If I can't dance, I don't want to be a part of your revolution! - Emma Goodman (an anarchist from the early 20th century)
I've just recently heard this saying (but totally didn't surprise me): "The most segregated hour in America is at 9 am on a Sunday morning". Oh, this makes me so sad. What are we to do about it? I started to look into trying to go to a Spanish service, but my options would be basically only Catholic or Pentecostal; and both make me quite uncomfortable. To be honest, I'm not sure what to do about it at all. Church is segragating even within the same "culture". "Oh, I'm PCA, not PCUSA"; "We have communion every Sunday, not just the first one"; "We sing Hymns, never praise choruses", etc. Please forgive me, but I'm guilty of thinking (and, yes, saying) these things.
Here, in Colorado, living and working with a few Mennonites, we attend a Methodist church. I have never gone to a Methodist church before. At first I wasn't feeling the whole thing, but it is growing on me. That's another thing about church: it's a relationship, it changes as you get to know it more (good and bad, up and down). It's an older crowd which I was missing in Chicago, so I'm really enjoying that aspect. It's not the cool hipster church (that would look a little funny here) and the pastor isn't super intellectual, but the people love God and support (emotionally) us doing volunteer work. I think it's a good change for me.
However, something I am pretty excited about is that we (my housemates, a past volunteer, and the coordinator of our house) are going to be involved in starting a Mennonite (Anabaptist) fellowship group. The reason we are going to a Methodist church is because there is no Mennonite church out here (well, there is one up in the town I work in, but it's one of the more conservative "our women don't work outside the home" communities of Mennonites). One thing I was excited about doing this program was seeing what Mennonite churches are like because I think people (it seems more so in the northwest) have a picture of a certain type of Mennonite (see note about the community in Center) and I want to see what it's really like. I have been in mainly Presbyterian/Reformed churches during my life as a Christian and I'm excited to see a different side of Christianity.
I had a joke before I came out here that I needed to do certain things (hehe) before "I become a Mennonite". A few friends were concerned by this, asking "Are you really going to become a Mennonite??". No, well, what's that supposed to mean? As much as I identify with the Presbyterian (yes, Church of America), I don't really identify AS a Presbyterian. I think I'm a Christian and happen to like certain churches. Gotta be honest, though, I am a fan of denominations and think they serve a purpose. I think there is beauty in "organized religion" (I feel the same way about organized political parties) as opposed to chaos and no standards. No, I'm not a fan of legalism, but I think you can be organized without being legalistic (pretty sure Jesus and the first Christians were fairly organized... not oppressing). I just wish they didn't divide people as much as they do, we should all be united (there's my idealism coming out, not sure what that would look like even for myself).
So, tonight we had our first little meeting about the church. It felt really exciting to be part of something new and different. They are all Mennonites and excited about being back with Mennonites, but said they would accept me! It, of course, had a cappella singing (this is a standard of Mennonite churches) and we basically just discussed a few verses in the Bible about unity (actually stuff I talked about here and in the post about MVS!). As I learn more about what it means to be Mennonite or Anabaptist, I will try to keep you up to date. It seems like a great group of people and I am excited to see what is going to happen! Here are some photos.
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