Good Friday - Friday of Holy Week - Grace Lutheran Church and School - Sandy, UT - April 18th, 2014

       Today was the day I visited the Lutherans. Specifically Lutherans of the Missouri Synod which is the more conservative branch of the Lutheran Church in America...and it showed. The speakers and pastors were all men, though it did look like at least some women were in leadership positions though sadly not in leading the service type of ways.

    The Church itself is connected to a school and the Chapel is beautiful. The colors today were black, rather than the White of Yesterday and the Red of Tuesday. The High Church or Churches connected to the High Church are good in regards to using the traditional colors to represent where and what should be felt during Holy Week. Black covered the empty cross, a smaller cross with a figurine of Jesus on it (which you generally don't see in Lutheran Churches), and the podium.

      After I arrived the first hymn was sung...and they have an organ! This is one small detail I've loved about all the Lutheran churches I've attended. Organs are great at creating a good somber ambiance and are lovely when played.

      It opened with variation on the Nicene Creed where the pastor said Christ did this, and congregation replied "To do this for us." With details relating to atonement and resurrection. After was the old Testament reading which was about Isaiah's prophecy of the coming Messiah and later the Epistle from Hebrews about Jesus being the Sacrifice and High Priest of the Christian Church before the final New Testament reading of Jesus's crucifixion with the two thieves. 

 

     After was the sermon about evil, which to be frank didn't really answer any questions about evil. God is good and destroys evil was the basic jist of it and Christ who is God came to do that as well. The problem was it was only spoken in generalities of sin and the Devil, both themes have historically been used to oppress...if it had been targeted at oppression or even hypocrisy than it would have made more sense...but given that Sodom and Gomorrah was brought up...well, no such luck. The problem was never truly addressed and in the end all I got from it that I didn't know from Christianity before was that it doesn't help on dealing with actual problems in the world, bringing up evil and the Devil I mean. I've only seen them used to hurt innocents like those with mental illness (saying their possessed by demons) and LGBTQ folks and attacking the people we love.

    The part that was beautiful was after when the seven words were spoken and candles that had been lit at the beginning of the service were snuffed out as different quotes of Jesus's last day were read from the New Testament. One candle was left lit for Easter and a drum was pounded after it was lead out by one of the men in charge of the service.

    It was good for reflection and I was invited back here for Easter. Don't know if I will be coming back or not...I hope to visit more Christendom...and maybe find another community like the Unitarians or Episcopals to get involved with. Regardless, it was a good Friday.

Cross of Christ Lutheran Church - Bellevue, WA - October 20th, 2013

 

      Cross of Christ Lutheran Church is located in one of the most beautiful areas in Bellevue for the location of a Church. The only one that compares is the Quaker Hall (which I will be visiting again, have not been there since High School) that is located on the other side of Bellevue. Both are completely surrounded by trees, and in the case of Cross of Christ, have the addition of a Garden. 

 

    What brought me to Cross of Christ? First and foremost it was to see my friend Kyle who is the organist at this Church (he was my friend who was married recently at Saint Mark's Cathedral). He was amazing per usual, it is always a pleasure to hear him play. The second was that I haven't visited a Lutheran Church for a while, and third was that it was a traditional service (reason for the Organ use). Traditional High Church services have always had a special place for me, I found they are good for thinking and are good at appreciating silence within a service. 

    Now for the service proper. It began with the confession from the congregation (which made me realize, if someone hadn't done anything bad would they still need to confess? This goes for confessional within Orthodox and Catholicism and other Christian sects too).

     Next was the reading, the readings were focused on good listening and and answering prayers. For Old Testament the story was told about Elijah verses the Baals and how Elijah's God was able to call down fire while theirs were not. The pastor spoke next, he reminded me a bit of Santa Claus, but skinnier, his speech patterns also reminded me of Santa. He was a large and kind gentlemen and used the example of God wants us to pray so he can listen to us because he loves us and he commands it. He used the example of calling his grandchildren to him.

    The question I had (since the service didn't really mean any room for God as part of us, it was very much God be an entity outside of us), why have the miracles stopped? How do you know when God is talking? How does prayer communicate verses just thinking a desire wish or an intention? 

    This was followed by greetings, the congregation was very kind to me. They were an older congregation and I do hope to visit again. This lead to Thanksgiving and Communion:

 "If you believe God is in the bread and wine come and take of communion." This was after the blessing upon both. I don't so I stayed seated. This brought forth more questions too, I think this tradition might have risen out of focus on the first part and not the second part of what Jesus said, "This is my body and blood" rather than "Eat this in memory of me." The items don't actually transform, so it seems much more fitting as a memorial...remembering a wise teacher or person who spoke for something greater. At least that is the greater meaning I have been able to find in communion when I've been invited to take it by different Christian traditions. 

     After communion was the final blessing and announcements. The one social justice thing was shoes for foster children, and they might have more programs but I wish I'd heard about or seen more. Regardless it was an interesting and good experience. I do plan on catching Vespers here sometime in the future.

19th Day of Advent - Our Savior Lutheran Church - Issaquah, WA - December 19th 2010

       What is Lutheranism? Lutheranism was the first Protestant faith to rise out of the reformation. It was founded by the Priest Martin Luther when he was unable to bring about reform in the Catholic Church. The core differences between Lutheranism and Catholicism is the non-belief in the Pope, the belief in justification through faith alone and the Bible is the only reliable and final source on issues of morality and God's Law since every word is believed to have been inspired by God. Lutheran's also have female pastors which I really like about the faith.

     The day I attended Our Savior Lutheran Church was the 19th day of Advent. When I first came I talked briefly with the pastor and educational director...I'd attended this Church once before with Youth Exploring Spirituality (YES) but that had been years ago. I had no clear memories. The day I arrived the youth were putting on the nativity but it was done differently this year where each of the grades was asked a question in regards to what Christmas meant. One of the inspirations for this was what Jesus said in Matthew 18:2-4,

    "I tell you the truth. You must change be like children. If you don't do this. You will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The greatest person in the Kingdom of Heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child."

     Family and friends were the greatest theme outside of the birth of Jesus for what Christmas means. This theme fit with the first quote of the service. John 4:8 "Anyone who does not love, does not know God, because God is love." The community the kids expressed was of love and was what Christmas means. Christmas is about sharing love with family, friends and partner. In Christianity this is shown in God becoming Man because he loved humanity so much, and this informs the theology of love in Christianity...which I believe is the essence of all faiths.

    The readings and structure of service reminded me a little of Catholic Mass, as well as the vestments of the Pastors. There was Communion at the end of the service, there were prayers for the Church (all those who were suffering) and the World. It was a really beautiful all inclusive prayer with peace and healing as it's aim. There was also the Lord's Prayer and a similar prayer of the people lifting their hearts up to the Lord before offering it to one another.

     After the service I would talk to the Pastor for a while about service in the community, and how Our Savior Lutheran Church actually made it pretty easy (as far as the causes you could give to immediately) and I told him about my goal of creating understanding and peace between religions. We exchanged information and I'm excited to talk with him again, hopefully later this break.