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I sent an email to the pastor of one of the churches we recently attended. I stated my reluctance about part of their service. Here's the letter I sent.
Dear Pastor,
My wife and I have attended a few services at your church.
In general we have found that you have a nice service. You have an excellent organ and the organist is not afraid to put the pedal to the metal. It is a magnificent instrument.
I like your enthusiasm. Whether it leading the singing or speaking from the stage. I found your speaking style very similar to my own. As you indicated last week you do speak fast with many gestures. In my speeches, I tend to do the same thing only you enunciate better than I do.
I am working on speaking more slowly. I was observing the President lighting the Christmas tree tonight and I noticed that he spoke much more slowly than I do. Then I got to thinking about the "great communicator" Ronaldus Magnus. He spoke very deliberately.
But you speak well with lots of enthusiasm.
My wife and I found only one disquieting item, when the Gloria Patri and the Doxology were sung, you and the choir turned, and it appeared, faced the painting above the alter.
I guess I'm a little sensitive about that sort of thing as I frequently drive past the Padre Pio shrine on Route 40. Although I respect the dedication of the people that built that thing, every time I see people out there praying to that statue, I think about Moses coming down off the mountain only to find the Israelites worshipping the golden calf.
I don't remember the exact passage and it may not even come from the bible, but, to paraphrase it, it said something like, "That built by the hand of man has no power." Meaning of course, that it would be useless to pray to it.
Still you are doing an excellent job and I think we will likely visit you again.
Warmly,
Ted Armstrong