Adventures in a New Town: Finding a Church

As you may have been able to tell, I had a few "pity me" days last week. Can you blame me? I mean how can one grow up in a pretty cool town, surrounded by encouraging, wonderful people and NOT miss it upon departure? There are a lot of things that make living in a new place difficult. Many of them are small, insignificant details like figuring out where to register my car or where to get the best deal on peanut butter. A few of them are more important though and require a bit more work.

After three weeks of just resting in my new place, I decided it was time to make a greater effort in finding a church. Although one may not recognize it from the last few years of my life, I do think having a church is important. I have always found comfort in being part of and giving back to that type of community. And now, after hitting the "Start Over" button on the game of my life, I am seeking community anywhere I can find it, hardly patient enough to allow time for cultivation.

When I was in college, each year was designated a theme by administration. The theme would be discussed in freshman orientation classes and would provide the basis for conversation in small groups, chapel services and class lecture. I don't remember many of these theme questions but I do remember the year of "What is community?" I'm going to worry about unpacking this question at a later date but here's what I've learned about MY community as it relates to church.

Stepping in to Winter Park Christian Church seemed safe enough. I had pretty much just Googled Grand County churches and picked the one that seemed safest. I mean if a church's only denominational proclamation is "christian," I figured I could handle it. I was greeted warmly by the pastor and several others in the small Saturday night congregation. The music was acoustic, subtle and honestly, a nice change from many of the more "rock-n-roll" sounding services I've been to. Then.....the pastor spoke......

The sermon was allegedly on Psalm 127 but really had NOTHING to do with what was written on the page of the Bible. In the first ten minutes, this pastor managed to sit in and vocalize severe judgement of those who are homosexual, divorced and those who co-habitate before marriage. I am none of these things and I wanted to walk out then and there. I was so furious that this man could turn a section of the Bible into his political platform...and that people were listening to it! And I couldn't help but wonder how this could possibly be the second largest church in this transient, ski bum, alcohol-obsessed community. I wish I was kidding when I tell you this guy actually used the "Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve" line. ARRGGGGH! All I could think about was all of the people who I know who would hear a message like this and IMMEDIATELY, WITHOUT HESITATION, walk away, taking it as the Christian opinion.

Now, let me just say that I am not one to debate the teachings of any religious text. It may seem safe, but I plead ignorance respect and love above all doctrine and scriptural detail. To me being in any community is just loving people, not judging people. I managed to sit (quietly, although there were points I wanted to stand up and challenge him) through the end of the service. By the end of the evening, the pastor had made one or two redeeming statements and I had quite a nice conversation with one woman. A Nebraskan...go figure! I may go back again as I don't feel entirely comfortable judging this (or any) church based on one message but let me tell you, I will not be walking in objectively. I left that service wracked with guilt over things I've never done and I HATE when I feel like I could never take a friend to a church. A church should be THE most welcoming place in any community, not the most condemning. To be honest, I was disheartened to think that all of the churches out here would be like this. That I'd never find a place that preached love above all else.

Then, this morning, I went to the small chapel on the YMCA campus where my friend, Steve, is the chaplain. There were maybe 15 people in attendance and most of them were seasonal staff members but let me tell you, there was more love and community building happening in that one room chapel! Steve's message was all about loving EVERYONE and challenging us, as Christians, to show love at all costs, not sit in judgment. Ahhhhhh, sweet relief!

I will probably continue to check out other churches in the area, but I have a feeling I will end up back here at the Y where I started. Anyone, preacher or otherwise, who can challenge and inspire me to be a better person, to call me to the action of giving, serving and loving, is someone who I want to have in my life. Those are people I want to have in MY community.

In writing this, I realize that there may be some that have strong opinions about what I've said here. I hope you'll realize that this blog is just a partial glimpse of how I feel about one aspect of one thing and that this is my forum for processing.