evenings and weekends

[intjonathan]

Met Graham to go to some friend's show last night. Walked with him and Ian down to this house for it, found the place incredibly tiny and smoke-filled to the point that the smokers were complaining about the air quality. The band was quite good, however, and made up for the shitty location. We split right afterwards anyway, and met Jake back at the house. Apparantly Ian was having a "gathering" (something between a "party" and "24 night") at his place, so we walked all the way down there. His house was huge (apparantly 5 people live there) and there were about 15 people jamming downstairs, none of whom I knew but all of whom seemed pretty cool and inviting - unlike the last house we were at, where everyone was viciously drunk. We chilled for a while and mostly listened. There was some stoned 30something dude playing his cowbell so loud I just couldn't stop thinking of Christopher Walken's SNL character... "I really wanna hear that cowbell!"
Anyway half an hour of that got old fast, so we decided we were hungry and made for the Horseshoe, which was good as always.

Graham made sure I knew I was invited to try out this Breakwater Church place they were checking out this morning. I wouldn't have gone if I hadn't woken up at 9am entirely on my own... figured it was a sign. It was a pretty decent church, it felt mostly like youth group on Sunday morning, but apparantly that's all the rage nowadays so I won't hold it against them... I guess I expect a little more suits, ties and hymns in my Sunday worship. I'm probably one of few in my generation that find formality in a service an aid to worship instead of a detriment. Just how I was raised, I guess. And casual worship doesn't really worry me except that it tends to lead to casual faith, which isn't good for anybody. Which isn't to say it takes someone in a suit to deliver good spiritual insight, but for me the real roots of my faith draw from experiences with people that were older and in settings that were traditional. I've met people that envy me for this, which is slightly unnerving as it's about as far from the current trends in Christian faith as you can get.
Occasionally I have to remind myself that these high-production-value churches worship the same complex, deeply charactered, and endlessly knowable God that I do, but mostly I feel like they're only seeing a fraction of who He is. And I know that's true for me as well, but I guess I don't feel like they're trying for anything beyond that. Graham described Breakwater as a "church for people who hate church," which I guess makes me not their target audience, because I love church. But I understand it's hard to reach most people my age because they do, in fact, hate church. That mostly makes me feel sorry for them, because they're missing out.

Rants aside, today is probably the most beautiful day in Bellingham that I've seen in 6 months. Spring is teasing us already, and I'm following her all the way to June.

Comments

religion and sorts

[huggybee.livejournal.com]

Is it "post about your church" day or something? lol j/k (I just posted about mine too) anyways, there's no non-corny way to say this but I really like what you said about casual church and casual faith. I grew up in a "dresses every sunday" household but the place I go to is way more relaxed (although lots of people still dress up) there's really no point ot what I'm saying but I liked your post. (is that totally dumb and weird?) ...The sun is out today!! I'm so excited. okay, I'll go away now. catch ya later!

[ex-athelstan105.livejournal.com]

"And casual worship doesn't really worry me except that it tends to lead to casual faith, which isn't good for anybody."

While I dont support the one side any more than the other. I have to disamagree with your statement there. What are you basing this on?

[niralisse.livejournal.com]

Personal experience and bias. I claim nothing in the way of this entry's basis in reality.

A side rant, sort of along your lines.

[fieria.livejournal.com]

I actually think you're on to something. When I was little and arguing with my mum about putting on a dress instead of wearing pants on Sunday, she said we were "dressing up to honor God". Now, this may seem like just another way for a frustrated mother to get her bratty child ready for church, but I think she had a point. "Casual church" may not mean a casual faith, with the opposite being true as well ("formal church" doesn't equal a deep faith either), but one of the things the Christian religion seems to have lost is its need for reverence, fear of God, and rituals. Showing up in your Sunday best is merely a simple way to show your reverence for God. Not to mention that when you "fear" someone, you tend to want to be on your best behavior in front of them. E.g.--when people showed up for audiences with kings, they certainly didn't wear their normal, everyday clothing.

And yet, when I go to the Episcopalian Complin services on Sunday nights, I don't dress up; nor do the people in the audience. But the ritualistic service seems more "deeply" religious and reverent than almost any of the Protestant services I've been too. Some may think that rote repetition doesn't honor God, but it does if it comes from the heart. I am wholely sick of worship songs that all sound the same; at least the Episcopalians recognize the repetition instead of masking it behind simperingly similar lyrics (as a former worship leader, THEY ARE THE SAME. There are about four different topics: love, forgiveness, encouragement, and Christmas music). And though repetition is the best way to learn something and bring it to heart, ignoring the repetation isn't healthy. Then it seems like the church is ignorant of how similar their proceedings are, and it makes them look...lesser. I certainly don't want to go to a church that doesn't use intellect in its worship.

Anyways, I kinda dived off topic. I've been invited to go to church with Katherine & Graham the first weekend of march (I can't remember what kind of church it is, but I don't think it's the Breakwater one). I'm thinking of going, but I'm also hoping they'll minimize the singing--I love singing, but I when I begin singing the same stuff over and over, I grow to hate it (nice thing about Complin--the choir sings, you contemplate. Best kind of worship EVAR.)