Presbyterian Church, Maundy Thursday, 6pm There were about 40 of the faithful in attendance and more seated in the balcony (unable to determine even an estimate as I couldn’t see them). The song leader made sure to announce what hymns we would sing and I appreciated that. Everyone knew when to stand up and I found it was easy to follow along just by watching others. The hymns were gorgeous and about caring for each other ie our neighbors and focused heavily on God’s love. Likewise the sermon was on becoming servants to others and loving and caring for one another. The scripture verses were from Exodus 12:1-4, 11-4 and John 13:1-17 and 31-36. The message was short, had a few genuinely funny anecdotes and was to the point. Afterward there was communion and the minister made it clear that communion was open to everyone, which was really cool. Overall impression: great church, felt God in the hymns, pastor was nice, seemed open to helping others and doing community work which made me hopeful about their potential to host Quixote someday. Episcopal Church, Maundy Thursday, 7:30pm Possibly 100 people in attendance including one of my coworkers. I had a difficult time locating a bulletin even though I am quite familiar with this church and where the bulletins are usually kept. Turns out they ran out. It wouldn’t be a big deal except you need the bulletin to be able to know what to do and say. I finally found one elsewhere and was able to catch up. The hymns were not announced. I was confused about when to stand up. Man I love their sanctuary though. It is so beautiful. Also, someone I know from the Compline choir came in late and sat down near me. This was so cool because they are such a kickass singer. The homily was long. The leader asked the congregation to say “we are listening” every time he paused in his speaking which was mildly amusing at first and then progressively annoying. He told a story about a field mouse that wanted to get to the mountains. At the end of the story the mouse had to give both of his eyes to heal other animals along the way, but these animals helped him get to the mountain. Then the leader said that God doesn’t want our eyes, just our hearts. That was the transition into foot-washing but I had to leave because There Will Be Blood was about to begin. During this service my most productive time was spent asking God to forgive me for not being more patient and kind with the previously mentioned coworker. Scripture readings were numerous with the largest chunk coming from Exodus & containing stuff on passover.
Catholic Church, Good Friday, 9am It was hard waking up and getting to this service. I was so late leaving my apartment that I didn’t even have time to stop and get Chai. I made it to the church on time but was unable to find a way to gain entry. Every door I tried was locked or had a sign on it indicating that it was “exit only.” Finally after 5 or 10 minutes of persistence I was able to enter the church only to find the sanctuary empty and locked. Locked sanctuaries always annoy me! Why must they lock them! There were Easter pamphlets laying around so I grabbed one and tried to figure out where the service was happening. As I was doing this other people showed up and were wandering around looking lost also. Finally we determined that it was taking place in the Chapel. When I walked in the chapel there were no more chairs. Probably about 50 people crammed in there. I decided I wasn’t going to stand around looking rude for coming in late while everyone chanted prayers, so I just turned around and left, abandoning the church in pursuit of a caffeine source.
Methodist Church, Good Friday, 12:10pmThis is my “home” church and no matter what I write it will be biased. This particular service was an organ recital. During the beautiful music I decided to play “flip open the bible and see what passage you land on” (there has got to be a shorter name for that!) and found myself reading Song of Solomon, which as we all know is supposed to be read as an allegory between Christ and the Church and not as anything else! After that I read Luke’s account of the crucifixion. The sermon was a narrative from an unknown fictional disciple that had gone astray. It was so good that at first I thought the minister was reading from “The Gospel According to Biff” which as a side note, I highly recommend. The church’s cross was draped in black, something pretty dramatic that I’ve never seen before in any church, and there was also an additional cross laying across the altar/steps leading up to the platform. I thought that a little weird, but not too bad.
Baptist Church, Good Friday, 5:40pm I went to this service expecting to have the hell scarred out of me. Because this was what I was expecting, it wasn’t as bad it might have been. In fact, a woman I know from my work with Quixote recognized me and came to sit next to me for awhile, which was great and made me feel really welcome and less terrified. The service was a traveling service that started out in one room with an actor dressed as Simeon testifying that Jesus was the Messiah. Then we walked through the church passed giant quotes about Christ’s suffering and sacrifice. In the gym we watched actors dressed as the mother Mary and also Mary Magdalene give testimony about Jesus. All and all the acting was fine. This church really tried hard to cram the Christian story, Christ’s birth, and why he had to die (substitutionary atonement of course) as well as his resurrection into 25 mind boggling minutes. The Marys really spent a lot of time describing the constant look of love on Christs face that they supposedly saw while he was crucified and I thought that was a little too much poetic license.
After this we were led into another room where everyone was warned NOT to take small children into and parents were offered on the spot childcare. Entering the room we were shown scenes from the Passion of Christ intertwined with Bible quotes from Isaiah. We then were offered communion but strictly warned that only followers of Christ should take it or else. One thing that bugged me during this was that a woman dressed in New Testament attire guarded the door so no one could leave. I had decided not to leave no matter what, but it still bothered me that people seemed trapped and forced to watch Mel Gibson’s Passion of Christ or else do battle with the pseudo New Testament lady who had put the restrictions on communion. I actually was raised that you don’t take communion unless you “believe in Christ” but its been awhile since I’ve heard anyone enforce that. Anyway there was amply Kleenex available for people reacting to the Passion. Seeing clips from the Passion made me feel everything from revulsion at Mel Gibson to anger at God and especially the lameass disciples for not trying to save Jesus, but that’s another post for another time.
Assemblies of God, Good Friday, 7:00pm I was basically prepared for anything at this service, but it turned out to be a concert. This church is so large they have their own damn 50 person orchestra and 50 person choir to boot. I sat way up in the balcony. There were definitely over 1000 people there, maybe more. The concert was two hours and told the story of the crucifixion. There was also occasional photography from good ole Mel’s The Passion up on the big screen projectors. That said, this was definitely the most powerful service of all of them so far. The music was incredible. This church really has it together. I hate paying attention to stuff like that, but the more churches I attend, the more I realize that the large churches all have certain things in common: things like a professional level of organization, excellent music programs, many opportunities to get connected with the church, trained greeters, refreshments, “welcome” teams etc. I don’t mean this metaphor to sound as bad as I know it well, but some of the biggest churches around are very well oiled machine. I think the Methodist church has a nice balance. One thing I did notice though, and will keep my eyes out for more, is that the megachurches have the largest number of people under 30. I know more people come Easter weekend, but I’m comparing all the churches at once, over the same weekend, and so far the megachurches seem to be doing better at attracting younger people.
Well, off to another service!
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