Last Sunday I finally bit the bullet and went to a Mennonite church service. Why am I saying "bit the bullet," you ask? I say that because I was very nervous that I would get together with my fellow Mennonites and discover that although I agree with them theologically, I feel weird or awkward around them. In a word, I was afraid of being let down.
Effie, Eleanor and I somehow managed to make it on time to Birch Bay Bible Church on Sunday for their one service. There were a lot of elderly people, but here's the thing: it actually had a fairly impressive mixture of young and old! Aaaaaaaand, the first thing they did was recognize a member of their congregation who was moving. She was not a pastor, elder or whatever, just a member of the family who apparently was worthwhile enough to stop the all-important Sunday service and recognize for who she was... What that told me: this church truly cares more about the people than the show.
The music, powerpoint and message were not as well produced as what I am used to, and I was thankful. The pastor who shared hit it on the head in his sermon: their priority is on following Christ, not entertaining themselves. Amen.
I really don't know if we'll find ourselves back there again, but either way I'm glad we checked-out our first Mennonite church. Who knows what next Sunday may hold...
Peace,
Matt
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8 comments:
That's cool - some of my friends out here are mennonite-ish.
I live in a pretty heavy mennonite area and the one thing I thought (felt) last week was I hope mennonites don't lose God and become something like secular judaism where it is more about the tradition or name or group than about the beliefs.
i guess that's the same for all of us.
wow. recognizing a congregation memeber leaving...and not a pastor you say? strange.
...I wish sarcasm came acrossed better in comments.
my sentiments exactly.
Event vs. community has been the crux of my disillusionment/questioning lately. I haven't found any answers yet.
Anyway, not to sound completely self-contradictory here but to genuinely share the excitement, if there's any Sunday to visit it's this week because we're gonna have a rockin Korean bbq.
Sorry to be such a nag.
I love that church, the people are really great, and they make real attempts to care about the actual community not just the church community. Hey man, i am trying to blog again, i worked on my site a little, and i would love for us to read a book together called "God's word in Human words" i think it frames the idea of inspiration in something like the incarnation.
why does kurt ask you to join in and read books with him? he really is from Meridian. He leaves all of the brown kids out.
sorry my brown brother, i didnt think kids from Blaine knew how to read. Look it up and read it with me, i am really struggling with what inspiration is, what inerrancy is, and what it means that this is the truth of God. I had a class that kicked my theological ass on this and blew up all that i had left in my fundamentalist roots of scriptural understanding, I think this book will either help me or confuse me.
Its called "Gods Word in Human Words" by Kent Sparks
I'll read it, but to be honest, I already more or less gave up on inerrancy. Inspired, yes, whatever that means.
matt, you are a quitter.
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