a “grievous English error”!
i’m pretty much OCD and type-A when it comes to how the lyrics are formatted on the screen. like most creative people i’ve met, i like the lyrics on the screen to be clean and simple…having no more than 2 or 3 lines of text on one slide using a new contemporary font.
i hate it when the first word of every line is capitalized, like it’s a new sentence or something. i don’t get it. i’m also never a fan of lots of punctuation. if this was a report for my english class, it would be different. i also never capitalize anything except the names of God…even the word “i”.
i’ve gotten a lot of great comments and feedback over the years on this, except for one lady at a recent conference.
The names of those involved have been changed to protect both the innocent & the guilty. “Mr. Ren” is the conference coordinator i work with. “Ms. Stimpy” is the person who wrote the complaint.
Enjoy!
———————–
Dear Mr. Ren,
I want to apprise you of a concern I have. The issue is regarding an aspect of the music during the conference.
When the words to the praise songs are displayed on the screen, someone neglected to edit them; The pronoun “I” is ALWAYS capitalized. However, the pronoun appeared in the lower case consistently throughout all the songs.
Would you please advise those who are responsible for the words that are superimposed on the screen of this grievous English error? A lot of issues in America are under attack, not the least of which is the proper King’s English!
Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Ms. Stimpy
————————-
excerpt from my response:
Actually, the ‘I’ is purposefully uncapitalized throughout all the songs….the only word ever capitalized is the names of God and the pronouns referring to Him.
This is a sign of reverence and also a reminder that ‘i am small and He is the Great I AM’.
Also, the proper grammar rules are kind of thrown out the window when it comes to displaying lyrics on the screens…its just understood.
————————-
Dear Mr. Ren,
Thank you for your prompt response. Yes, you are right; it doesn’t change my feelings, and I don’t know who says grammar is “thrown out the window.” If that is so, why capitalize the beginning of a new sentence, or put any punctuation in? There were a NUMBER of people who noticed the incorrect proper pronoun; I just happen to be the one to write. However, others did put it in their comments on the evaluation form.
I thank you for responding. May I have the email of the creative folk who make such decisions? As a teacher, I have to deal with students who never capitalize the proper pronoun - even in middle school. Now, I am seeing a sub culture that is PROMOTING that! I hate to think that it is a Christian mindset that is passing on such “stinkin’ thinkin’ “! Christians are to above reporach and to not be offensive.
In every church I have ever attended (including the great mega churches), I have NEVER seen the proper pronoun put as lower case. I disagree that “grammar rules are thrown out the window and it is just understood.” Instead, it appears this is someone from your conference who has unilaterally decided to do it this way.
Somcerely,(????)
Ms. Stimpy
————————-
wow. thoughts?
ahahahaha!!! that is the BEST! All THAT, then “Somcerely”! It amazed me that people would actually try to voice a complaint about this. This was great, bro. Thanks for posting.
I’m pretty sure in school, she refers to the US as the “colonies”…
Obviously she doesn’t have a grasp of “artistic expression”. This post def gave me my chuckle for the day! Thanks.
I can’t believe you’re engaged,
In this stinkin’ thinkin’ propaganda,
To bring down the english language.
I for one like to be reminded,
Of proper grammatical structure,
And MLA writing formats,
When projecting the lyrical wondrousfulness,
Of these new blended worship choruses.
It speaks of all that is right and good,
As well as the complex structuring of linguistics,
Brazenly displaying to all,
In BOLD Comic Sans,
Center-aligned text,
The infinite mind and vast measurelessness,
Of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
Gratefully yorus,
nato
I had this same issue over the summer at camp. I wanted to format lyrics in this form, but I was over ruled. I was able to convince them not to use punctuation, but I couldn’t convince them of the lowercase “i”. This lady sounds like she goes to my old church.
i twitter’d about this but thought it was comment worthy of saying that MINUTES after posting this blog, something incredible and hilarious happened.
I was publishing this post during a general session @ seminars4worship (Integrity Live) and Paul Baloche was teaching about flow and the worship band working together. (media wasn’t very intense, so i had some time to post…plus i was backstage and wasn’t able to watch what was going on live….i hate being backstage, by the way).
ANYWAY…Paul says something like “are you guys noticing the screens? I just love how Stephen formats his lyrics….stephen, can you put a few examples up on the screen? ok, guys, see how he’s breaking them down into 2 and 3 lines of text, and how clean and simple it looks…etc etc…”
In a hurry, i type some live text to the screen saying that I had just blogged about it…the funny thing is, i messed up that live text and Paul was like “you just blogged about???….about what?!?!?” I had left “this” off the end.
DANG IT.
well, it was a funny moment! and interesting timing with the post and Paul’s comments from stage.
good times.
that is hilarious… technically i suppose she is correct but talk about a teacher not in tune with the culture of today. Not that one has to be to be a good teacher, but the church has a tendency to try to make our current culture (i.e. if we are alive, we live in it) some sort of evil thing, and knowing just a little bit about it might help to accomplish the goals of each person or entity?
Writing in a form that is grammatically incorrect, on purpose, has been done for years, decades, centuries, by poets and writers as a means of emphasis or something of the sort. i am in NO WAY a grammatically correct person, but come on, artistic expression, ESPECIALLY IN LYRICS, is something i expect. Who wants to listen to a band or artist that can’t think for themselves? She must really hate sms grammar!!! Great post.
hey bud -
I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this post
in fact so much that i wanted tO write this reply in a very noncorrect mANNER. I think that these ArE issues that need to be addressed.
Thanks for the thoughts bud!
It is amazing how controversy must seep into every aspect of our lives. As humans we thrive on it, don’t we?
Punctuation is something, like all of you, I have deliberated over time and again with every event I work. And, like all of you, I have had several conversations regarding this issue with others agreeing and disagreeing with me. And yes, the most ‘fun’ are those conversations with English teachers… go figure..
I agree with every point Proctor made in his initial post, as well as the response to the letter. It also helps that I know Proctor and consider him a good friend, therefore I understand where he is coming from. In that, I can appreciate his argument.
However, I have always been taught that when you come to an impass with another person’s ideology, as best as you can, try to be objective and see both sides, so that you can understand the other person’s position as well as your own. Because, even for as unbelievable as it may seem, it is possible that you might find yourself to actually be wrong. …scary, I know…
As I stated, I can see Proctor’s point. Yet, at the same time, I don’t wish to rule out “Ms. Stimply’s” point. Education is something that everyone should take very seriously, and the Bible specifically speaks of wisdom, and asking of it. Reading and writing correctly is certainly a skill that promotes wisdom, and I can see how she would view the punctuation, or lack thereof, that we use as ‘VJ’s’ to be promoting ‘poor grammar’. Do I think this is true? …Not necessarily..
However, she IS part of the congregation, and our job is to first serve our Lord and Savior, and secondly, to serve those in the congregation in which we are serving. Our job is to create an environment that makes it easy and welcoming for a Christian to worship their God. We are to encourage worship in what we do, not distract someone from it.
Now, don’t get me wrong, you can NOT please everyone, and someone will be distracted in some way… It’s inevitable with what we do. All I want to say is that I think that we are called to love this person, and honor their opinions. Just because someone has a different view of things than we do does not necessarily mean that they are wrong, and we are right. Was it necessary for her to write a letter regarding the issue? Maybe not. But it certainly seemed important enough for her. Whereas I don’t necessarily agree with the tone, I have to respect her for sharing her feelings. …I mean, what would one call what we do on this website?
That is hilarious!
And also, yes I stole your Mac photo idea!!!
Need to catch up… give me a call.
Vicky
I’ve always struggled with stuff like this…
It’s like…you want to be cool/different/memorable….but I’ve had things like this happen to me as well (several times) and I’ve realized that if I’m doing something that causes people to be distracted, I’ve kind of missed the point.
Yes it’s cool…but…at what cost?
I had an image up one time that was pretty abstract, and while I knew what it was (I took the picture) most didn’t. I got comments after from people saying that while it was cool, they spent a good 15-30 seconds trying to figure out what it was.
Should I stop using that image? My first thought is yes…either make it so abstract they can’t tell, or make it clear what is being represented.
I guess this post speaks to our mindset as we enter into a worship environment. Do we, in general, go into a time of worship with a mindset of spiritual reflection or do we get stuck on the tangible aspects of the experience?
I struggle with this myself as I go into most church experiences. As someone who spends most of my time preparing and running worship times, I have difficulty not picking the service apart.
I think a different mindset is in order when approaching the act of worship. Can we view a worship time as a true gift to our God? An expressive piece of art given to our Creator, not just a digital presentation.
Thanks for the original post, great things to ponder.
I am in awe of all of this amazingness.
The only reason I can laugh is because I’ve had the same emails…just not from this lady. But obviously her clone who attends every church in america.
I mean “America”.
Stephen - great post and great comments. You should read fassl’s and Cameron’s comments again. Can you say “no hats in worship services?” These were exactly my points.
DURH!!