Give me that old time religion

Today's service, prepared for Sunday, June 14th, 2020 whilst the church is still in lockdown is led by Jennie Dyster, our President. Jennie commences her address with the words of a hymn that may be familiar to some.

"Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
That’s good enough for me!"

A singularly un-Unitarian opening, you might think? So, what is the appeal of that song for a post-Christian Unitarian? Jennie really had to think about this. She writes: "It’s not a hankering after 1950s Methodism with its Sunday School anniversaries and picnics and church camps. It ain’t hankering after the simple life. I like my car, my "handy" - as the Germans so delightfully call their mobile phones, my digitally streamed music, my laptop, my smart tv. …. I think it’s more related to my addiction to Bach cantatas, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus and Requiem or Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. All of these are bulging with a theology I do not accept or condone. It’s not only my love for music that seduces me. The pull of this music is religious.

"So why am I still attracted to it?" Jennie asks? Listen on for her answer!