Returning to Church
I went to church for the first time in years tonight.
It was a little different than I remember church being, but then, I expected it would be. It was nice, though. It’s a program called Mercy Street, which is part of a larger Methodist church. I was raised by Baptists in the Methodist church, because there wasn’t a Baptist church close to where we lived. (That’s sort of like being raised by wolves, but you’re not allowed to dance, BTW. My Father loves that joke for some reason.) So, it wasn’t too far off from services that I’d attended before. But, it was unusual in that the entire service was designed to appeal to people that have been, well, somewhat disenfranchised by organized religion. I always got tired of the money campaigns most churches had, so, I fall into that demographic. Well, I do for other reasons, too, but I won’t go there tonight. The cool thing about this place for me is that they never “pass the basket”. Not at all. There’s a “Carpenter’s Box” in the middle of the room and people who are called to give, can and do. To the tune of, roughly, $240, 000. All with no pressure and no passing the basket. Oh, that’s with under 400 members, but with an average of over 475 people attending. Yeah, more people attending than actually belong. Sort of different, isn’t it?
Anyway, it was good. Church has been something that I’ve missed, so, I think I’ll be going back. No, I know I’ll be going back. I’ve been needing something more in my spiritual life and church is it, I think. Regular church services and regular contact with a like-minded faith community. These folks seem like they’re headed down the path I would like to follow. So, yeah, it was comfortable being there. What’s more, it was comforting being there. Yeah, I’ll be going back.
