"Why, God?" Asks Aging Christian After Being Met With Electric Guitars At The 10AM Service

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact

A longtime churchgoer from Betoota Heights asked the Big Man why he does the things he does because last weekend, as she walked into the 10am service down at St Sylvester's Anglican Church to see rock'n'roll musical instruments waiting to be played poorly.

A regular of the 8am Sunday Service, retired teacher Wendy Golightly has found it increasingly difficult to attend so early these days, as this neoliberal hellscape we've voted for time and time again dictates her need to watch grandchildren on a weekend morning.

Her daughter does Saturday/Sunday nightshift at Royal Betoota Base Hospital and her husband is a bus driver with John Holland. Both occupied on Sundays until the daughter comes home to two kids after pulling an all-nighter with our town's most in need.

Wendy is happy to do it, she says, but what she's not happy to do is watch some spotty teenager improvise a sax solo in between the verses in Abide In Me.

"We had a 30 second intro for one song, these little bastards think they're Pink Floyd with the way they carry on," she told The Advocate.

"I don't think we need that. This heavy-set young man on the bass guitar is the worst. I just can't stand it. We did a 'reggae-style' rendition of All People That on Earth Do Dwell complete with this fat little manchild doing slapbass over the top of it. On top of that, we had to endure his grunting and awful guitar face,"

"It's very off-putting. Trying to sing along to Praise to the Lord, the Almighty and you've got some strange man, making a guitar howl as he pulls faces like he's getting the ears whipped off it at a Kings Cross massage parlour. Shocking!"

The Advocate reached out to the Diocese of Birdsville-Betoota for comment but have yet to receive a reply.

More to come.