Prominent among the points that Dr. Abraham made was that Wesley sticks out in an odd way among other Protestants because he is really more medieval than Luther, or Calvin, or even Cranmer -- and certainly more in the mainstream of historic Christian thought and practice than modern "Evangelicals." Wesley's doctrine of Christian Perfection is really "monasticism for the masses."
I was along to provide music for the event. I described this as being the second-string punter and third-string wide receiver being sent into the game to play defensive lineman. That said, my playing isn't too bad, and my musical sensibilities and overall leadership was appreciated by many. I find that a lot of church music people were the band-and-choir types in school; they tend to view worship leadership as an exercise in conducting an ensemble, and they like to pick music that is interesting to people who are used to singing in ensembles. Me, I learned to sing and lead by conducting campfires. The strong melody line, the unsyncopated line worn smooth by generations of singers, and singing so as to make the words come through are my natural predilections.
In other news, I got a final count of Scouts and leaders for our trip to Hannibal, MO, this June. We have three adults, eight Boy Scouts, and one Cub Scout going. I ordered tram tickets today for the St. Louis Arch. I've also got the hike map in hand for our ten-miler around Hannibal. I've made reservations for our campground and for touring the Mark Twain Cave (the one Clemens grew up playing in, which is featured in Tom Sawyer).
I got my permanent crowns installed on my teeth today. Took two hours, for heaven's sake. Fiddling with this, shaving that down, yada yada yada. But at least, that's done, now. I've filled out my health history for the year, and I've got my annual physical scheduled. And I sent in my reservation for Annual Conference today. Oh, but I've been a busy little beaver.