I recently read a chapter that left an imprint on me both academically and personally, and I knew it was happening in real-time. It brought together numerous threads in a clear way that helped make sense of various discussions in my research field. But, more importantly, it left me in a spirit of worship as the words that echoed in my mind were not those of the author, but of others you might be familiar with.
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Reflections from W. B. Hinson during the Cancelation of Services at East Side Baptist Church
During the fall of 1918, church services throughout Portland, OR were canceled in response to restrictions placed by the city on large gatherings because of the Spanish flu epidemic. Beginning on October 13, 1918, East Side Baptist Church was unable to gather together for worship. This timing was particularly difficult because the church had just purchased a new building on the corner of SE 20th & Salmon and gathered for worship in it for the first time on October 6. Not allowed to meet with his congregation, Pastor W. B. Hinson agreed to preach at a church in Hillsboro on October 13. But still, he longed to be with his congregation. In the following weeks, Hinson would send out weekly bulletins at his own expense in order to remain in contact with his people and encourage them in the faith.
In the bulletin for October 20, Hinson shared the following comments. Here was an opportunity for them to stop and reflect on the privilege and responsibility of worshiping as a church.
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Ask Pastor Charlie - On Congregational Singing
In this episode of Ask Pastor Charlie, we focus on questions related to congregational singing. Churches these days have more access to technology, resources, media, and all kinds of other enhancements to our worship services. But are our churches singing better? How do we get our people to sing? What’s the job of the worship leader? What kind of songs should we sing? Let’s listen in:
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Was the Reformation a Success?
This talk was given at Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, OR on Oct. 29, 2017, in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
Was the Reformation a success?
That probably seems like a strange question for us to think about. Here on this historic Reformation Sunday, this is a question worth considering. How do we know the Reformation was a success? Megachurches? Political church alliances? Rapid church multiplication? New York Times bestsellers? What could we point to?
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"Karli" and Kids Music
Karl Barth was a complex figure. He’s always had a tenuous relationship with evangelicals. In fact, this site derives its name in part from a simultaneously hostile and humorous conversation between Barth and evangelical theologian Carl F. H. Henry. As recent research has confirmed, Karl Barth was no perfect man. [1] He harbored sin in his life and attempted to justify it to avoid repentance (as we are all prone to do). But he also made significant contributions to Protestant theology, many of which helped steer a new course away from liberalism and toward a renewed appreciation for Christ and Scripture. If you view theological liberalism and traditional evangelical theology as a road trip from Los Angeles to Atlanta, Barth gets you all the way to about Jackson, Mississippi. His theological program has much to commend and leaves much to be desired.
But this post is not focused on Barth the adult or Barth the theologian. Rather, it will look at Karl Barth the child, “Karli” as his parents called him. As Mark Galli points out in his new book Karl Barth: An Introductory Biography for Evangelicals, young Karl had a mean-streak in him that led to his share of fight fights. But alongside this proclivity to confrontation, Karli was captivated by music. He first heard Mozart at age 5 or 6 and was gripped from then on. But Mozart was not the watershed musician for young Barth; his mother was.
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When You Don’t Feel Like Going to Church: The Puritans on Worshipping Together
In highschool, Sundays were my favorite days. If I had to miss school or a hangout with friends, I would be disappointed, but if I had to miss church, I felt off for the whole week. I loved hearing the message, singing our songs, eating a big lunch, and laying around in someone’s living room talking about anything. And when Sunday was over, I couldn’t wait until the next one.
Years later in university, Sundays became my least favorite day. I started taking medication that made me sick from Saturday to Monday, and going to church became the time I had to pretend to be happy when all I felt was depressed. On Saturday nights I dreaded the next morning, and on Sunday nights I fell asleep happy. Of course, I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know how to get back to where I was.
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