Community: There were approximately 130 people in attendance with 20 of them kids, 8 of them in the choir and 10 of them on the altar. Everyone in attendance, that I could see, was white except for one African American woman and one man of mixed ethnicity.
Music: The music was a nice mix of traditional hymns on an organ and more contemporary songs accompanied by a piano, drums and guitar. Though my favorite "musical" moment might have been the ringing of the church bell outside to signify the start of the service.
Service: The service ran in a structured, organized fashion that you could follow along with - word by word - in the thick bulletin. It offered communion to all baptized Christians and gave the kids a chance to come to the altar towards the end of the service to offer their prayers to God.
Message: The word that kept surfacing in the homily for me was
courage. The new law put in place by God (via Jesus) "demands us to have
courage to be introspective." The priest continued: "you must have
courage to nurture your personal, intimate relationship with God. Sometimes we become more worried about what others think of us than what God thinks of us."
When I hear the word
courage over and over again, I can't help but think of the
Cowardly Lion. Thanks to
youtube, I was reminded of his fear:
I feel his pain. Having courage is hard. Being introspective and working on a one-on-one relationship with God is scary. And sometimes, even though I feel better when I'm surrounded by community, I have to do it alone. And that takes courage.
Aesthetics: The church sits on a large field and today was surrounded by the beauty of the spring: green grass, trees beginning to bloom and newly planted flowers. Inside, the large church with high ceilings and stained glass windows used splashes of purple to signify lent.
Community: There were approximately 130 people in attendance with 20 of them kids, 8 of them in the choir and 10 of them on the altar. Everyone in attendance, that I could see, was white except for one African American woman and one man of mixed ethnicity.
Service: The service ran in a structured, organized fashion that you could follow along with - word by word - in the thick bulletin. It offered communion to all baptized Christians and gave the kids a chance to come to the altar towards the end of the service to offer their prayers to God.
Denomination: St. B's is an Episcopal Church, which is a part of the Anglican Church. Though its origins in the Church of England, it separated itself out when it was required to swear allegiance to the British monarch. They allow women to be ordained as priests and allow individual bishops to choose whether or not to allow the blessing of same-sex unions within their bishoprics.
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