Sounds of Hope

Having had a change in my status as a local pastor of a small Methodist church, I’ve had to find a new place to worship. Learning to sit in a pew and worshipping at a new church has been a challenge. I’ve visited churches of many varieties. The churches with high liturgical practices such as Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Episcopalian, and some Lutherans have set predictable patterns and rituals. I may be confused, but the faithful, know when to stand, when to sit, when to bow, and when to kneel. If the church has kneelers, it give the less faithful or visitor a chance to prepare to kneel. It’s not hard for such worshipers to visit another parish. My family is ecumenical, and I recently visited an orthodox church with our youngest daughter. I discovered they stand most of the time. The devout seemed to know a special cue and they’d drop to the floor and just as quickly stood. By the time I considered kneeling they were up again. It was quite an interesting experience. At one point, t...

A church is a family. That sounds so nice! And it’s true! I’ve been in many branches of the family of God over my life. Some have been essential and formed me into who I am. Others were sort of blips on the screen that were basically neutral. And then, like most anyone who has ever ventured into church, I’ve been hurt by those who I thought should love me. While tragic, it’s because all churches are made up of broken individuals and are products of their own pain. I have started participating in a new family. My experience with larger churches has not been good. Usually, the larger churches have awesome worship and lots of good ministries and programs. They usually have dynamic teaching and preaching. I go to a church like that! It’s amazing. I love it. I also love that there are families with small church, new babies being born, teenagers and young adults in love with Jesus and growing in their faith. Another thing I love is that there are a lot of strong men. The honeymoon is ov...