two sunday’s ago tracy started our “dying” church experience when we visited a rather vibrant, and very much alive congregation of presbyterians. so, not to be deterred by this possibly “fluke” experience—maybe it was just the exception to the rule—we made our way to one of the denominations that is quite possibly in the most turmoil and also considered to be another of the mainline “dying.” enter the episcopal church.
now, before continuing i must say that the congregations that we are choosing to attend are random and in no way are we looking for the “successful” churches in town (we’ve narrowed our focus to decatur alone), but rather we’re attending congregations that are close to our home or, in some cases, are the only congregation representing that denomination.
so, last sunday we entered into a gorgeous building full of stained glass windows and a rich history and tradition as we were warmly greeted by several people as we entered in. the service began and we fumbled through our bulletin to locate the proper page number for the hymn book and the proper page number for the book of common prayer and the proper page number for the other stuff as well… it was rather confusing…
the sermon came and went, greetings of “peace” filled the air as we shook hands with those around us, and then the best part of the service came—the eucharist.
i’ve never seen such care, such respect, such love, and such beauty surround communion in all my life. as i watched the rector pray over the cup and the bread, making motions and preparations i was overcome with just how essential and important the eucharist is to the life of this congregation, and as i watched tears welled up in my eyes. i desperately wanted to participate in this, but was a little nervous as to the proper way of participation. tracy and i must have looked extremely confused because a lady behind us peeked her head in to tell us that we could participate in the eucharist if we wanted to, and she began to explain how they do it… she even offered to go in front of us so that we could watch her and follow her lead!
we went forward together and kneeled on the bench—never before have i knelt during communion, this was a profound moment as i held the body of Christ—the bread of heaven and dipped it into the cup of Christ—the cup of our salvation.
the service ended and immediately tracy and i were surrounded by friendly faces welcoming us and inviting us to coffee hour, a post service fellowship time in the parish hall. we sat around a table and were introduced to so many people from the congregation that not only introduced themselves but actually had conversations with us as they took an interest in us as people. they told us about themselves and we told them about ourselves—it was far more than “surface-y” conversations… in fact, this may be the most friendly church we’ve ever visited!
for a “dying” denomination there were about 150 in the second of 2 services and the membership seemed to be around 200. the congregation had recently formed a “discernment” committee to actively pursue God’s will and direction for the congregation… for a “dying” denomination, it didn’t seem to be very dead.
the past two weeks one of the most profound observations i’ve made is that in the midst of these two congregations the central focus is Jesus. in fact, i’m not exaggerating when i say i’ve heard more about Jesus in these two weeks in the presbyterian church and the episcopalian church than i have in the evangelical church in any given two week period. there are always allusions to jesus in the evangelical church but sometimes we seem to use God in the place of Jesus’ name.
so as of now we’re 0 for 2 in the “dying” church experience. we’ve visited two supposed “dying” denominations and found something to the contrary… we’ll have to see if this streak continues.
Related posts:
- the “dying” church experience—pt. 1 (PCUSA)
- Shiavo…what is life?
- church planting.
- For all the pastors out there…
- renewing older churches.
A discernment committee. Interesting.
If you want an interesting “worship” experience, you should go to that Unitarian Universalist church on Mound Road. I once went there with Jonas and Tony V. They read from Carl Sagan and were hosting a seminar on astrology. I had a debate with a Baptist after the service about whether or not he was actually a Baptist – enlightening.
You have helped me to remember my first day in the Episcopal Church, a heartwarming experience indeed, thank you. I can’t wait to hear more stories of your journey. Blessings.
I’ve heard a lot of people express confusion over the hymnbook and Book of Common Prayer the first time or two they visited an Episcopal Church. Shame about the troubles they are having over homosexuality.
all I can say is that I hope your streak continues.
And considering I left the Episcopal church at age 7 or so, I really miss the stained glass.
I’m not really one for traditions and tight rituals but I did like their approach to communion (thinking back) much less rushed and casual than NP and hymns are still nice to hear once in a while…
[...] today i woke up bright and early, refreshed from a weekend trip to indianapolis to spend a great time with friends from college as we did our annual fantasy baseball draft. i showered, got dressed and ready for church, made a nice big breakfast and sat by the window reading the paper while drinking my coffee. i looked at the clock, and it was 10:00, time to head out the door and off to church for yet another exciting installment of my self-titled journey: ‘the “dying” church experience.’ [...]
[...] for the most part, a lot of the liturgy very much reminded me of my experience at the episcopal church (minus the book of common prayer). but there was a stark difference between the two ways in which the liturgy was “performed” or carried out. when it came to the elca it seems that the liturgy was just a “going through the motions” done somewhat haphazardly and carlessly, whereas in the episcopal church i was taken aback by the care, the respect and the honor for the liturgy—this was absent in the elca. this made the service drag along because they just didn’t seem to care about it—this was even the case when it came to the eucharist. [...]