So much food for thought here. My family has lived in three Latin american countries. As our kids have attended schools some differences between the US education have surfaced: US education is good at STEM subjects and poor in the visual arts and music. Our current country is quite poor. But I am thankful to nationals and missionaries in years past that put the effort into making simple but elegant church buildings. Even the Catholic churches here are simple--no cathedrals in our villages--but also reverent and worshipful. I wonder if much of rhe kick back from church goers in the US about how they want to focus on ministry to people, not on a world class building, flows less from money problems and more on what is valued. In our churches the ladies spend a lot of time and effort on decorating the sanctuary. Every few months they change out the curtains that are behind the pulpit and use artificial flowers and embroidery to make the sanctuary beautiful. By US standards, they didn't spend much money and it doesn'tlook high brow. So many of our US churches look like they spent a lot of money at the church decor website, but it looks a little like AI did the decorating. Now, being logical and utilitarian is a strong cultural value in the US. I remember one of our elders years ago had been trained as a catholic priest in his country. His sermons were so beautiful. He remarked that he knew if a Latin American preacher had been trained in the US because his sermons were so logical, like a flow chart. He didn't mean that as a criticism, because it is also a strength. But it can lack in the beauty that his sermons had. Anyway, you are giving me a lot to ponder. I am enjoying your book Beauty Chasers. It goes along very well with what I have been learning as I minister in a place with a lot of suffering. Blessings.
So much food for thought here. My family has lived in three Latin american countries. As our kids have attended schools some differences between the US education have surfaced: US education is good at STEM subjects and poor in the visual arts and music. Our current country is quite poor. But I am thankful to nationals and missionaries in years past that put the effort into making simple but elegant church buildings. Even the Catholic churches here are simple--no cathedrals in our villages--but also reverent and worshipful. I wonder if much of rhe kick back from church goers in the US about how they want to focus on ministry to people, not on a world class building, flows less from money problems and more on what is valued. In our churches the ladies spend a lot of time and effort on decorating the sanctuary. Every few months they change out the curtains that are behind the pulpit and use artificial flowers and embroidery to make the sanctuary beautiful. By US standards, they didn't spend much money and it doesn'tlook high brow. So many of our US churches look like they spent a lot of money at the church decor website, but it looks a little like AI did the decorating. Now, being logical and utilitarian is a strong cultural value in the US. I remember one of our elders years ago had been trained as a catholic priest in his country. His sermons were so beautiful. He remarked that he knew if a Latin American preacher had been trained in the US because his sermons were so logical, like a flow chart. He didn't mean that as a criticism, because it is also a strength. But it can lack in the beauty that his sermons had. Anyway, you are giving me a lot to ponder. I am enjoying your book Beauty Chasers. It goes along very well with what I have been learning as I minister in a place with a lot of suffering. Blessings.