Category: church visits

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Church #27, Westminster Presbyterian Church

Date: 2/24/13

Church name/type: Westminster Presbyterian Church/Presbyterian Church, USA

Pastor: Associate Pastor Frances Wattman Rosenau

Style of worship:casual formal, similar to other Protestant formats

Overall Impression: good

Thoughts: Nothing too unusual; this place seems fairly middle of the road. I was able to find the place easily enough and on driving into the parking lot, an attendant notified me of an empty spot. A pretty good start!

Inside the church is nice looking- a very tall space with tall, very blue stained glass windows. Rather than depicting a single scene, each window is a stack of four scenes in squares and one half circle scene at the top. The altar area is paneled with carved wood reminiscent of some of the carvings I saw in the Cathedral (Immac. Concep.) two churches ago. The fellowship area is nice-looking too. It was almost like the welcome area of a good hotel; bright, comfortable, pleasant. This church seems well-kept.

I noticed maybe a quarter of the attendance was the choir and they seem well-practiced. There is some talent here I think. The music had several parts and sounded difficult, yet I heard no sour notes. I am impressed. During greeting time people did a bit of moving to shake hands but not overmuch. I stayed put to see who would come to me. I got three handshakes although I was surrounded by more than three people. I noticed they greeted each other warmly enough. And all you really have to say is “peace” and walk away. So, I feel like there was a bit of missed opportunity there.

The sermon was on John’s account of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple. The story is one I like because of its complexity. You have Jesus as the son of God getting all physical and flipping tables over, sending coins and doves scattering everywhere. He is pissed. What was that like? Is he righteous, carrying himself like royalty? Is he brute force acting in rage? Is he a whirlwind, moving so fast no one can think fast enough to stop him? And there’s the dichotomy of loving others while ruining at least a few people’s days. I mean dove sellers gotta make a living, right? Our sermon spoke to the picture of a Jesus with lots of zeal. One particular set of churches called Mars Hill Church is about making Jesus more “manly” and getting away from an image they feel is too gentle and “feminine”. But why do they not use this passage? Maybe it’s because Jesus is still not encompassing their idea of masculinity here. He says clearly what he thinks and takes clear action. He doesn’t simply curse and rampage, he shakes up the status quo to make people rethink things. The pastor left us with the question of our own lives and when it is necessary to “overturn tables”. I like the point and I think it’s interesting that we are left to grapple with what that might mean. I suppose this could be seen as a negative or positive. On the one hand it is highly encouraging of individual thought and interpretation, which I like. On the other hand, you have a pulpit just begging to be used. It might be ok to give some detail as to what would constitute the overturning of tables in a “divine zeal”. The former point gives nice insight into the variety of faith flavors going on in this church; if preaching becomes too specific it could risk losing the audience. Last thought here is that I’m soo glad I don’t have to be a pastor.

After service I got a few more hellos and greetings. I sat in for part of a series of circle discussions on a book the pastor is reading. That was not too bad. It again reinforced the diversity of belief this church seems to house. We talked a little about this and that- Gnostics and Nicean counsels and Evangelicals. We tried to get a definition for The Word vs. the word. That proved remarkably close to impossible. I wanted much more (as always) but time was up and I had to go.

Overall the people seem nice. I think the average age is a bit older than me but not creaky-old. And this may also explain the energy and greetings tending slightly towards the more reserved.

Website?: I found three versions of the church website.
1) Mobile version on my phone is very terse but pertinent. On top are location, service time, and parking. Convenient!
2) Web version of the same has lots of good info and appears up-to-date.
3) For some reason my maps program links a third website which is mostly nonfunctional links. I presume it’s an old site. Interestingly, the service time and location listed on the bad site are still accurate and fairly easy to find.

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Church #26, Church of Saint Vincent De Paul

Date:2/10/13

Church name/type: Saint Vincent De Paul (Roman Catholic)

Format type: Catholic mass, the usual formula

Overall Impression: Seems ok

Thoughts:
So it’s not the first time I’ve visited Vincent De Paul. I used to go occasionally when it was down the street in my college days. I liked the church and the priest (who is still there), so I was stumped as to why I never made this my home church. This week I remembered; Vincent De Paul is mainly families with kids. As such it exudes a friendly vibe, but it’s extremely kid-focused. They even mentioned Catholic Youth Conference, which is a thing I didn’t even know existed! Its great that a church has such involved youth, but it did make me feel like I have nothing to say to other adults unless I have some kids to talk about. Seems like this sort of thing appeals to a lot of folks since the church was packed.

I will duly make note of the things that contribute to the draw of Vincent De Paul.
1) The church has moveable seats which may be rearranged or removed if the room needs to be repurposed.
2) No kneelers!
3) The space is clean, bright and warm, and looks new (which probably means it’s painted and cleaned regularly).
4) The musical instrumentation varies with each song. I heard: guitar, trumpet, drums, organ, flute, and harmonica.
5) There are greeters at the entry doors AND ushers to seat more people as mass progresses. This one is actually a double whammy because it also points to the fact that those coming in late are welcomed inside.
6) There is a sign language translator at this church. Not only are the unchanging parts of mass translated, but the homily (sermon) as well.
7) Father Chris DeGiovine. I met him first through Saint Rose. He holds a position there called “Dean of Spiritual Life”, and hangs out in the interfaith center. I find him engaging and friendly, and I know that many others do too. Since he works for the campus, he’s probably not going anywhere- also a big draw for Catholics. Priests get moved around so often with no warning.

That sums up the best parts. I have just a couple negatives to mention. Father Chris’s sermons are great but I often feel like they stop short just when they are about to get good. I crave something in depth and they usually hover just above the level I’m hoping for. I guess thats not much of a complaint. Second thing is, when did they replace round hosts with kibble? Because that’s totally what it looked like when I went for communion. It was cracker-ish and tasted boring, but was dense and shaped like a square puffy pillow. Again I guess that’s a lame complaint at best, but it was definitely a surprise.

Compare? I’d take this place over the Cathedral any day, but overall I’m finding the lack of personal interaction in Catholic Churches the biggest turnoff. Sure I spoke with Father Chris and my one friend I already knew. But no one else spoke to me. Based on the friendly vibe there’s a possibility that this had to do with size and its corresponding new-face-recognition problem. But Roman Catholics are showing themselves rather reserved in most of my experiences, so I’ve come to expect the low interaction.

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Church #25, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Date: 2/3/13

Church name/type: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic)

Format summary: standard Catholic mass with 360 degree style greeting

Overall Impression: the building is really the exciting part

Thoughts:
So, back to my heritage again! A Catholic Church. It’s actually quite striking the things they’ve changed in the few years I have been absent. For example “the Lord be with you” is now followed by “and with your spirit” instead of “and also with you”. Ignoring this type of thing the mass is pretty much as I remember it.

Since the appearance of this place is its most striking feature, I will spend some time describing it. Once inside one is impressed by its size which is actually somewhat deceptive. The ceiling is very high, but the room isn’t gigantic going front to back. One can sit at the back and feel like it ought to be the middle. The other deceptive bit going on is the front doesn’t quite feel like the front. The altar is a bit removed from the seats and the readings are done from a little “tower” (not sure what else to call it) which is ascended by a short staircase. These two factors give the feeling of being removed from the priest and the action. I suppose this is intentional, albeit old-school, given the rigidity of hierarchy in the Roman Catholic Church.

On this particular Sunday, I noticed it felt rather warm for such a chilly day. The warmth comes up through grates in the floor then rises to the ceiling…to warm the Saints’ toes I guess. How much does it cost I wondered to keep this building heated? My eyes were drawn everywhere by stone fixtures and stained glass. It’s really incredible to see a structure with this kind of carved stone in it today. The stone manifests itself as knots and ribbons on the ceiling, and as three dimensional, near-life-size representations of the stations of the cross around the room. As I understand it, the art of stone cutting is basically dead, so I especially enjoy having both the Cathedral and the Capitol building in Albany. The rectangle bricks making the walls are soft pink colors; joined but still distinct. Every window seems to be stained glass. This means there are two rows over every wall; a lower row and a higher row. The front and rear have fantastic large windows as well, all depicting saints and scenes biblical. The structure is such that pillars rise from the floor at regular intervals to meet the ceiling above. These pillars are grooved and lined to mesh with the linearity of the other architectural elements and the orderly layout of the building. I could spend many many Sundays ignoring mass while I stared at the beauty of the building, following lines with my eyes and fondling the smoothness of stone beyond the reach of my fingers’ touch. This, I suppose, is why the ancient church built cathedrals. To be inside something like this was meant to elevate from the ordinary and bring one to a realm of the supernatural.

So what about the service itself? Well, it didn’t do much for me. There was no one greeting people at the door so I helped myself to a bulletin. It’s good that I did because this church has no missals, songbook, or books of any kind in the pews. Even with a pamphlet of the mass format, I noticed the actual words don’t follow it exactly, which was a bit distracting. At the end of mass we had the option to have a throat blessing to protect against illness. I’ve gotten this once before. The priest uses a pair of crossed candles and puts them on the sides of your neck with some words. This time the priest used a giant two pronged candle. It was kinda cool. I could have talked to the priest this time but I couldn’t think of anything to say. There didn’t seem to be any fellowship hall and everyone else left. So I just left.

The big question: How do these people fellowship?

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Church #24, Holy Spirit Lutheran (ELCA)

Date: 1/20/13

Church name/type: Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit, ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America)

Format summary: I will fill this in later…I can be lazy once in a while, I’m allowed.

Overall Impression: wonderful

Thoughts:
To start with I want to make note that although this denomination has Evangelical in the name it doesn’t feel very “Evangelical”. Let me explain, in case you didn’t get that. In my mind, if someone told me a group or person was Evangelical Christian, I’d immediately have an idea about them. They shout loudly during sermons, they expect you to say “amen” after every sentence, they are pushy, they want you to be ‘saved’, they think a very specific list of things will get you out of hell and outside that list you are screwed.
Well this church is nothing like that. ELCA will ordain gay ministers and sanction gay marriage- something a close friend assures me quotational “Evangelicals” would never do. For Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, evangelizing means spreading the good news. The good news in this church seems to be welcome, come one in, we like you as you are.

Now that the nomenclature is out of the way, I’ll tell you all the stuff I liked about this church. I arrived rather early and was the first in the sanctuary. A man greeted me and asked how I had found the church, which of course prompted me to mention my project. He reacted positively and asked if it was a school project. (This is a really common question because I look young) I told him it was a personal project and he smiled and welcomed me. Next the pastor greeted me, then, with no knowledge of me besides my name, he invited me to take communion during the worship. And he said there’d be choice of either wine or juice. I’ve never taken communion where there was a choice. Communion itself was also exciting in that I got to again kneel at a rail and get the wafer right on my tongue. How do pastors do that without ever missing?

Every part of service gave me reasons to feel nice about this church. The service had formal parts reminiscent of a Catholic Church, but was so relaxed you didn’t feel pressure to get it all right. The bulletin was easy to follow with most of the songs and even the singsong chanted words in musical notation. Behind me was a younger woman taking care of an older woman in a wheelchair. In front of me was a woman who didn’t seem to realize greeting time was over, explaining to her seat mates that peace is really two fingers together instead of apart like a V. (I think she may have been mentally disabled but highly functional.) The two women sitting with her just said, “Ok sit down now.” No one acted like it was a problem or unusual. Directly in front of me was a woman with two kids. She apologized to me before they’d even done anything, but not in an exasperated way. Just like, shrug smile- they’re kids, they wiggle! I like kids and they were fine. In one of the sections where the congregation said prayer together, we prayed that those taking care of animals continue to have the sense if responsibility in that. We prayed for those who are homeless, and were told how to donate to a shelter supported by the church. The back page of the bulletin was an extensive list of anything you might want to know as a visitor: bathrooms, gluten issues, kids area, inclusion of all in taking communion. Printed material means a lot to me and can often be a reflection if how much attention a church is willing to give those walking through its doors. Holy Spirit Lutheran did a superb job on both accounts.

After service I dawdled a bit as usual to see if new people would greet me. My first greeter came back to let me know about food in the room down the hall. Once there I also had a woman greet me and strike up a similar conversation, what brought me here, where did I live? She thought the pastor and visiting bishop might like to hear about my project so I also got to talk with them. Yeah, on top of all the other cool stuff, I got to meet a bishop. This is one of those weeks where my project makes me so happy. This church has the best vibe and I think I’ve found another denomination to love.

Notes to self: Learn more about wine, juice and how the cup is interpreted by the various denominations.

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Church #23, Journey UCC

Date: 1/13/13

Church name/type: Journey UCC (United Church of Christ)

Format summary: Very open format; we sang a little, heard a reading, heard a message, prayed some intentions, and said some words together

Overall Impression: Meh.

Thoughts:
At first I was really excited about this church. The building was small but full, in a location hidden behind a dentist office. This type of thing is usually a signal that the church is new, vibrant, growing and working towards a new space for the expanding congregation. They are moving in March I was told, but the location sounds to be just as hidden in another existing building. Well that’s really not a reason to fault them. A church is not a building right? But it does have to exist in one. The building currently in use is small but painted in a warm French vanilla color. The back wall is one third taken up by a large rainbow flag so, as I found at the last UCC church, the membership is open those of all sexualities. I see that as a positive. There didn’t seem to be a bulletin or any literature about the church anywhere around. I tend to take a brochure or pamphlet of some kind if I can. Maybe this place is too casual for that. So when I arrived and walked in a woman near the door greeted me and offered me food and coffee. It seems that they all snack during service and no one minds. Ok, they are very relaxed and I started to imagine lovely conversations I’m going to have with this group afterwards.

Next comes the actual service content. The message was in part about “extravagant welcome”. This was vague at best. We watched a commercial put out by the UCC in 2006 called “Bouncer” which was supposed to illustrate this type of welcome. We heard the commercial was extremely controversial. It seemed mostly to deal with accepting race differences, but on watching it again at home via YouTube I did notice a couple of females holding hands. Probably this was a very understated nod to same sex couples. I also noted the participants in the bouncer commercial are well-dressed- no commentary on poverty I see. Overall this really doesn’t strike me as a radical commercial. Our guest fill-in speaker talked about being accepting of gays and how good it is that this church does that. Especially given the rainbow flag in the room, I don’t see how this message was pertinent. Telling people in a church to be ok with gay couples is pointless if they already are ok with gay couples. If that’s been established I expect a new or at least more nuanced message. The one good bit was when the speaker talked about slavery as compared to homosexuality. Both have been cited as biblical and both have passed their expiration date. I like that this was something we might use as a point when speaking with others who are still on the fence about same sex relationships. Slavery was very much condoned and approved by religious teachers who used bible verses. The fact that we have changed our views on that should signal us that change is still possible regarding other concepts. The rest of the message was a bit boring and hard to follow. I was fairly annoyed by the lack of bulletin by the end. The projection screen with lyrics and prayers wasn’t very visible owing to the low ceiling and people’s heads in my way. I’ve never been in love with projection screens; they are often hard to read because of distance or font, and they have no musical notation to follow. This church would benefit from a printed version of the prayers and songs.

So the closing was spoken and I waited around a few minutes for some extravagant welcome, maybe more snacking and some conversation. One new person greeted me; we didn’t talk alot. There wasn’t any fellowship after the service- I suppose because we all ate during the service. All kinds of talk about welcoming and I didn’t get much of it. I miss an actual fellowship hour. And if the sermon includes reference to “welcoming” I ought to feel welcomed. So what happened this time? Was it just an off week? The Pastor was away, maybe without her lead the congregation forgets who is new and how to say hello to them? Are they just reserved until they see you a few times? Or did I fit in so well they thought I was already a member? Whatever happened it was a disappointing end to an only moderately interesting service.

Another look?: As with every church I do realize that this was just a single visit. It is always possible the further visits would give me a more positive view. Also possibly a more negative view. I just don’t know. The nature of my project and my rules tells me to visit each church minimally however, so I can get them all done in the next few years- so it’s onward from here.

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Church #22, First Congregational Church, Albany

Date: 10/28/12

Church name/type: First Congregational Church (Albany), part of the UCC -United Church of Christ

Format summary: Again the format was structured like either Methodist or Reformed, and I got to sing the doxology.

Overall Impression: Very good

Thoughts:
I haven’t mentioned use of the bulletin or program in a while. This church had a nice, easy to follow bulletin. It included hymn page numbers for short response songs the regular churchgoers would sing every week, but newcomers wouldn’t necessarily know. I think it’s a small point but a good one. It shows a level of concern that all who arrive through the doors be able to join in easily.

I found a lot of things at this church to recommend both it and the denomination. The pastor gave a really interesting sermon about change and upheaval. We were reminded of the Reformation which started so many different types of Protestant groups. Even at the very beginning it was never just one Protestant church. There were a bunch and they weren’t all reconciled on various points. The pastor mentioned a theory of the 500 year shakeups. The theory goes, every 500 years people shake things up and make great changes. The Reformation marked one of these. If accurate we are on the brink of another one. Reformation Sunday should not be a day on which we congratulate ourselves on leaving behind old stuff and finally getting it right. It should be a day we think about what change still needs to be made and what lists need to be nailed to the church door. Keep in mind these are the points I usually make in my own notes, however in this case I didn’t have to introspect them, the pastor actually said them.

Next comes the most awesome thing of my journey so far. The pastor of this church spoke about being gay. Yes that’s right. This church and denomination are good with that. And everything it means. Some other closely related denominations still seem to be in a state of flux about the question of gay ministers and gay in general. It’s cool and unexpected to find a place that has finally settled on “yes it’s ok”. I’m not even sure there’s another Congregational church on my list, but I am fairly excited about the denomination right now.
*It was recently pointed out to me that it’s the denomination UCC (United Church of Christ) that is ok with homosexuality. Congregationalist is a term which refers to the fact that each church is rather independent of the other Congregational churches. So every church calling its denomination Congregationalist makes many of its own choices as to teachings and beliefs. Some churches consider themselves UCC and Congregationalist, but not all Congregationalist churches took on the UCC modifier.

More again?: Yes I’d return. I’m strongly considering it in two weeks when the pastor talks some more about history on Founder Sunday. Plus I think I’d like to have another chance to chat with church members.

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Church #21, Jerusalem Reformed Church

Date: 10/21/12

Church name/type: Jerusalem Reformed Church in Feura Bush (RCA)

Format summary: service was OUTSIDE for a single special dealio, so the format was pretty loose- Acoustic guitars played and we heard the pastor preach and gave money and there was the Lord’s prayer

Overall Impression: I like it!

Thoughts: I keep finding these churches on the interesting Sunday. The building looks small and well kept but I was outside it until coffee hour. The lawn is good too. They set up two metal fire pits we all pulled chairs around. I’d guess we were about twenty people maybe more. The format structure was mainly provided by the guitar music. It bookended everything. The pastor less read scripture and more paraphrased it, which I actually enjoyed. I myself often paraphrase scripture rather than quote it. It’s just so bulky and unwieldy, you know?

The sermon was about David. We were asked to recall how he was chosen for king as a boy tending sheep. God wanted him over all his older, stronger brothers. As a child he defeated the mighty Goliath. And there was a story I was not familiar with; Michal and David’s underwear! Michal is David’s wife. David has just welcomed the Ark back into a proper building in town or whatever after having it hidden in the wilderness. Everyone is there because its a big celebration. David is so joyful that he dances wearing only a linen ephod (some kind of undergarment). Michal then scolds him saying, “Hey stop embarrassing yourself in front of all those slave girls!” David says, “Look lady, for God I’ll embarrass myself as much as I want!” The lesson we are supposed to take from this being that when we focus on God it doesn’t matter what other people say or think. We are experiencing God and that is really important.

Then again I can kinda see what Michal is annoyed about. She probably thinks this is a flimsy excuse for David to show off to the ladies- ladies he may have been trying to get lucky with (or maybe already had). Kings had lots of extra ladies. Is Michal allowed to have extra dudes? I’m betting not. So yeah, I’d lean towards being annoyed if I were Michal.

So I learned a new story. After service was done most of us went back inside for coffee, brownies and cookies. I had a really nice, normal talk with a man who described himself as a church elder. He had at some point been involved in the consistory (which I think I can define as like a church council) and said the term ‘elder’ was a good descriptor for someone that was or is part of the consistory. We talked about me a bit because he asked. I said my background was Catholic then we both agreed that the Pope should get with the program and be more open with the priest requirements- maybe include marriage or females. He was nice and seemed very down to earth. I had several other people welcome me and invite me back; not to mention the ladies who helped me park and found me a chair to pull outside.

Overall I like this place, the people seem nice. The pastor recognized my name when I gave it. This is the third time now someone at a new church has heard of me. A reputation is new to me and it’s kind of cool- especially when people seem enthusiastic and interested in my project. Hopefully I’m still happy with that as it starts to happen more often.

Caught you!: I noticed the pastor said of David that “little guys can do big things”…There’s something familiar about that word order and choice. I think I just caught you quoting VeggieTales. Yes?

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Church #21, Jerusalem Reformed Church

Date: 10/21/12

Church name/type: Jerusalem Reformed Church in Feura Bush (RCA)

Format summary: service was OUTSIDE for a single special dealio, so the format was pretty loose- Acoustic guitars played and we heard the pastor preach and gave money and there was the Lord’s prayer

Overall Impression: I like it!

Thoughts: I keep finding these churches on the interesting Sunday. The building looks small and well kept but I was outside it until coffee hour. The lawn is good too. They set up two metal fire pits we all pulled chairs around. I’d guess we were about twenty people maybe more. The format structure was mainly provided by the guitar music. It bookended everything. The pastor less read scripture and more paraphrased it, which I actually enjoyed. I myself often paraphrase scripture rather than quote it. It’s just so bulky and unwieldy, you know?

The sermon was about David. We were asked to recall how he was chosen for king as a boy tending sheep. God wanted him over all his older, stronger brothers. As a child he defeated the mighty Goliath. And there was a story I was not familiar with; Michal and David’s underwear! Michal is David’s wife. David has just welcomed the Ark back into a proper building in town or whatever after having it hidden in the wilderness. Everyone is there because its a big celebration. David is so joyful that he dances wearing only a linen ephod (some kind of undergarment). Michal then scolds him saying, “Hey stop embarrassing yourself in front of all those slave girls!” David says, “Look lady, for God I’ll embarrass myself as much as I want!” The lesson we are supposed to take from this being that when we focus on God it doesn’t matter what other people say or think. We are experiencing God and that is really important.

Then again I can kinda see what Michal is annoyed about. She probably thinks this is a flimsy excuse for David to show off to the ladies- ladies he may have been trying to get lucky with (or maybe already had). Kings had lots of extra ladies. Is Michal allowed to have extra dudes? I’m betting not. So yeah, I’d lean towards being annoyed if I were Michal.

So I learned a new story. After service was done most of us went back inside for coffee, brownies and cookies. I had a really nice, normal talk with a man who described himself as a church elder. He had at some point been involved in the consistory (which I think I can define as like a church council) and said the term ‘elder’ was a good descriptor for someone that was or is part of the consistory. We talked about me a bit because he asked. I said my background was Catholic then we both agreed that the Pope should get with the program and be more open with the priest requirements- maybe include marriage or females. He was nice and seemed very down to earth. I had several other people welcome me and invite me back; not to mention the ladies who helped me park and found me a chair to pull outside.

Overall I like this place, the people seem nice. The pastor recognized my name when I gave it. This is the third time now someone at a new church has heard of me. A reputation is new to me and it’s kind of cool- especially when people seem enthusiastic and interested in my project. Hopefully I’m still happy with that as it starts to happen more often.

Caught you!: I noticed the pastor said of David that “little guys can do big things”…There’s something familiar about that word order and choice. I think I just caught you quoting VeggieTales. Yes?

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Church #20, St Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Church

Date: 10/7/11 and 10/14/2

Church name/type: St Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Church

Format summary: As I remember it here are all the parts- choir music (in Greek), prayers from father, entrance with the big glitzy bible, readings, more prayer and choir responses, lots of words regarding the bread and wine, people file up to take bread and wine, more prayer and song by the choir, sermon and announcements.

Overall Impression: Half Greek to me!

Thoughts:
Incredibly interesting and compelling. I have gone twice now and I’m sorely tempted to go twice more. I could spend a long time trying to understand all the parts of the divine liturgy on my own. I did fairly well with the Greek by following along in the book that sits in all the seat backs. It has spots for when to sit or stand, so each time we did that I found my place again. Also the choir sings ‘Kyrie Eleison’ about two or three dozen times which means ‘Lord have mercy’- another good means of keeping my spot. My Catholic background helped me out with the format. I recognized certain parts such as the Nicene Creed. And my choir days gave me bits of Greek.

The first thing I noticed was the atmosphere. The church is absolutely stunning inside. There are murals (called icons) covering the walls; painted with brilliant colors and glittering like gold in some spots. The choir is clearly restricted to one corner of the room, yet the acoustics make it sound as though music radiates from the walls and ceiling. I pictured angels hovering invisibly in every corner serenading us. Everyone was dressed in nice dressy clothes. This is the first church where I’ve found that perfectly natural as a side-effect of the fact this place feels really special, almost another world. I am a big fan of the whole ‘a church is not a building it’s people’ but I was strongly drawn to the beauty of St Sophia’s. I guess in part that shows my Catholic roots. Catholicism has a strong tendency toward quiet reverence and symbolism and beauty in many aspects of worship.

As I said it was not too difficult to follow along in a cursory way. I’d have to go a few more times to get in depth on all the parts. An aspect that was rather unexpected was the width of separation between the bible readings and the sermon. Readings come almost at the very beginning whereas the sermon was at the end. The sermons were in English (thank goodness!) and they were good, but probably made more sense to one in context of being a regular orthodox church attendee. The 7th was about fasting and taking communion. Apparently there is some history of tradition that communion be taken only three times a year. Father Pat advocated that we move closer to receiving the gifts every Sunday. I sat out communion at this church. I believe I was correct in doing so according to the internal rules. I did get to watch and it was another new thing to see. The people were served wine on a spoon (one spoon for everyone) then received a chunk of bread to eat at their seats. At the end of liturgy, the extra bread was handed out as a snack. This was not one of the gifts/body of Christ; I asked if I’d be allowed to eat it and was told to go ahead. I don’t know if that means it was somehow unblessed after the fact or was never blessed in the first place. Either way I understood that in Orthodoxy as in the Catholic church, they believe the bread and wine become Christ’s body and blood.

I probably won’t be joining the Eastern Orthodox Church. I’d have to learn Greek or some other new language to get the most out of it. I’m not up for that based on my schedule these days. But it was kinda cool. Now I will have a bit of an easier time with the next Eastern Orthodox place whenever it comes up.

Daily history lesson: The Eastern Orthodox Church split from the Roman Catholic Church (or Rome split from them) in 1054 in what’s known as the East West Schism. Eastern Orthodox consider themselves the true church still following in the apostolic tradition. This makes the third church type I have visited that make this claim.

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Church #19, First Reformed Church of Bethlehem in Selkirk

Date: 9/30/12

Church name/type: First Reformed Church of Bethlehem (RCA)

Format summary: The usual, announcements at the beginning were informal, group reciting of lines like the call to worship, songs, musical chairs peace, sermon and closing

Overall Impression: it was alright.

Thoughts:
The biggest thing that stuck with me after leaving the service was how neutral it made me feel. It wasn’t bad but wasn’t great. The sermon was about tossing out walls and boundaries that separate the churchgoer from others out in the world. That we ought to accept and welcome those who come through our door no matter what they look like. All this talk about welcome, and at the coffee hour, it was only after several minutes that I was hesitantly greeted by two people. It was a bit disappointing.

During coffee hour, I was introduced to two other people who had done a year long ‘searching for a church’ project. After I got home I realized that they had more to say about the negative experiences they left than the positive ones they found. I guess that could be an indicator on why most people do church searches. They don’t leave a place until they have to, then they find one that isn’t so bad. I guess it’s good for me that I don’t need a church to be everything for me and I’m not looking for a new home. I have everything to gain and less to lose in not finding the mythical perfect church. But I’m digressing.

The church building seemed fine, the format was normal, people smiled at me. But no one went too far in talking to me. I don’t know what the lukewarm reception was about. It looks like a small enough place for people to have recognized me as new. Maybe this church just not lively as a whole. Maybe very few of them care about what they are doing. Or maybe they are all just really reserved. I guess it’s good that they didn’t go the other way and mob me, clamoring for my return next week. But it does make me wonder if they all don’t know each other from strangers or something.

So what did I like?: This church has a food pantry serving the needs of the local community. It’s in the basement. Whenever I am sad, I shop for it. That way, even if I feel like crap at least I’m helping someone.