Dance as worship

FSSL said:
I have a friend, from my seminary days. Conservative, fundamental seminary. He has a rsther large ministry outside Detroit. Members of his congregation are professional dancers. They do interpretive dance at times.
Click to expand...

During formal worship (Sunday morning)?
 
Ransom said:
Decades ago, it wasn't uncommon for churches to hold dances some evenings. Square dancing was a community activity and a far cry from sensuous modern dancing, obviously. It was an alternative to spending the evenings in the taverns.

Obviously that's not "liturgical" dance either. More an act of community service than an act of worship.
Click to expand...
Worldly.
 
Ransom said:
Decades ago, it wasn't uncommon for churches to hold dances some evenings. Square dancing was a community activity and a far cry from sensuous modern dancing, obviously. It was an alternative to spending the evenings in the taverns.

Obviously that's not "liturgical" dance either. More an act of community service than an act of worship.
Click to expand...
That is similar to what the one I was in does.
 
ALAYMAN said:
What do you think about the notion of using dance as a tool in formal worship?
Click to expand...
I'm not against bringing in the arts into a worship service. If it helps communicate the Gospel, I am all for it.

Probably wouldnt be accepted in rural Alabama, but Metro Detroit, it apparently is.
 
ALAYMAN said:
Anybody ever go to a church where this is practiced as a form of worship ("Liturgical, worship flag, praise, prophetic, and spirit led")? I have a kind Christian young lady who teaches dance that would like to use our facilities for such instruction. You can imagine the awkwardness of tackling this one, but fortunately for me I can defer that decision to my stodgier-than-me Senior Pastor, lol.

Anyhoo, thoughts on dance as an expression of formal worship? Thoughts about allowing the church property to teach such?
Click to expand...
i know i wrote about this more than once before.... . but my former church sort of sprung it on us one sunday morning and had a hula dancer perform at the beginning on the music/song service.. ... it was done in a way they deemed acceptable - a male dancer ...barefoot.. dressed in long pants and a long sleeve shirt - wearing flower leis and a sash around his waist.. .....perfectly approppriate for entertaintaining at a dinner party or conservative wedding... .. but in my opinion totally innapropriate for church on a sunday morning.... and something i didn;t want to be surprised with - especially with new convert visitors in attendance..... ...

i wasn;t the only one who felt that way either...... but since i;m a hula dancer myself i was one of the ones they simply couldn;t understand when i voiced my objections after the service....... among the reasons i gave.... in addition to a strong belief that church is not about being entertained..... was the fact that the hula has pagan origins.... ...

the rest of what happened after that is a long story.... ..i;m not at that church anymore... . ..i left over them accepting the lgbt-qrsp agenda and the beginning of gay/same sex weddings being done in the church... .. .personally i believed the acceptance of one naturally followed the other and reflected an overall decline of moral standards and a move away from scriptural teachings....... ...... but not everybody felt that way.... and i;m sure some would not agree with me here either......... but there it is......
 
Last edited:
aleshanee said:
i know i wrote about this more than once before.... . but my former church sort of sprung it on us one sunday morning and had a hula dancer perform at the beginning on the music/song service.. ... it was done in a way they deemed acceptable - a male dancer barefoot dressed in long pants and a long sleeve shirt wearing flower leis and a sash around his waist.. .....perfectly approppriate for entertaintaining at a dinner party or conservative wedding... .. but in my opinion totally innapropriate for church on a sunday morning.... and something i didn;t want to be surprised with - especially with new convert visitors in attendance..... ...

i wasn;t the only one who felt that way either...... but since i;m a hula dancer myself i was one of the ones they simply couldn;t understand when i voiced my objections after the service....... among the reasons i gave.... in addition to a strong belief that church is not about being entertained..... was the fact that the hula has pagan origins.... ...

the rest of what happened after that is a long story.... ..i;m not at that church anymore... . ..i left over them accepting the lgbt-qrsp agenda and the beginning of gay/same sex weddings being done in the church... .. .personally i believed the acceptance of one naturally followed the other and reflected an overall decline of moral standards and a move away from scriptural teachings....... ...... but not everybody felt that way.... and i;m sure some would not agree with me here either......... but there it is......
Click to expand...
So good to have you back!!
Missed you.
 
aleshanee said:
i know i wrote about this more than once before.... . but my former church sort of sprung it on us one sunday morning and had a hula dancer perform at the beginning on the music/song service.. ... it was done in a way they deemed acceptable - a male dancer ...barefoot.. dressed in long pants and a long sleeve shirt - wearing flower leis and a sash around his waist.. .....perfectly approppriate for entertaintaining at a dinner party or conservative wedding... .. but in my opinion totally innapropriate for church on a sunday morning.... and something i didn;t want to be surprised with - especially with new convert visitors in attendance..... ...

i wasn;t the only one who felt that way either...... but since i;m a hula dancer myself i was one of the ones they simply couldn;t understand when i voiced my objections after the service....... among the reasons i gave.... in addition to a strong belief that church is not about being entertained..... was the fact that the hula has pagan origins.... ...

the rest of what happened after that is a long story.... ..i;m not at that church anymore... . ..i left over them accepting the lgbt-qrsp agenda and the beginning of gay/same sex weddings being done in the church... .. .personally i believed the acceptance of one naturally followed the other and reflected an overall decline of moral standards and a move away from scriptural teachings....... ...... but not everybody felt that way.... and i;m sure some would not agree with me here either......... but there it is......
Click to expand...
I remember you saying something about this event. Not only do such activities invite doubtfulness, as you say, regarding their appropriateness, but I suppose my quibbling with it is that there's not any specific scriptural warrant, neither explicitly nor implied, especially in the New testament for such practice. And secondly, the very nature of such practices are so apt to be vague that I'm not sure how they communicate the necessary clarity of the gospel with certainty. It's kind of like going to an art gallery, one person sees a fish and another person sees a SpongeBob Square Pants, lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top