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The Epiphany Envisioning Service at Christ Episcopal Church in Tyler

January 30th, 2011

Christ Episcopal Church Tyler TXThe thirtieth of January, Sunday morning, Christ Episcopal Church officially launched its Epiphany Envisioning Service (EES). A couple of weeks back I wrote an article looking forward to the new service but having attended, I thought I’d offer a hindsight view of the event.

Envisioning is a contemporary service that features modern Christian worship music, (lead by musicians playing guitar, violin and bongo drums), a shorter somewhat simpler liturgy, (currently one borrowed from the Anglican Church of Kenya), and a greater focus on the homily or the teaching.

The first service was well attended by adults and youth alike, from within and without the church. I didn’t get any kind of head count, and I’m generally not very good at judging crowds but I’d guess that there was at least a hundred twenty people or so presented.

Personally, I’ve been a practicing Episcopalian for around ten years now. Prior to that, I grew up around a variety of evangelical and non-denominational churches.

I searched around for some years before deciding on a church to serve as my home for the remainder of my adult life. I chose the Episcopal Church for a lot of reasons, but a central one was the belief in the importance of taking the Eucharist (or communion), on a regular basis.

Over the past few years I have become used to our traditions, liturgies and order of service. But this morning I saw two familiar modes of worship combined in a way I had never seen before.

It was a blending of my past and present. In terms of the music and general flavor, I felt almost like I was witnessing a slightly more conservative Vineyard service, (at least a Tyler Vineyard service, which I’m told is less charismatic when compared to other Vineyard Congregations).

Also present however were the Anglo- Catholic traditions that are so important and meaningful to those who’ve grown up in more orthodox churches. For me, it was almost like I’d come full circle, only infinitely richer for having found a church where I can connect with Christ through the Eucharist. And this is really the strength of the Envisioning service. Its purpose is not to dispose of the ancient and familiar modes of worship, but to make them approachable to those who’ve never really experienced them; or for those who have, to let them re-connect in a new way. I look forward to seeing this ministry grow. I believe the EES will be a genuine blessing to our community. For more information on the Epiphany service or on Christ Church, visit their webpage at http://www.christchurchtyler.org/welcome.htm or call the church office at (903) 597-9854.

Chris Tomlin Comes To Tyler

August 24th, 2010

Well the summer is over. Ok not it terms of the calendar, or the heat but school has started and that signifies the end for me. We still have the end of August and September to go, but about mid way through the later, we should start to observe a gradual decline in temperatures. By the time October hits, fall will be ramping up and so will our fall schedules. Well for those who enjoy contemporary Christian worship music, and will by then, be looking for a brisk night out; the Oil Palace is holding an event that should prove to be a significant autumn concert. On Thursday, October seventh, worship music star Chris Tomlin will be appearing in concert.

Tomlin is not a stranger to our area. He hales from Grand Saline, and attended Tyler Junior College (TJC) prior to attending Texas A&M University. His musical career began experiencing commercial success around 2002, and since that time he has been the recipient of numerous music awards for those in the religious genre, including three consecutive Gospel Music Association (GMA) “Dove Awards” for male vocalist of the year. Tomlin is in the middle of a tour that began in July and concludes on November fifth in Vancouver, Canada, at the Passion music festival. Passion is a worldwide outreach to college age youth, with events held in some of the world’s largest cities. The concert follows another oil palace event about which I’m significantly less enthusiastic, namely a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) event on October second. The Oil Palace has kept a pretty busy schedule over the six- plus months despite controversy with the local health department. To read more of my take on the Oil Palace flap, look for my article entitled The Oil Palace Under Fire by clicking on the following link: http://www.tylertxdirectory.com/2281/the-oil-palace-under-fire/. To read more on Chris Tomlin and his music, visit his web site at http://www.christomlin.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1. Lastly, to see a list of up- coming events at the Oil Palace, go to their webpage at http://www.oilpalace.com/.