Worship is so much more complicated and nuanced and important and rich! We cannot reduce it to the generalizations or categories of (old) hymns against newer modern songs, or youth v. seniors. Because even in trying to find labels (so we can find ourselves on one side or the other of this argument) we fall short.
Are you unintentionally sending the message that work has no place in worship? “Leave it at the door and pick it up again on your way out!”
This is a crucial moment in which we are reminded and assured of God’s faithful presence among us. Along with the benediction, it undergirds our worship with God’s grace and peace promised to us. But this greeting is more than an announcement or assurance of divine presence—certainly much more than a mere hello from God.
