Visit: Smaller Liberal Church
We finally made it to visit a second church. Because the weather was nice, we narrowed it down to two churches within walking distance of our house: Sojourners and Belmont Baptist. Both were having out-of-the-ordinary services, with a special speaker at Sojourners and a 60th homecoming celebration at Belmont. We settled on Sojourners to get the full "crazy liberal church" experience. And because it is only a five-minute walk instead of 10 or 15.Sojourners is a relatively new church and is affiliated with the United Church of Christ, which is a bit of a departure for us faithful Baptists, but in many ways it felt similar to Binkley, the church we attended in Chapel Hill, which was Baptist. It is openly inclusive of all, regardless of culture, "race, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical challenges, or religious background." A banner in the sanctuary says "Social Justice." There are recycling containers. The bulletin lists upcoming community events related to peace, non-violent communication, Islam, Christianity, and other topics.
If we attended this church, probably the biggest adjustment would be that the worship service is at 9:30 instead of the more typical 11. I guess this gives you more time to do justice the rest of the day, or it would, if the service weren't as long as it was last week. We left at about 11:15, and there was still an hour of discussion planned. The special focus was prison ministries, a timely topic given the recent press about the Books Behind Bars program, and there were a lot of visitors there for the size of the congregation.
It's not a tiny church but isn't big by any standards; the sanctuary is modest and was configured in the round with chairs instead of pews. By the time they started (late), though, an empty chair was hard to come by. Attendees were truly diverse in the characteristics specified above. It really makes me wonder why all churches cannot just welcome all people, rather than forcing some to be relegated to a "welcoming" church as if it's some kind of leper colony.
Music was different but interesting. With a piano but no organ, about half of what we sang was accompanied. The service began and ended with a South African praise song that we learned by repeating the leader (no printed words or notes to look at). The closing song was done in a big circle around the outside of the room, holding hands, kum-ba-yah style - "to look into each other's faces and feel the inclusion." The choir, a 10-person group (also diverse, with one woman in traditional Indian garb) sang harmonies nicely, with one somewhat familiar hymn from the hymnal and another on an insert. The offertory music was a little different, because it began only after everyone had already given their gifts by standing up and carrying them to the communion table at the center of the room. (I liked the note in the bulletin explaining the process and adding information about how to sign up for service opportunities, reminding us that money is not the only offering we can give, but I thought it was odd to have everyone move like that in a church with a substantial number of people with physical disabilities.) Amanda pointed out that the choir has long practices, with over two hours on Sundays plus occasional Saturdays. Yikes.
Other than the offertory and closing circle, we weren't forced to move around, but there were three times when individual people stood up to share. The first was right at the beginning, during the welcome, when visitors were asked to stand and introduce themselves. Needless to say, I was horrified at this request. (We did not stand, which might be why nobody really welcomed us after the service. One woman did speak to us beforehand, though.) The second standing time was devoted to any announcements people wanted to make, about whatever topic, and the third was for sharing joys and concerns. Both of these had the potential to get out of hand, added substantial (and unpredictable) time to the service, and reminded me too much of a public meeting where angry people stand up and have their time to speak. They also interrupted the flow and any worshipful mood that had developed.
I guess I'm used to having those sharing times during the Sunday School hour, which isn't an option at Sojourners, because they don't have regular classes. I think they always have fellowship time after the service, and sometimes a special discussion as well, but no small-group Bible study classes. Perhaps the various social justice committees and the evening Bible discussion group (led by a bald man named, no joke, Dawg Strong) serve the purpose of getting smaller groups together. I worry that there are few people our age, as with most churches. There were a handful in the worship service, but I think a lot of them were visiting because of the topic.
There was a children's time, and kids left the service in two bunches to go to children's church: the little ones left right after the children's time, and up through 7th grade left just before the sermon. In most churches I've experienced, middle schoolers sit through the whole service, but I guess maybe the sermon topics are a little too adult for 7th graders?
The day's guest preacher was a young woman who challenged everyone to take the biblical charge to "release the prisoners" to heart by visiting them, praying for them, etc. It was more like a teach-in than a worship service. There was no invitation or pressurized commitment time where a forlorn minister stands up front, hands crossed, trying to sing without the words (a big plus to me).
Sojourners feels a little more like Charlottesville than UBC or First Baptist did. By that, I mean it has the granola types and the aging hippies that populate the farmer's market on Saturday mornings, plus the people with disabilities who probably ride around with the transit provider I work for, plus families who are an active part of this "liberal mecca." It doesn't feel like a university church or like a corporate everybaptistchurch.
It's focused on looking at problems and trying to deal with them. A worthy goal, to be sure, but I wonder if attending Sojourners would end up being too depressing, just as it might be too syrupy sweet for me to attend an all-smiles, praise-and-worship church. There wasn't a lot of humor or laughter at this particular service -- that could be due to the serious topic, but what if it's always a serious topic? Would I end up giving so much time to so many causes that my family would suffer? Or would it make it easier to give time to things that really matter to me?
We found out about another potential drawback to Sojourners through a small blurb in the announcements. It seems that the church is about to undergo a planning process similar to UBC's Advance, and this is happening because "our cherished pastor is retiring." So even if we go back to experience a "normal" service there, which we may do, it might not be very representative of the future.
Overall result: inconclusive.
Labels: church
posted by Peter @ 17:23
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