher Johnson of the Midwest Conservative Journal has been dumpster-diving again, and came up with a genuinely bizarre episode of “When Liturgists Attack.” In this case, it’s a meeting of Call to Action, the liberal Catholic organization that is actually an Episcopalian black ops unit. (Unfortunately, C2A is off-line at this time, since there are so many people looking for laughs that their site’s bandwidth limit has been overwhelmed.) While the original isn’t available at the moment, YouTube has a portion of it. It must be seen to be believed: liturgical dancing, giant papier-mâché puppet heads, censer-fu, a statue of Buddha in the background (the service started with a Buddhist meditation), and more. Joe Bob says check it out.
UPDATE: Welcome to folks from Little Green Footballs and Age of Hooper. I feel like I’ve made the big time!
UPDATE: I should also mention that the Call to Action Web site is back up, and it’s a real treat to browse around in–almost any proto-Episcopal semi-Catholic you can come up with (from Rosemary Reuther to Hans Kung to Charles Curran) has got stuff on it. If you’d like a place to start to get to know the weirdness that is Call to Action, try the piece by New Age nutball Matthew Fox.
May 9, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Thanks for disturbing me beyond all measure!
The puppets! The puppets! Oh, the humanity!
May 9, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Oh, and one more thing. Did you notice the age of the crowd? Gray hairs and silver all…
I guess liberal syncretistic idolatry has a limited future. There’s some consolation in that.
May 9, 2008 at 6:25 pm
wow. I’d love to know the thinking here.
May 9, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Thinking? We don’t need no stinking thinking!
May 9, 2008 at 8:14 pm
???
May 9, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Well, at least they’re bringing the young people in.
May 10, 2008 at 12:11 am
But where are the giant animatronic saints??? The puppets scare me. It’s like a GWAR concert only Musak….
May 10, 2008 at 1:00 am
Wow!! What can one say. Not very good liturgical dance. The singing reminds me of “praise songs” but not so good. I think that Rick Warren/Bill Hybels would love this. It is so “non-traditional.” This is what happens when one throws out the Regulative Principle of Worship and tries to make worship “Relevant.”
I would note that the thurifer (guy with the incence) is SO Roman Catholic!! A good Anglican would have done a couple of “round the worlds” or at least “walk the dog!!”
(I am only partially joking about the incence. Anglican censing is more “physical.” Our new bishop wants incence for his visit in June so I have to either do some quick classes for the acolytes or I will have to “swing” the incence myself. Something I have not done for over 20 years-since college. So pray for me, I could literally burn down the church!!!)
May 10, 2008 at 8:27 am
Poor girl. That giant demon puppet is trying to squash her with his pizza-oven-type spatula-hands. Scary.
May 10, 2008 at 8:33 am
I just noticed that giant-spatula-handed-demon puppet is wearing an alb and stole. So he’s a giant-spatula-handed-demon puppet PRIEST. Now it all makes sense.
“And after the creed, we shall do the Macarena…” (c.4:30)
May 11, 2008 at 5:44 am
This remains a mean spirited blog that certainly loves looking for that tiny little spec lodged in someone’s eye.
While this is not my worship style, and I’m certain nearly 100% of children would be fearful of the big-headed, flat handed individuals, it is clear that many people in the worship service are being inspired.
Now you can stop casting stones and collect your coats at the feet of Rev. Fischler, and find your way to that road leading to Damascus.
May 11, 2008 at 11:49 am
Sounds like you need a sense of humor transplant.
May 11, 2008 at 12:35 pm
it is clear that many people in the worship service are being inspired.
To do what?
May 11, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Amy K,
If I had been there, i would have been inspired to do something un-Christian. (Lighting the papier mache heads on fire, tripping the dancer) or at least inspired to RUN FOR THE EXITS!!
May 11, 2008 at 6:22 pm
You could do that Chip. But let’s face it. You really should leave the planet and nuke it from space. It’s the only way to be sure.
May 11, 2008 at 7:42 pm
LOL!
May 12, 2008 at 11:43 am
Yst another episode of Christians Gone WILD. lol…….drink the Kool Aid…
May 12, 2008 at 3:12 pm
LOL! Its like religious Mad Libs. Just fill in the blanks and come up with wacky religious services.
May 12, 2008 at 3:17 pm
>>it is clear that many people in the worship service are being inspired.
>To do what?
Leave and never return.
May 12, 2008 at 5:08 pm
They actually blessed themselves “In the name of the creator, the redeemer and the sanctifier”. Very nice and supremely vague- Pope John Paul II and Martin Luther are BOTH spinning in their graves.
May 12, 2008 at 5:12 pm
If ya’ hits ‘em hard enough in the head with a stick, does candy fly out????
May 12, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I mean the puppets, NOT the people…
May 12, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I think you have it backwards… Episcopalians are really anal-retentive about their liturgy, for the most part. You want fruity-weirdo-liturgy, you gotta go Catholic.
May 12, 2008 at 7:42 pm
What the heck was that?!?! The only remotely Catholic thing I recognized was the priest. Yeesh, what a joke.
I did kinda like the “creator, redeemer, sanctifier” thing. Not to substitute for the real Sign of the Cross but as a way to teach its meaning to kids.
May 12, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Holy cr**! They remind me of giant versions of the pez dispensers that Curt Jester has on his site: http://www.splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/archives/008918.php
May 12, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Looks like the “profits of salvation” are being misspent. Ya just gotta’ love those folks who came up with the Inquisition, don’t ya?
May 13, 2008 at 1:47 am
wow the only item missing was some snake dancers and people being slain in the Spirit, besides that they do not seem much different than most contemporary Evangelical churches.
May 13, 2008 at 10:33 pm
As a Catholic, all I can say is – - – there are no words.
May 14, 2008 at 10:07 am
Finally we’re seeing the same Romanism that exists in other parts of the world. You no longer have to drive across the border to Mexico to see paganism flagrantly mingled with Roman worship. (Mingling local diety worship with the mass)
So we finally have a pope that is Catholic and an American Roman Catholicism that is consistent with our neighbors. At least the mask is off, er… on.
May 15, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I told them not to put LSD in the communion wine, but did they listen???
May 21, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Let me get this straight . You bitter, sarcastic, arrogant, uncharitable folks posting here who wouldn’t know Christ if he slapped you in the face with one of those big spatula hands think the folks in the video are the ones missing the mark??? Wow.
May 22, 2008 at 8:05 am
Thank you for your humble, charitable, sweetness-and-light comment. I appreciate your showing all us bitter people the way to Christ.
May 22, 2008 at 9:07 am
Bitter? Arrogant? Uncharitable?
Has John been speaking to Jodie?
I guess we would be better loved by the revisionists if we hid ourselves and kept our mouths shut.
Yeah, like THAT’S going to happen!
June 1, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Hi!
I sent this to my friend “Charles Ryder” at Age of Hooper for you! Knowing his affinity for papier mache puppets, I knew he would be delighted and horrified.
Faith McDonnell
IRD
June 2, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Thanks, Faith. Charles may already have had it, but the more puppets he has the better!
November 11, 2008 at 9:23 pm
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