Before the Service started
The problems came first,
There was no projectionist!
How could we sing the hymns?
How could we read the words?
The problem was vast!
But the thought crossed my mind
How on earth did we have Services
Before the Advent of technology.
The Service started
And there on the screen
Was the Service,
Well some of it!
The words were so small
Many could not read them.
A hymn started,
The organist played,
And the Choir joined in,
The congregation,
Those who could read the words,
Joined in.
Verse one was fine,
Then verse two was sung,
Followed by verse three
Then verse four,
No, where was verse four?
It had become verse five
For no reason.
The organist was confused,
The Choir was confused,
All went quiet.
The Service continued,
The address was given,
The screen showed pictures.
Death by Powerpoint once more,
But so small it could hardly be seen.
Then a statement was made,
We should get youngsters into nature
And away from their screens.
This hit home to me,
As this Service was led by the screen!
So again it came to me,
How on earth did we have Services,
Before the Advent of technology!
Another hymn was sung,
The first and second verse,
Followed by the Chorus.
The third verse was sung,
Then a picture came on the screen,
Not the words to the Chorus!
In the Choir I sang out loud,
The Choir followed.
We sang the Chorus,
The fourth verse,
And the final Chorus.
As we were all old fashioned,
WE had Hymn BOOKS!
How on earth did we have Services,
Before the Advent of technology?
-
Author:
Goldfinch60 (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: June 4th, 2018 02:42
- Comment from author about the poem: Just a bit of a rant about the Church Service yesterday. It was not very good, I wonder how we coped before we had technology. Also to make up for the rant the finest song the magnificent group Queen ever recorded.
- Category: Religion
- Views: 62
- Users favorite of this poem: Lauraš»
Offline)
Comments7
Doh! if having hymn books, there's a fiendish trick - do we 'omit the starred verses' or not? The trick is that the service leader does not tell us, and only the choir know. They don't tell us either - leading to complete confusion and garbled words. We're not all singing from the same sheet (or verses rather)!
One choir I knew was a bit like the Mafia - sing what WE want, or else....! 'The Firm' who controlled all the songs.
In this case even as a member of the choir we did not know what was going on!!
And sometimes 'rounds' can be ghastly. it ends up ruining the songs, with everyone bumbling on, and not knowing which bit to sing!
Sing the bit you want to sing at the time and call it Jazz!
We had an infant Baptism. Sometimes causes a pantomime, and terrifying if the child is held over the font. Thankfully it went well, and the priest also kissed the baby in an 'ahh' moment!
Well at least you dont have a public address system attached to the steeple and employ somebody to chant a horrible sounding monologue through it at certain times of day - as happens in parts of the world.
I'm sure there was enough goodwill in your church on this occasion to generate a lot of smiles and understanding. Maybe a small test from above, a lesson perhaps.
Very true da. The good will was there but occasionally we have a moan and this was one of those occasions.
I can just visualise the scene and the irony of it even though I haven't witnessed technology in church - mind you I haven't attended a service in church (apart from funerals and marriages) for over 50 years.
Technology in Church is becoming the norm but it used to be so much simpler and easier and somehow more relevant.
Actually I've just recalled I was privileged to attend a service in St Peters with the Pope about 20 years ago.
Hey Andy - OMG - it's even hit church........ I retired in the nick of time .... they were making work impossible with "technical improvements"..... and just for funny..... my doctor missed telling me I had a touch of anemia because they had "changed systems" and he couldn't access my information as he was talking to me (with the screen at his side). Perhaps this is why the kids are going back to vinyl records.... they are just longing for simpler days..
Oh yes it has hit Church. Those 'old fashioned' days were far easier and more meaningful.
Andy,
Reading your write has brought to mind so many examples of things gone wrong that Iāve witnessed because of technology when I was still teaching...using a āsmart boardā! Well many times when itād malfunction, it wasnāt so smart!
I enjoyed the read and listening to Queen!
~Laura~
I used to work in computing before I retired and it is the way that progress for 'faster' life is going. Even we had problems. One day we saw a prime example of how computing is divided into hardware and software, software is the programming, hardware the machinery on which it is written, one of my colleagues showed us what hardware means as he threw his computer screen against the wall, it was very noisy!
Queenare a wonderful group.
Love itš¤£š¤£
Thank you Goldfinch60.
An incredible poem.
Things were much better in the past when we truly used our mind and imagination before the advent of technology that has made us lazy at times.
Keep writing
FineB
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