Sadly my father in law passed away(cancer) last year. But the 60+ crowd is still going to the hip nondenom church. Last time I was down there I was at a party where everyone there was 60+ except me and my husband and one of the hot topics of conversation was getting baptized. several of these were going to be baptized the next weekend and were talking about why they were doing it despite having been sprinkled before or baptized as a baby. it was really cool to watch God work in these conversations.

i dont know if this is relative, but in any event, i think its neat how the holy spirit is moving in a retirement community in a small town and they all go to a hip non-denom church!

food for thought!

All that to say: I don't know what the solution is, but I recognize there is a problem.

Things change so quickly now, much more quickly than at any time in history. It can make you feel like there is nothing familiar and comfortable and simple and that your experience and pain and growth in life is not a pro, but a con.

I'd personally love to learn from your dad and others like him. I miss that in my setting.

We've visited a few new churches and found one church's worship kind of refreshing. It's a smaller church, and only about max 20 people in the choir. The associate pastor is also the worship leader. Not the best musicians or singers, but the real difference is that it was so very clear that they were truly worshiping from the heart . And while there were only 2-3 people on a worship team while the choir wasn't singing, the ENTIRE congregation signs and the music and worship totally fill the place. They have music for all the generations– the incorporate hymms among contemporary selections (although they are often songs we may have heard a couple of years ago), upbeat praise music and quiet contemplative songs too. It's something for everyone, and everyone participates. Also, 15 minutes prior to service, everyone is invited to the sanctuary to sing the old hymns and I saw many seniors do this too.

I think it's good to be seeker senstive when planning the worship– think about the generations that the congregation is representing, think about people in various stations in life, think about a person of any age coming to church for the very first time. How do we want to prepare hearts for the message? For some, worship/music, etc. isn't all that important,they are just ready to dive into the Word, and that's awesome. For me, I have so much going on the entire week, a lot of stress and distractions,and for me worship really helps me to slow down, focus, and prepare my heart to hear the Word.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

We are supposed to approach church life as servants of each other – submiting to each other – “considering others as better than ourselves”. As such, I should deal with specific areas (such as worship) the same way. Instead of asking what style of music best suits my tastes, my priority should be those around me, and their priority in turn should be me. Instead, we seem to deal with many of these issues backwards – fighting for our own desires.

Not an answer, I know, just some additional thought that rumbling around in my head.