Request for a buddy

I am putting it out there that I’d like someone to accompany me to churches on a Sunday morning. My new church visit speed has hit a new low and I’d like to find a way of not stopping together. If anyone would like to come along to any church I haven’t yet visited please let me know and we will plan it. I am discarding the rule of ten miles as well as the need for any particular order. I am ok with a one time partner or longer term. I just find myself wanting some new motivation. I also decided some time ago to accept invites to someone’s home church. I prefer to drop in unannounced but I can be ok with a more solid plan. I’m just looking for idea to keep the project interesting.

Church #66, Friends Meeting in Albany (Quaker)

Date: 11/9/14

Church name/type: Friends Meeting in Albany, Quakers

Pastor: the unique style of the meeting doesn’t seem to require a pastor

Style of worship:
Well, they sit, mostly quietly for about an hour. No, for real. And it actually wasn’t too bad. It’s a time for listening to see if God is going to speak to us. If anyone has a message they consider good for sharing they share aloud.

These were the messages this week:
1) Someone spoke about feeling welcome and having been given coffee that was exactly the way she liked it. This really seemed to have made her happy.
2) Another person said some remarks the Pope made were along the lines of God having given up some of his power in creating us. Some of the power is in us.
I tried to look up these remarks for reference but was unable to find them. The Pope says a lot of things I guess.
3) A visiting Quaker Friend? Quaker?….anyway, a visitor felt led to make the effort to find a local Friends Meeting and things just seemed to fall into place allowing her to be here on time.
4) One person observed that it’s amazing we are in what’s called the ‘goldilocks zone’ where life is possible.

After approximately an hour we all greeted each other then there was sharing of announcements as well as the standard joys and concerns. I stayed a long time talking with members of the congregation about different things.

Impressions:
I guess I really liked it. I say I guess because I can’t figure out why I liked it so much. It’s difficult to sit mostly still and quiet for an hour. But then again, I often like things that are a little difficult. It makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something worthwhile. I’m drawn to the fact that Quakers don’t have much doctrine going on. They seem to believe that God speaks to (or potentially speaks to) everyone equally. This is nice. I’m going to have to learn more and probably write more.

Church #65, Albany Second Branch, Latter Day Saints

Date: 10/19/14

Church name/type: This is a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Called Mormons by some. (Not to be confused with fundamentalist Mormons who allow multiple wives to one husband) This church is called the Albany Second Branch.

Pastor: There is no pastor. They call that job Branch President. I did not write down his name.

Style of worship:
Very unusual. The Sunday morning gathering can be called a service, but seems to be more commonly called a sacrament meeting. It had the usual components: songs, announcements, scripture, prayer. The communion (if that’s what they call it) was different in that it featured bread and water (vs. wine or juice). The sacrament meeting itself was odd to me because it was dead silent for the bread and water, but sort of full of noisy chit-chat during the scriptural talk time. Different people from the church are asked to prepare these little talks and it felt like no one was really listening.

Impressions:
I had some trouble with this one. I expended a lot of energy trying to absorb new information, be polite in my reactions, and not let how different it was get to me. And in some ways, it was strikingly different.

There were three separate hour-long portions. First the sacrement meeting, then a doctrinal lesson, last a male/female segregated session. The middle hour made me feel the most uncomfortable. It was a class of women and a couple of older men, but it was taught by 18year-old-looking guys who were referred to by everyone as ‘elders’. It is hard to describe how weird that felt. I don’t have a problem with male teachers or young teachers. But usually teachers have professional training. This felt like kids telling me what to think and how to think it by virtue of the fact that they were male and raised LDS. The lesson was mostly something I’m going to call ‘prescriptive spirituality’. There seem to be a lot of parts to LDS that are prescriptive regarding metaphysical things. (Do this and this happens. Say these words at this time in this place and this will happen in the afterlife.) The entire lesson was regarding the ‘sealing’ of families in a temple so they would remain intact into the afterlife. One can also seal families posthumously if the need is discovered. This is why genealogies are important, or so we were told. I know my own faith tradition is weird, but I’m struggling with how weird I felt hearing this stuff.

Then the last hour, the women only group, was actually not very weird at all. It felt like any gathering at all the progressive protestant churches I’ve been to. We all tried to share ways to reach out and be good to others; to gain understanding and offer support. Everyone from their different lives offered different perspectives. It felt really normal. I hate the fact that I had to describe it as normal just there because the rest felt so strange. The young woman I talked to at this church was sweet and earnest. She’s a missionary from California and apparently that means she’s a greeter for newcomers to the church. She wants everyone to join the church. I’ve never quite felt like I fit anywhere, and I could never fit with this group either. I hurt sometimes and I don’t know what my life is doing. I shared something of this sentiment with my new friend. I think I hurt her. I left her without an answer for me. Sometimes I wonder if my project is becoming my journey to sadden others.

Church #64, First Presbyterian Church in Albany

Date: 10/12/14

Church name/type: First Presbyterian in Albany, PCUSA

Pastors: Pastor Miriam Lawrence Leupold and Pastor Glenn Leupold

Style of worship: fairly straightforward format with follow-along bulletin, with choral pieces punctuating occasionally

Impressions: The bulletin and welcome literature list more than a couple programs the church is involved with along the lines of social justice. I like that. I’m also impressed with an interior window of stained glass depicting a scientist teacher named Joseph Henry. It’s actually really cool for a church to embrace science. I personally love science and think it’s great that God gave us the ability to wonder and discover. In some cases Christian groups seem to actually have a strong dislike for science (or certain of its theories) so it’s encouraging that this church had a portrait of science build right into the wall.

The church building is pretty and looks kept-up. I note a decent mix of ethnicities. There was a person behind me making some noise who most likely had a disability. I mention this because I think it speaks well of the kind of welcome a church offers if they are cool with unintentional disruptions. Coffee hour after service was also a really nice time. A fair number of people came up to me and initiated conversation. So it’s an outgoing congregation.

I wasn’t sure what to take from the sermon. We got to hear the story of the golden calf Moses’ people worshiped while he was on the mountain talking with God. I was immediately struck by the fact that these people literally decided to worship gold. Maybe this should make us realize that chasing after money is a problem. The pastor giving the sermon likens this worship to our own obsessions today. We were asked to consider the ‘golden calf’ we might be worshipping. This would present itself as the thing we make our ultimate thing. It all came back to a refrain I’ve heard before: anything you focus on that is not God, is the wrong focus. I wonder what to make of this message in light of the fact I have no clear idea of who God is. Mixed messages come in constantly from all my church visits, from people I’ve met, from the bible itself. So this sermon’s takeaway point fell a bit flat for me. I guess I can agree with the idea that if one’s life revolves around something and that something fails or falls apart, one is devastated. I see this could be a huge problem…but I think I’m not wrong in saying that making God your ultimate focus could also result in this same problem. So again I’m left unsure what to do with this sermon.

Why we don’t sin

So I want to spend some time talking about why as Christians we choose not to sin. This is partly an expansion of something I mentioned in my review of a church called White Couch and partly a response to a comment I received on that post. The pastor made a remark in church to this effect: “We shouldn’t sin because sin makes Jesus sad.” In that post I said:
“The way Jesus feels about us should be the last reason not to sin. The first reason should be the other person we are hurting and the second reason should be the damage we are doing to ourselves.”

I was (intentionally) implying it is silly to decide not to sin based on how it makes Jesus feel. Jesus and God, and even the Holy Ghost being almighty, can handle themselves, I reasoned. They don’t actually need me to protect their feelings. I got a reply to this post disagreeing with my statement and asserting that we do not sin primarily because sins are against God and therefore the pastor was correct.

Still I find I have to disagree with this line of thinking. I happen to believe we are not following what God says simply because he said it. I believe God is a God of love. I believe he cares about us and wants us happy, contented, and well-taken care of. This being the case, I think God established a set of rules for us NOT because he likes arbitrary rules, but because those rules actually help us all to be happy, contented and well-taken care of. I think sin is not ultimately about disobedience. In my understanding of it, sin is about causing harm to ourselves, another human, or another piece of God’s creation. I think we have the ability to see that it is better for us not to sin, and I honestly think God prefers us to think about why we are doing a thing vs. just doing it OR ELSE.

Another way of looking at this might be to consider what it would look like it we did assume all God’s rules were arbitrary and to be followed without question just because God said so. I read a news story about a man who was drenched by water after being swept away in flooding during Superstorm Sandy. He took refuge in a nearby (evacuated) house. To gain entry he broke in. Once inside he left a note explaining that he took only blankets, was suffering hypothermia, and feared death. In the strictest sense, this man destroyed property and stole. Would this be considered a sin? If obedience to the rules is our means of determining rightness vs sinfulness, I think we have to say yes, this man did sin. I am not comfortable with that and I don’t think I’m alone in my assessment. I contend that when we excuse this behavior we are using our understanding of the reasons not to sin rather than simply seeing sin in terms of obedience to God’s instructions. I’m really on-board with the idea that God gave us brains so we could think, and I’m a fan of doing that. In the end, I just don’t think we avoid sin to please God. I think we avoid sin because it makes things more awesome for everyone and that just makes sense.

Church #63, Trinity United Methodist

Date: 9/14/14

Church name/type: Trinity UMC, United Methodist Church

Pastor: Jeffrey Matthews

Style of worship: structured with a follow-along bulletin and musical chairs style greeting time

Useful takeaways:
So I’ve actually been inside this church before. It was for a youth function back when I was more involved with youth groups. The service this day (and in summer) was held in a small chapel off the main sanctuary. There were probably between 20 and 50 people in attendance.

Music was good, being provided by acoustic guitar or pipe organ (the chapel had its own organ!) The group songs went through every verse and nearly everyone was singing, which I happen to like. I mean, if you’re going to sing, why stop at verse two?

We heard an interesting take on the story of Don Quixote. Pastor described him as a man who wanted a better world. He spoke of an impossible dream. This theme was also applied to the future of the church. It was unclear if Pastor meant the future of Christianity or Methodism in general or specifically Trinity Church, or perhaps Trinity Church the building. We heard it is nearing the 81st anniversary of the building. The pastor recounted some of the history leading up to the creation of the current building. It was actually the second rebuilding of a church that was lost to fire twice. During the building of Trinity, the congregation worshipped in a space that was a Jewish Temple called Beth Emeth. (That building is actually the current location of Wilborn Temple, church #47 on this blog!)

The last thing in my notes was a prayer wish that on the edge of the possibility of war we all remember to see each other everywhere as people; brothers and sisters. It’s a good wish of ever I heard one.

Problems/Improvements: None I can detect, besides the vague feeling of uncertainty implied by the sermon. Is this church’s future in question or was I just reading too much into an introspective sermon?

Full Church List

It’s time I compiled a list of churches I’ve visited in alphabetical order by church name. The number after each church is NOT a ranking, it refers the order in which I visited them and it is meant to help you navigate my archive. I would link them all, but my website doesn’t seem to like that.

Albany Second Branch Latter Day Saints (LDS) #65
aka Mormon
All Saints Cathedral (Episcopal) #33
aka under Cathedral
Antioch Christian Fellowship (unknown) #52
Bethlehem Community Church (Nodenom) #5
Bethlehem Lutheran Church (Lutheran- Missouri Synod) #11
Cathedral of All Saints (Episcopal) #33
aka under All
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic) #25
aka under Immaculate
Community United Methodist Church (UMC) #16
aka under Slingerlands
Church of Saint Vincent De Paul (Roman Catholic) #26
aka under ‘Saint’ and ‘Vincent’
Delmar Full Gospel Church (Nodenom) #1
Delmar Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) #15
Delmar Reformed Church (RCA) #10
First Church in Albany (RCA) #39
First Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science) #17
First Congregational Church (UCC) #22
First Presbyterian Church in Albany (PCUSA) #64
First Presbyterian Church of Greenbush (PCUSA) #54
“First” Israel AME (AME) #62
aka under Israel
First Reformed Church of Bethlehem (RCA) #19
First United Methodist Church in Delmar (UMC) #14
First United Methodist Church in Rensselaer (UMC) #58
aka under Iglesia
Glenmont Community Church (RCA) #4
Greater Saint John’s Church of God in Christ (COGIC) #51
aka under St. John
Historic Saint Mary’s Church (Roman Catholic) #36
aka under St Mary
Holy Spirit Lutheran (ELCA) #24
aka under Lutheran
Iglesia Emmanuel (UMC) #58
aka under First
Iglesia Pentecostal (Pentecostal) #38
Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic) #25
aka under Cathedral
Israel AME (AME) #62
aka under “First”
Jerusalem Reformed Church (RCA) #21
Journey United Church of Christ (UCC) #23
Kingdom Hall in Bethlehem (Jehovah’s Witness) #3
King’s Chapel in Glenmont (Nodenom) #2
Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit (ELCA) #24
aka under Holy Spirit
Mater Christi (Roman Catholic) #61
Metropolitan New Testament Missionary Baptist (NBC) #37
Mormon see Albany second branch
Mother Theresa’s (Roman Catholic) #42
Mount Calvary Baptist Church (NBC) #40
Mount Moriah Church (Nodenom) #7
Mount Zion Missionary Baptist (?) #48
New Hope Ministries (Assemblies of God) #31
New Horizons Christian Church (Pentecostal) #49
Powerhouse City of Deliverance (Pentecostal) #45
Reigning Life Family Church (nodenom) #60
Saint Andrew’s Episcopal (Episcopal) #32
Saint Francis of Assisi Delaware Avenue (Roman Catholic) #41
Saint Francis of Assisi South End (Roman Catholic) #46
Saint George’s Antiochian Orthodox (EO) #29
Saint John’s Church of God in Christ (COGIC) #51
aka under Greater
Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Joseph (Roman Catholic) #59
Saint Mary’s in Albany (Roman Catholic) #36
aka under Historic
Saint Matthew Lutheran Church (Lutheran-Missouri Synod) #18
Saint Michael’s Chapel (Catholic, non-Novus Ordo) #13
Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church (Episcopal) #44
Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church (Episcopal) #28
Saint Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Church (EO) #20
Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church (Episcopal) #8
Saint Timothy’s Evangelical Lutheran (ELCA) #56
Saint Thomas the Apostle (Roman Catholic) #9
Saint Vincent De Paul (Roman Catholic) #26
aka under ‘Church’ and ‘Vincent’
Slingerlands Community United Methodist Church (UMC) #16
aka under Community
Solid Rock Church (UPCI) #6
South Bethlehem United Methodist Church (UMC) #57
Sweet Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church #53 (NBC)
Terra Nova Church #55 (Nodenom)
Third Reformed Church Albany (RCA) #30
Trinity United Methodist #63 (UMC)
True Witness Apostolic Faith Church (TCAF) #34
Union Dutch Reformed Church (RCA) #35
aka under Unionville
Union Missionary Baptist (?) #43
Unionville Reformed Church (RCA) #35
aka under Union Dutch
Vincent De Paul (Roman Catholic) #26
aka under ‘Saint’ and ‘Church’
Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) #27
White Couch Albany (Nodenom) #50
Wilborn Temple First Church of God in Christ (COGIC) #47

Key:
EO= Eastern Orthodox
LDS=Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
NBC=National Baptist Convention
Nodenom= No denomination given
PCUSA= Presbyterian Church USA
RCA= Reformed Church in America
TCAF= True Church of the Apostolic Faith
UCC= United Church of Christ
UPCI= United Pentecostal Church International

**For further explanation of churches with no denomination, see individual church posts. I try to give explanation when possible as to church origin and philosophy.

*Notice lack of #12? For this one I attended not a public church but instead visited a religious community in Albany called the Bruderhof. The group has a house on Washington Park. They do allow visitors, but they like to be sent a request ahead of time. It is their home after all.

Church #62, (First) Israel African Methodist Episcopal Church

Date: 8/17/14

Church name/type: “First” Israel AME church (also searchable without the word first), part of the AME denomination, also member of the five FOCUS churches in Albany who together serve the inner city with educational programs, food and lodging

Pastor: Usual pastor seems to be named Reverend Smart. On this day we heard a guest pastor; Reverend Jimpson.

Style of worship: structured but not over-formal

Useful takeaways:
On this day I found my way into a pre-service coffee hour and talked with a few friendly people. During the service they have a visitors greeting time called “warm welcome”. I got smiles, handshakes and hugs. The teen sitting directly in front of me turned immediately to give me a big hug which made me super happy.

The musical instrumentation included drums, guitar, sax, and organ. I’m seeing a trend in churches with predominantly black membership; the music is often more modern and upbeat, falling into categories more like rock and jazz. Many denominations from European traditions use older, more solemn styles of music. I think I prefer the modern.

A piece I liked from the sermon was the idea of clearing away rubble in our lives. In particular, some items listed that we may want to be rid of included: self-pity, jealousy, and picking out single bible verses. This last one is interesting in that it suggests we shouldn’t rely on a bible verse alone without understanding the context around it. The point is one I often feel the need to make myself and it’s good to hear churches acknowledge it.

Problems/Improvements: Both the website and the printed material had errors. The website states that church service begins at 11am, I was told in fact it has started at 10am for quite some time now. Also there was an event advertised in the bulletin as “lunch and a word” purporting to be some form of bible lesson with free lunch. The location and date were listed wrongly.

Because of these errors I had to return on 8/17 to catch church, (having missed it entirely the first time a couple weeks prior) and was unable to attend any sort of lesson they may have had accompanying lunch.

Overview part two of two

Now to continue summing up my posts:

Stylites are pole sitters

I signed a petition- fight hunger!

I wasn’t sure about the new Pope

Eastern Easter was three hours long but I was so absorbed in the whole thing

I wrote a three part piece for Love, Joy, Feminism

I’m better at biblical trivia than some churches!

Pope Francis thinks atheists are redeemed by the blood of Christ; the Vatican does not

I am finding myself tired by the project

31) New Hope Church South- this sermon on integrity is better than the last integrity sermon was. I was only disappointed by lack of fellowship time

32) St Andrew Episcopal- massively good with great messages, a nice post to re-read

Baptism used to be a much lengthier process in the 200’s

I examined grace, faith and works as philosophies

33) All Saints, the other Cathedral- another great re-read, sermon on sin that I actually liked

34) True Witness Apostolic Faith- small, strange

35) Union(ville) RCA- friendly folks, sermon held reminder we are lucky to be far from war in this country

I examine the difficulties of gluten-free worship

Kateri shrine makes me wonder about how true accounts of her story really are

The pope said some stuff about gays. It was far more positive than anyone expected

36) St Mary’s Catholic- this is the church with a turquoise carpet and pastel ceiling

37) Metropolitan New Testament Missionary Baptist- it was like something was missing

38) Iglesia Pentecostal- friendly, great music, they seemed over-concerned about demons though

I find myself stumbling through old church names in the yellow pages

39) First Church, RCA- nice, message includes caring for nature/environmentalist concerns

40) Mt Calvary Baptist- sermon somehow made me feel hopeful about things that seem hopeless, guest pastor was fantastic

41) St Francis of Assisi Delaware Ave- I was told by the deacon the church has gay membership.

42) Mother Theresa Catholic community- despite the appearance I liked the easy welcome and generosity here

43) Union Missionary Baptist- they seem nice but I felt unwelcome to communion

We become the group, the group becomes us

44) St Paul Episcopal- fortress of solitude with friendly coffee hour

45) Powerhouse City of Deliverance- so loud it pushed beyond the sound to peacefulness

46) St Francis Assisi South End- 1000 paper cranes and remembering to push our comfort level

I wrote about stewardship and the Aquabats

Get it together regarding website, Presbys!

God can’t erase the need for human help in depression, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise

Read a book by a pastor who probably should have listened to my above advice. She frames the whole thing as a battle against the devil, personified by a deacon in her church

It sounds like early Christianity offered a basis for women and slaves to refuse sex, something they may have been expected to give to their husbands and owners

47) Wilborn COGIC- guest preacher was trite, but cool communion points, with an individual germ-free packet we stood up as a group to eat

The bible is partly fanfic

48) Mt Zion missionary Baptist- I should go again

49) New Horizons- the end is near!

50) White Couch- didn’t do what I was hoping, just kinda fell flat

I was sick a few Sundays and got a little despondent

51) Greater St John COGIC- decent, I decided crazy praise might be a way of fighting depression and (self discovery) learned that God is a terrorist in the Moses story

52) Antioch Fellowship- the minister doing the service told me she loved me

53) Sweet Pilgrim- nice building, great messages, liturgical dance

54) First Presby Greenbush- nice little church, old but newly merged, would be interesting to see where it goes

I am still thinking about how much or little I care about a church’s doctrine and maintenance of rules

55) Terra Nova- I hadn’t noticed before but this church is affiliated with the acts29 group

Easter- I ponder how to be shocked enough at Jesus’ death and in fact all human death

I complain about gender essentialism and point out the Jesus doesn’t seem to have made any statements about the proper roles for men vs women

56) St Tim’s N. Greenbush- ELCA doesn’t disappoint!

I note that I am not just looking for the familiar but intentionally pushing into the unknown

I see God as the possibilities

57) S. Bethlehem UMC- It’s God’s party, he sends the invites

58) Iglesia Emmanuel- fun music, disappointing convo with music director/pastor’s son

I short posted about guns, prayer, and marriage

Making sin right should include considering those outside ourselves hurt by the sin. Christianity often seems to miss this key component in getting wrapped up in fixing the sinner’s relationship with God.

Grand St Church in someone’s home via video- disorganized and amateurish

59) St John Evangelist/St Joseph- interesting to look at, otherwise unmemorable

I examine a Catholic same-gender attraction support group via online

60) Reigning Life- white patriarchal leadership of friendly black congregation…strange

I wonder why we lump different Christian groups together as if they are a homogeneous mass

I talk about the fact that taking notes helps me absorb the message better

And now we’re pretty much up to speed.

Overview part one of two

I’m feeling the need to evaluate the project again as a whole. Interestingly, my limit before I want to do this seems to be 30 churches. I decided to re-read all my posts to find out what I’d forgotten about the visits, if anything. After visit #30 I came across the post about how I needed a break to contemplate the project. So that’s helpful, since I can now expect to make it to 90 then take another look back.

After reading through the blog I made notes as sort of a quick reference to each church or religious thought post. Here are the notes, in case you are interested:

Opening post: My rules have changed a lot.

1) Delmar Full Gosp, only negative I rember is pastor’s advice

I couldn’t find St Mikes service time

2) King’s Chapel, story of moon worshipped

3) Jehovah’s Witnesses, kinda scared

4) Glenmont Community, Abby, and friendly people who offer hugs

I reviewed Dogma.
I was so optimistic. What happened?

5) BCC- I was bored

6) Solid Rock actually were several positives here I have forgotten

7) Mount Moriah, wasn’t really that bad. Pastor Jesse seems fine. But the book- so wacky

8) I stayed so long at St Stephens
Also did I cause a dust up over atheists and article 13?

9) St. Thomas, extremely disappointing

10) I forgot how happy Delmar Reform made me. People there were so relaxed and chill.

11) Bethlehem Lutheran gave a null vibe

12) Parkview!

I got a little discouraged about prayer

13) St Mikes Chapel mentioned a fish carrying a sack symbol
* I drove by The Chapel recently only to discover they finally put up a sign listing mass time. Did I have anything to do with that?

Christianese was the beginning of my discovery into the origins of heaven/hell/purgatory
Christianese was also my first exposure to obviously wrong and bad theology: conceptually and scientifically impossible things

I make the most killer argument against condemning homosexuality!

14) First Methodist- Iona Dickinson- and I did get to hold a baby. High church but very friendly

Was already tired but still fairly optimistic about project outcomes

15) Delmar Presby was a nice first visit

16) Slingerlands UMC, wow, great sunny Methodist service about David’s Ducky. So much to write!

17) Christian Science pretty much just confuses me

18) New low- older membership at St Matts Lutheran church, pastor says when you feel you can give no more, STOP BEING SINFUL AND GIVE MORE

All interim pastors are named Bob

Remember the naked man in the gospels

19) 1st Reformed of Bethlehem in Selkirk, upstairs from food pantry- didn’t do much for me otherwise

I compare the myth of the perfect church to ‘one true love’ and monogamy

20) St Sophia’s was sensory glorious

21) Jerusalem Reformed had an outdoor service and I learned about Michal and David’s underwear

22) Great vibe over at First Congregational. Pastor seems very introspective.

Still fed up about prayer

Retreat with seekers is more of a self reflective baby-holdathon than informative

I was recognized quite a bit in those days, mostly in reform churches

Remember the woman in Ireland named Savita? I wrote about it

Joan of Ark…I crack me up

Santa and Christians rant

I wrote the most awesome stuff about being nice to atheists and everybody

Two posts on good and evil- can good exist in the absence of evil for comparison? If we made a paradise would forgetting evil make us revisit it?

Another pretty awesome piece about Scrooge only realizing his error when it was pointed out that has underpayment of Bob Cratchit sentenced a young innocent to death (Tiny Tim). Repentance of ignorance.

23) I expected great things from Journey UCC and was underwhelmed

24) Holy Spirit ELCA! I felt really welcomed

Freakin amazing Star Trek parallel. I’m on fire baby!

25) Immac Cathedral- how do these people fellowship?

26) Vincent de Paul is for families

27) Westminster Presby nice, church with hotel looking fellowship area. I stayed for after worship discussion of a book pastor is reading

I rambled on empathy

28) St Peters Episcopal- Carly and the five points of view to the prodigal son story

Lent- fasting in the desert, mourning Jesus

29) Cheesefare Sunday at the St George Orthodox Church

Superstar takeaway- we all have it in us to commit violence. We all kill Jesus.

30) Third Reformed- in which I wonder if Jesus ran out of ectoplasm before he could appear to everyone in the entire world. (We heard the story of Thomas)

So that’s notes on half #1 of the project. I was learning a lot along the lines of theologies. In retrospect, I was understanding Christianity as far more similar to itself than I now understand. I forgot several interesting or amusing things from the visits. It’s nice to revisit the different things I wrote and see the positives again.