Goodbye!

“How can you spend 30 years in a tiny cell and come out ready to forgive the people who put you there?  It makes you consider your own place in the world and your behavior to other people. It’s very emotional and very hard to understand.”

Yes, I reckon it is….

pg. 16 “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser.

I have never heard that at any time until I read this book.  Mass transit was alive and well until GM came in and killed it. That set the stage for our car-dependent culture today…and GM is getting bailout funds from the government.  Simply unreal.

Christopher Guest, an actor in the movie “A Few Good Men.”

Could they be brothers?  Separated at birth?

“What I have observed in this past year behind all those closed doors and beneath all those ceilings were faiths that looped down lanes of love, or trod the tired trail of blandness, or dwelled on demons, damnation, and discrimination.  The frequency with which I saw the third route chosen by churches that also called themselves houses of a loving God was disturbing, and again and again made the case for the many engaging in some form of the pilgrimage I’ve made in the past year.  And not just as a tour. They’re looking for a new spiritual home.”

She also spoke of how similar most of the worship services were, regardless of denomination or size. There was some music, some prayer, some type of message/sermon.  Makes you wonder about all these churches that promise “we’re different, not like other churches, new type of doing church, etc.”  Even contemporary churches have a basic format:  branded children’s ministry (Kid’sZone, etc), “come as you are,” “relevant message/teaching,” contemporary music, and the like.

“I don’t know what the others are finding in their travels, but the past year has distilled for me the qualities I’d need in a new church home:  a community that welcomed me warmly, didn’t give a whit about my politics or lifestyle, gave tons of whits about the social justice needs locally and beyond, contained little to no hierarchy, allowed congregants a say in decisions large and small, offered a spiritual message inspired by love rather than by fear, and did all this in an art-filled space that rang with awesome music.”

Does such a church exist?  No hierarchy rules out mainline denominations, it would seem. Congregational say in decisions means probably a smaller church.  Art-filled space with awesome music (notice she didn’t say what style, just awesome music) is wide open. Not caring about personal politics or lifestyle would seem to lean away from evangelical or fundamentalist and more toward moderates.  Spiritual message inspired by love not fear is wide open.  Social justice/mission local and beyond is wide open.  Is there a small to medium, non-denominational church that appreciates art, produces awesome music, lives as a welcoming community which cares for those close and far away and preaches love and acceptance in an apolitical manner?

She visited 50 churches all over the nation, different sizes and denominations, worship styles and theology, liberal, moderate conservative, orthodox, contemporary, traditional, mainline and independent, famous pastors and unknowns.  A couple of quotes below about two megachurches she visited:

“I guess I don’t need a coffee shop. A bookstore. Five styles of worship. I don’t care if the pastor tithes 99.9% or wears his pajamas. I just want the experience to hit home intimately. And maybe that’s a different thing for everybody. For me, it was not found here (Saddleback).”

“And while I fall into the camp that’s heard enough about the fires of hell, I like my contemporary sermons to contain at least a nod to God. To suggest how we might consider him in our daily struggles, ponder how he’s working in our lives. I’m all for self-help information, but this (sermon about weight loss tips) was too much about that self when there’s a whole world of problems out there to discuss.  I find Lakewood (Joel Olsteen’s church)not much like a church at all. But maybe that’s just me.”

Having never visited either of those churches myself, I can’t really comment, but what about her perspective and insights?