I visit churches—I write about it.
No church this week. I’m trying to do a few things at once recently and things have gone towards hectic. Also I’m working on slimming and streamlining my posts without sacrificing too much content. I want to be posting these things by Wednesday of the week.
A few interesting items are coming up. A Christian Science church is next on my list and in a month or so I’ll visit a Greek Orthodox place. Stay tuned like your favorite guitar.
Date: 8/19/12
Church: Slingerlands Community UMC
Pastor: Pastor Laurel Phillips
Time Spent: 10-11:5am
Overall Impression: good, small, friendly
Type: United Methodist Church
Format summary: the usual- songs, prayer, scripture message and closing
Thoughts: What a good Sunday! I’m starting to realize how much appeal churches have when it’s sunny out and everyone is smiling. Another key to what I take from my project seems to be seasonal in nature. I guess the moral should be for churches to remember that people may be grumpy in winter and adjust accordingly. How to do it? I’ll gather more data for a future post.
Slingerlands community held their outdoor service the day I picked to show up. It was a beautiful day. The message had to do with the idea of webs and linkage. I participated in children’s time as an adult because there were only a few children. We created a pattern by each holding a portion of a long ribbon. It looked a little like a web, the takeaway point being, we are all connected.
The sermon was about David, Bathsheba, and Uriah the Hittite. Because I love this story I will tell it to you twice. The VeggieTales version goes like this:
King George loves rubber duckies. Duckies are his favorite thing in the world. He has an entire closet full of duckies, but he sees one of his subjects with a cute little duckie and he wants it. He wants it so bad, that he intentionally sends this subject into the front lines of the great pie wars hoping he will get ‘creamed’. Then he takes the duckie for himself. Meanwhile at front lines, his faithful subject does get creamed- by lots of pies! He becomes delirious, babbling to himself about pies. After all this happens, a self-proclaimed ‘slightly odd wise man’ named Melvin shows up. He tells King George a story about two men. The first man is rich and has many sheep. The second is poor with just one little lamb. The rich man has dinner guests over. Rather than slaughter one of his many sheep, he takes the lamb of the poor man and they eat that for dinner. King George is very upset about what the rich man did and asks for his identity so he can be punished. Melvin points out that King George has done the same as the rich man and in fact his story was just a metaphor. King George is sorry for what he’s done so, to make amends, he invites his subject over for a nice bubble bath and gives back his only duckie. This brings him out of his pie-delirium and all is well.
The bible version has a far less-happy ending I’m afraid. King George is King David. The duckie represents Bathsheba, a woman David actually knocks up. Problem is, she is married to Uriah and they haven’t slept together since he’s been at war for his king. So David and Bathsheba can’t even pretend that the resulting baby is Uriah’s. David offs Uriah by sending him into the thickest part of the fighting. With Uriah gone, David can take Bathsheba for his own. Here’s where the Melvin analog (Nathan) shows up. He tells the story about the sheep, knowing that David used to be a shepherd. It moves David to anger against the rich man’s cruelty. Nathan reveals his trick and David realizes he is in trouble with God. Nathan says, “You are forgiven. You will not die.” However God punishes David by taking the child Bathsheba is pregnant with. It does not live longer than a week.
Why do I love this story? Probably because of the amazingly good VeggieTales episode. Also it’s very juicy, like reading tabloids. Something about it really draws me in. The sermon points again to a web. Not of good feeling and humanity among all people this time, but of lies and murder. David let one sin lead to another. He became so stuck in what he wanted that it messed up his life. In some ways God is totally harsh in this story. God takes the baby that Bathsheba gives birth to. In other ways God is very lenient. He doesn’t harm David, even though he deserves death as punishment for murder. The way it works out is very old-school old testament. God’s mercy saves a king but kills an infant. Punishment is doled out to a person’s progeny instead of that person. I’m sure this portion of the story spoke much more clearly to audiences back in the day.
It kind of makes me wonder about the whole abortion debate. God killed a full term child already born because he was inconvenient. Maybe all the people who quote the old testament missed this part. It seems to me there should be a big group of religious folks pushing for the exact opposite of what they are now. Clearly the full grown adult life was more important to God than the baby.
Looking at it another way, maybe that’s just an instance of ‘God does everything’. Old testament explanations sometimes take the tack that whatever happened, God willed it for a reason. Did the baby look sick, then Nathan came along to explain why?
Either way it’s a pretty good story. And by good I obviously mean interesting. Because its totally NOT good for nearly everyone involved. No word on how Bathsheba felt about all this. She’s just a woman so maybe no one asked her. But that’s a post for another time.
Anything Else -?: I must fit in pretty well- the Pastor asked me how I’ve been even though we’d never met. Turns out that I look like someone else. That’s starting to happen now and then. I wonder if it’s something specifically nondescript about me or just my smile.
Date: 8/12/12
Church: Delmar Presbyterian Church
Pastor: Reverend William Dodge, filling in for interim Pastor Foltz-Morrison, who is the fill-in until a more permanent pastor is chosen
Time Spent: 10-11:30am
Overall Impression: good! they seem cool and normal
Type: Presbyterian Church (USA)
Format: announcements, responsive call to worship (congregation says some parts), hymn, prayer, musical chairs passing of the peace, scripture, more responsorial stuff, prayer intentions and Lord’s prayer, hymn and closing
Thoughts: To my memory, this is the first Presbyterian church service I’ve attended. I liked it and it seemed not too far off from Methodist and Reformed churches. I am happy to get once again, both the doxology and musical chairs style peace.
The sermon was about the unexpected and how it can change everything. Jesus came and his ministry changed people. Unexpected things happen to us today, but we have to respond when they do. Specifically we need to remember to live out our faith everyday. Unexpected things may challenge us and we have to be ready. In this particular sermon we didn’t get many details of what that means. I suppose growing up Presbyterian, one would know. I did not however, so I’m left to wonder whether it was meant to convey a political stance, conversion efforts, or just helping those you see in need. I hope it was the last, because that seems to be one of the most beneficial things coming out of religion.
After service I spoke with several regular members of the congregation. All of them were very positive about my project, which is always a really great sign. I spoke a little with one woman about the upcoming change in Pastor. They have a committee made up from the congregation that chooses someone. Coming from a Catholic background, I see so much benefit for them to be able to a) pick a Pastor themselves and b) have more than one choice. I also mentioned to her how important it is to have active leaders from among the congregation. I’ve noticed that churches able to define themselves without a pastor are better at keeping their identity (and attendance) when a pastoral change occurs.
Overall Feelings: great! What more can I say?
Yeah the church visit post is below this one. I wanted to post twice this week. I need to get my project thoughts in order again. Vacation has me distracted and I’m wanting to refocus.
So I missed some weeks. One was due to a shift change at work. One was vacation. And one was just a weird bad week. There are some kinks I’m working out with my time balancing act, but I’m hoping they won’t cause major damage to the project format. There is another project I’m taking on this summer- I will able to talk abut it more once it comes to fruition.
This project however, is one I’d like to still keep. Posting thoughts and book reviews are ok, but church visits drive me in different ways. For one thing, I always meet new interesting people. I often encounter new ideas about God and scripture. It makes me think, and I hope it makes them think too. Thinking is so good. And even better when you can compare new and old ideas. Maybe something will be revealed that you wouldn’t get to by thinking on your own.
I think it stimulates me to get a large variety of beliefs from the visits. And sometimes it is hard. They say your brain is a muscle and whatever metaphors go along with that. Sometimes new stuff makes my brain sore in a good way, but sometimes it gets pulled and I have to ice it. It’s still worth the risk though. I feel like I’m doing something no one expects. I really want to follow through with it and get to where I’m going.
Which is? I don’t really know yet. I didn’t intend to use the project to choose a church. That would mean I’d have to stop at a certain point and never explore all the places I’d set my mind to. But it’s possible I will see a place I just need to be and want to go back. It’s hard not to be wary though. My experience with OldChurch proves churches can change. Still, part of my project is being open and seeing what happens. So I guess that’s where I am right now: keep thinking, be open, and see what happens.
Date: 8/5/12
Church: First UMC Delmar
Pastor: preaching: Reverend Iona Dickinson
Time Spent: (oh I knew I forgot something, how long was I there?) 9:30-11am? I think?
Overall Impression: good, especially given that it’s a million degrees out and that makes me cranky
Type: United Methodist Church
Format: This church had no musical-chairs greeting time; I guess they might be nearing the size limit that would work for. The format had a lot of following along with group spoken parts, interspersed with single verses from the hymnal. This was only slightly confusing and I did pretty well once I realized the the format was actually wrapped around the bulletin full of other church announcements.
Thoughts:
So, when I first walked in I thought maybe I made a mistake. The feel was so formal I thought maybe it was a different denomination. I’m used to a more relaxed feel in Methodist churches. It’s probably also related to the fact that I help a friend with youth events in Methodist churches and those are super relaxed. The First UMC building looked pretty and formal with stained glass windows and this stately organ music playing and people in kinda nice outfits. Well I went in and sat down. No one greeted me, but I came in almost exactly as the service started. And one woman smiled at me while I was giggling at the children’s time. The sermon was about being hungry for God and remembering to feed ourselves spiritually. One of the kids claimed he was hungry in his heart at lunchtime.
Anyway the format did have mostly components I recognized from other Methodist churches. And it was a communion week so I got some bread and juice. Methodists make no requirements on partaking in communion- zero. So you can always just show up and know that they’re cool with you eating with them.
After service one man near me immediately greeted me. I spoke with the pastor and was domino-cascade introduced to about five more people. I’m actually surprised I didn’t already know anyone as I tend to know Methodists here and there from the camp I used to be involved with. Everyone seemed pretty cool and open. And the pastor had a tiny little baby I got to hold. So this is my favorite church- or at least my favorite church baby.
Overall Feelings: Dressy formal looking, but still low-key. Everyone was happy to welcome me and low pressure to return. Just what I was hoping for from the now familiar Methodist church.
This week I want to do a post on my thoughts regarding homosexuality. Specifically, how I think it’s ok. Well, for starters, I’ve always thought of love as a positive thing. Everything I’ve heard suggests homosexuality (and heterosexuality for that matter) is basically about love. So it seems, to me, love is good and other people should stop bothering about how or who you love as long as there’s mutual consent. But, since condemning homosexuality is a religious topic, I decided to check out the biblical basis for this.
Among Leviticus laws:
It’s illegal for a man to lie with a man as with a women. Punishment is death.
No mention is made of any problem with women lying with women. I am not aware that it is mentioned at all in any book of the bible.
It is illegal to give your children to Molech. (Who is Molech?) Also punishable by death.
It is illegal to commit adultery. This one is also punishable by death. These are all mentioned in Leviticus 20.
In chapter 24 we are told a little story illustrating that anyone who blasphemes God’s name will be killed.
Ok so, just comparing these pieces I could say IF sex between males is bad, adultery is just as bad, and blaspheming God’s name is even worse, because we were given a cautionary tale. Since I don’t believe taking God’s name in vain is too terrible, I should be even less upset by adultery or men having sex. And it does sound like the law addresses just the sex part, not the being in love part. Even those taking every little bit of the bible literally should still be ok with the emotional aspect of a same sex relationship.
Where the laws could have come from:
If the laws in Leviticus had to do with keeping healthy, it seems possible they are out of date. There are instructions to take sores of a possibly leperous nature to priest- nowadays we’d go to a doctor who is far better equipped than a priest. There are restrictions against pork-we know how to kill trichinosis and other microbes now so it can be eaten safely. There is a ban on men having anal sex- we know that sex in that area can be problematic because of bleeding and germs, but we now have condoms to prevent disease. I’m thinking Leviticus needs an update real bad.
Sodom and Gomorrah:
I have some problems with this story that make it difficult to take it as is. Here’s my paraphrase of Genesis 19:
Lot lives in the town of Sodom. Two angels visit Lot and he invites them to stay overnight. That night, all the men in town surround the house and pound on the door. They ask Lot to send out his two guests so they can “know them carnally”. Lot says, “Please, these men are my guests. I have two virgin daughters, take them and do whatever you want with them.” But the men instead try to grab Lot. The angels pull him inside and they shut the door. The next day God destroys the city.
How seriously can I take the morality in a story that involves a man offering his innocent daughters as a bribe for an angry sex-crazed mob? It’s also difficult to say the problem in Sodom was man on man sex. To me it sounds like a story condemning rape, or possibly stressing the importance of hospitality. And some books of the bible indicate that Sodom had other issues including treating the poor badly, idleness, and being prideful. In short, it sounds like a lot of exaggeration has gone on about what the bible actually says. Even assuming no distortion, there are so many old biblical things we’ve moved on from worrying about. Generally we aren’t too concerned with mixing fibers of two kinds in one article of clothing. Or with breaking any pot that a mouse or chameleon has died inside. There are many things we’ve left behind. It’s time this was another one.