The Bible verse, "Let all things be done decently and in order" (I Cor. 14:40) is one of the all time favorites in the Church of Christ denomination. It gives the elders, already authoritarian petty tyrants, carte blanche to run the show according to their inflexible and rigid standards. Nothing different, ever; no innovation; no break in the mind-numbing, monotonous, boring, oppressive routine followed week by week, Sunday by Sunday, month by month, year by year, decade by decade. As we all know, the CofC obsession with the order of worship makes this verse immensely important.
Nothing as minor as shifting the order of "worship" like moving the announcements from the end of the service to the beginning, or changing how many hymns are sung and when could even be contemplated. Why? Because that might not be considered doing things "decently and in order." But I remember longing for just such a trivial change, just for some break in the usual routine.
Can you think of a time in your years in the CofC that some change or innovation, probably minor or trivial in the extreme, caused a dust up that resulted in the invocation of the "decently and in order" clause to snuff it out?
Decently and In Order
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NeverAgain
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Decently and In Order
Last edited by NeverAgain on Tue Sep 08, 2015 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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NeverAgain
- Posts: 149
- Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 9:20 am
Re: Decently and In Order
I'll start myself, since this incident is what made me think to start the thread:
I grew up in a state university town, very close to the campus, and there were several CofC students who attended there. One week, as we were all sitting in the auditorium waiting for the "next appointed time" to begin, those students -- abetted by home grown members of the same age, some of whom attended that college as well -- just began singing! Can you imagine? They just started singing before the official start of church, without a song being announced by the song leader! And it wasn't anything weird or unknown -- it was right out of the approved-by-god-in-the-first-century songbook, one we sang just all the time anyway. The biddies and bubbas were stunned. But it was like the pledge of allegiance or something, because once the song got started, they all stopped the gossip fest and joined in, because they would have felt pretty sinful and maybe not self righteous enough to just keep talking when a hymn was being sung.
This went on for two or three weeks. The consternation was immense. Members of "the church" singing songs on their own was clearly subversive and dangerous. They might even be enjoying coming to church, which would be suspect as well. "Error" just had to be creeping in. The problem was, the bubbas and the biddies needed a "proof text" to shut this rebellion down once and for all. The elders convened. They found what they needed. I Cor. 14:40. This singing wasn't being done "decently and in order." Singing for the joy of praising God was not to be allowed.
The next Sunday, one of the deacons was delegated the responsibility of going over to that group before they got started. I saw him talking to three or four of "the ringleaders." There was no out of order singing that day, or ever again. Of course, the college students never again darkened the doors of our church. But that was a small price to pay to keep things going "decently and in order."
I grew up in a state university town, very close to the campus, and there were several CofC students who attended there. One week, as we were all sitting in the auditorium waiting for the "next appointed time" to begin, those students -- abetted by home grown members of the same age, some of whom attended that college as well -- just began singing! Can you imagine? They just started singing before the official start of church, without a song being announced by the song leader! And it wasn't anything weird or unknown -- it was right out of the approved-by-god-in-the-first-century songbook, one we sang just all the time anyway. The biddies and bubbas were stunned. But it was like the pledge of allegiance or something, because once the song got started, they all stopped the gossip fest and joined in, because they would have felt pretty sinful and maybe not self righteous enough to just keep talking when a hymn was being sung.
This went on for two or three weeks. The consternation was immense. Members of "the church" singing songs on their own was clearly subversive and dangerous. They might even be enjoying coming to church, which would be suspect as well. "Error" just had to be creeping in. The problem was, the bubbas and the biddies needed a "proof text" to shut this rebellion down once and for all. The elders convened. They found what they needed. I Cor. 14:40. This singing wasn't being done "decently and in order." Singing for the joy of praising God was not to be allowed.
The next Sunday, one of the deacons was delegated the responsibility of going over to that group before they got started. I saw him talking to three or four of "the ringleaders." There was no out of order singing that day, or ever again. Of course, the college students never again darkened the doors of our church. But that was a small price to pay to keep things going "decently and in order."
Re: Decently and In Order
Yep, I was in my former life an arm swinger aka song leader. In an effort to inject some life into the "service" I had the audacity to ask everyone to stand for the first song (gasp). It caused a stir and one of the elders mentioned to me the objections of others to my "changing the orderly services".
Re: Decently and In Order
Amazing story NA, and yes that "decently and in order" is used by tyrants and people are irked when they feel upstaged in self-righteousness. People just singing but in the minds of the other people they felt "judged" because judging others and one-upping others is what they do...so that must have been what the singers were doing...showing off. How dare they pretend to want even more singing...singing is something that must be commanded and done out of obedience to a command.
I got the decent and in order thing once when I asked to lead a song on open mic night (er, sorry, singing night). I was told that they only sing 12 songs on singing night and that they were all already assigned...that there is just not time to sing more. Also only first and last (or any 2 ) verses were allowed to be lead. If a song had only one verse it counted the same as any other song...12 songs was the limit. As it turned out, someone overheard the rules being explained to me and volunteered to let me have his spot. I should have hit the door running but I stayed and joined up.
I got the decent and in order thing once when I asked to lead a song on open mic night (er, sorry, singing night). I was told that they only sing 12 songs on singing night and that they were all already assigned...that there is just not time to sing more. Also only first and last (or any 2 ) verses were allowed to be lead. If a song had only one verse it counted the same as any other song...12 songs was the limit. As it turned out, someone overheard the rules being explained to me and volunteered to let me have his spot. I should have hit the door running but I stayed and joined up.
Isn't the world wonderful...I am all for rational optimism and I am staying positive.
Re: Decently and In Order
I am PRETTY sure the NT quote meant 'with propriety and organization' rather than something ordered like a LIST.
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
Re: Decently and In Order
agricola wrote:I am PRETTY sure the NT quote meant 'with propriety and organization' rather than something ordered like a LIST.
LOL..oh really? Are you sure? Because that list thing really works. How could something like a list be so wrong when it feels so right? There was that 10 commandment list on stone and then later the NT mentions having name lists but they can be updated with just some Blot-Out.
Isn't the world wonderful...I am all for rational optimism and I am staying positive.
Re: Decently and In Order
Funny thread. So many memories on this one. Here's my list:
*Once the leader had us sing a song for each part of the lords supper instead of the typical speeches
*Visiting Preacher used Power Point during his sermon
*Leader handed out songs on paper to sing instead of the approved song book
*Leader asked people to walk forward in a line to partake of the lords supper (just once though)
*Some women stopped wearing the authorized head coverings (big distraction)
*Length of break time between class & worship sometimes drug on too long causing complaints
*Dropping Sunday night worship
*etc...
*Once the leader had us sing a song for each part of the lords supper instead of the typical speeches
*Visiting Preacher used Power Point during his sermon
*Leader handed out songs on paper to sing instead of the approved song book
*Leader asked people to walk forward in a line to partake of the lords supper (just once though)
*Some women stopped wearing the authorized head coverings (big distraction)
*Length of break time between class & worship sometimes drug on too long causing complaints
*Dropping Sunday night worship
*etc...
Re: Decently and In Order
What a story, NeverAgain! You know, you could have one-upped them on the prooftext with James 5:13, "Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise."
I got decently-and-in-ordered for suggesting that we sing a song while passing the communion and/or collection trays. I had seen it done at another church and thought it was nice. Nope: not decent or in order. Sit in silence and mull over your cracker while you wait for your juice.
Another time was when I was in college and went with the family of a girl I was seeing on vacation. There were no "sound" COC congregations where we were so the patriarch decided we'd "have church" at our hotel on our own. There was a kitchen and we were planning to cook breakfast after services. I suggested that we just include communion along with our breakfast so it would feel more like the original Lord's Supper, you know, part of a meal. Nope. Decently-and-in-order.
Lev
I got decently-and-in-ordered for suggesting that we sing a song while passing the communion and/or collection trays. I had seen it done at another church and thought it was nice. Nope: not decent or in order. Sit in silence and mull over your cracker while you wait for your juice.
Another time was when I was in college and went with the family of a girl I was seeing on vacation. There were no "sound" COC congregations where we were so the patriarch decided we'd "have church" at our hotel on our own. There was a kitchen and we were planning to cook breakfast after services. I suggested that we just include communion along with our breakfast so it would feel more like the original Lord's Supper, you know, part of a meal. Nope. Decently-and-in-order.
Lev
Re: Decently and In Order
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!I had the audacity to ask everyone to stand for the first song (gasp).
~Stone Cold Ivyrose Austin~