Compare & Contrast

This weekend I went back to our Lutheran church for the first time since June. I have been hesitant to go for awhile, mostly because I find myself getting so frustrated every time I am there. But, for Ben to be able to go to seminary, we need to maintain our membership there. Plus, they were doing Holden Evening prayer, and I can never pass that up :)

So I met Ben there and was enveloped by the beautiful music and thoughtful lyrics. Things seemed great. As the service rolled on, I found myself making comparisons to CT. First, there was only one face I recognized in the crowd of about 30. Now, granted, this was the first time we had gone to that particular service, but this church is not huge. (Brings up some thoughts about the isolated/independent communities within a single church community...but maybe that's for another time.) The sermon did not resonate with me as much as Pastor Bailey's usually do. I kept feeling like he was trying to something but wasn't really saying anything. He would talk about the fact that there are issue currently facing the Church that will cause division (homosexuality, immigration, etc) but wouldn't (or at least didn't) take a stand on any of them...as Ben said, maybe he's leading up to that for another time.

**Interestingly, on Saturday night, I was very frustrated with the lack of an opinion on this big issues, but today as I write this I am feeling more open to the approach of naming the issues so people will begin to think about them.**

Anyway, two other things happened that hit the "I'm so tired of traditional 'church' " nerve for me:

1. Sharing of the peace: Sharing the peace at AP felt very impersonal. Walk around, shake hands with those around you, then sit back down quickly for the service to keep going. Yes, there is something of Christ being shared just in being that room together at that time and making a point to say those words, but it didn't feel like community. CT feels like it did at the Chapel at OSU - you get up, walk around, hug people; it's so relational and beautiful. It's genuine. So the question is, how can a medium-large sized church, with 3 services have that kind of intimacy? Is it possible at that size? How would that happen? What would it look like? In particular, how can the intimacy cross services? If I usually go to the 11am on Sunday, how can I feel just as welcomed and as though I belong when I do venture into the 6pm Saturday service?
   
2. Church buildings: At the end of the AP service, Pastor made an announcement about a large fundraising campaign that will begin in September. There is a mission church in Manassas that has been meeting in a fire station for several years. They are currently trying to buy a building that a Baptist church is vacating that costs $1.5 million. All of the other Lutheran churches in the area are being asked to help raise somewhere around $400,000 by the end of the year so they can purchase the building. I find this so frustrating! What's wrong with meeting in a fire house? Why do you need to spend so much money on a building to use a couple times a week? Couldn't that building be used for homeless people to have a place to live? At CT on Sunday, the movie we watched brought up a lot of issues about the wealth of the church. This point was driven home by numerous shots of gigantic cathedrals. What a waste of space!!! And AP is currently in the process of developing plans to remodel their building, which will be another several hundred thousand dollars. So much money on pretty, lightly used space when people are starving all over the world...what does this say about the Church's priorities? And therefore, what does this say to the rest of the world about God's priorities?
   

Maybe it's all an issue of priorities. The sincerity issue and the building issue. What are God's priorities? What are the Church's priorities? I think the second question is better answered by action than by mission, vision or statement. What does a large church building that is locked at all times (except during services) where people may or may not genuinely greet someone they don't know or barely know say about Jesus in the world? What kind of message does that send? What message does it send to spend millions of dollars on these buildings and then turn away someone who needs money for food, or even to give them just a buck or 2? If the buildings must exist, why isn't every church a shelter, a soup kitchen, a place of refuge for those who need it most? Why would the doors to a church ever be locked?

The contrast between these two services was remarkable to me. What I am praying for now is the patience to stop being so judgmental of AP and the wisdom and strength to see how and where to work for change in a constructive manner.in a constructive manner.