What a great service there was today. First, it was a pretty full Saturday, many more people where there than one of the Holy Days. The age range was all over the place, though there were many older folks. The music was the thing that stood out the most, besides the sermon which I will get into later. The music was sung by three women and was one of the best traditional church music I have heard, especially when they sang the psalm, "The Lord is my Shepard," Which was also the theme of the Mass.
The readings leading up to the sermon were about Peter and how Jesus is the messiah and is there for those who seek him. Later was the reading about Jesus making allusions to being the Shepard and the Pharisees being thieves in the fold.
What was taken from the readings by the priest was that Jesus is there for those who need him. He didn't take the tact of seeing outsiders and unbelievers as thieves in the fold, which was how an Evangelical church called Blue Sky I went to years ago interpreted it. This fit in with the loving compassionate Jesus that honestly is the one I wish we would see more of in the world.
What I mean by this is what each person believes God or Jesus wants is different...just like the Bible. Each person interprets it in their own way because there isn't a physical entity that can be judged. We're going off the words of the past and the words of priests and pastors. From that though can come great inspiration for good and for evil.
My hope is that the inspiration for good that I have seen it (and what Jesus the man means to me) becomes prevalent and not the Dominionist Jesus who persecutes Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgender folks and keeps women unequal. Like any idea or like any living person today, how we choose to use that inspiration is entirely in our hands.
Generation Church, which is the Seattle Campus of one of the City Churches. The church is an American Evangelical Church run completely by young people. They have services Wednesday night, which was the service I attended. The pastor looked like he was twenty-six and had a three year old son and around me were students my age and younger, all calling out for Jesus. I must say I was happy for them, I can't think of many places where it's okay for a guy to cry in public except Church and I witnessed that there. It was a beautiful site.
The room that the service took place in was like a concert stage, and there were popular songs of today changed around to be about Jesus. "This is why he's hot, this is why he's hot." As an example of a rap song made to be about Jesus...yeah, that was a bit strange. The concert environment helped feed the passion. The youth leaders also acted as MC's doing call and responses with the congregation and enforcing the free Mariner Ticket opportunity they were doing. Didn't like that much at all, I've always found meditation and reflection important, though good music can inspire, which some of the music that day did.
What do I mean by inspire? In many of the masses I have been to with my girlfriend and with some of music concerts I've been to, I've seen images in the minds eye. Inspiration and passion bring about creativity and stories and I've also been able to be a part of that in services from any faith that have touched me. It's like watching a story book, be it fantasy characters like Elves or Demons fighting, Polytheistic Gods, or figures from the religion I'm in. When I'm inspired it's out of my control and I just enjoy the show of the mind's creativity. Visions seem to be a part of how religion works too, so maybe it's something more? I'm honestly open to either interpretation.
Then began the service. The theme was discipleship. The Pastor talked about the importance of asking questions of your pastor and being questioned by your pastor, so you can understand your role and find strength in following God's plan for you. Over three passages from Luke were sited and Corinthians was also used for an example of discipleship. I related a lot to the sermon in the sense of that we are always teachers and students and it is the role of the teacher to question us, and for us to question our teachers so that we learn. This has been one of the blessings I've had with people I see as mentors. I also discovered the community was active with service projects in the U-District in Seattle.
The pros of Generation Church were the passion, kindness and the community. The youth were clearly there for one another and were there for a reason beyond the Euphoria of worship, which they were obviously feeling. After I talked to one of my friend's brothers to schedule an interview and talked to two other young men who were youth leaders around my age. They were nice and respectful of what I was doing.
The Pastor was a nice guy, but I found that traditional gender roles were subtly enforced throughout the day. The Pastor did a bit of showing off when he talked about how he beat a friend who was visiting in Ping-Pong. He brought up beating his friend again, and again...showing off basically, while enforcing Male toughness and that when people should come up to choose a disciple (a youth leader) that they should choose someone of the same sex. I learned later Evangelical Churches like the Orthodox, Mormon and Catholic Church still don't see women in the main Priest or Pastor role. Which is something I really disagree with and could never be a part of, unless I was working to make equal leadership roles possible.This was one of the cons. I did learn later that they have a female pastor, so that made me happy.
The other cons were a shirt I saw, the loud music (and use of popular songs slightly changed, which was corny) and the Devil. The shirt said, "When the rapture comes, I'll be here." It had an arrow pointing up. Apocalyptic to say the least. The Rapture is when God is supposed to take all the believers into Heaven and leave all the non-believers to suffer and be destroyed. Sure is loving. Why work to understand other faiths and perspectives if they're going to Hell anyway? Also, who made the other faiths? The Devil. He takes people away from Jesus. The pastor brought up the Devil twice, as someone who lies, takes away, and isolates people. Which I found offensive given some of the Churches greatest leaders went into the wilderness alone to learn (Abraham, Moses and the Burnish Bush, the Prophets). They had no community for much of their lives and embraced isolation, yet they were hardly of the Devil.
I take issue of the idea of an all powerful personal malevolent or benevolent force, but that's a story for another day. For a little on my reasons though, other then seeing something deity or life-form like that as unlikely is: Each Forces' existence takes away responsibility from people for their actions. A convenient force made it possible, not their own will, circumstances or choices.This also brings up the problem of the existence of Evil when there is an all powerful Good that could destroy it.
Many youth I think will like this Church. They can relate to the personalness of how the Church is run, and the fact that everyone is young, and the music is like the music you hear on the radio, just replace the song being sung about with Jesus, and your set. I would like to talk to more of the youth their to get their personal perspectives, but I don't see myself attending that Church again. Given all the factors I listed, both pros and cons, I wouldn't pass up helping them with their service opportunities around the University District.
The First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue. How to describe it? This was my third time visiting this church. The first time was with my friend Anna and her family, who I've adopted as another family, and the second time was to hear the amazing Bel Canto choir performance. Mr. Lund, my friend's Anna's father, also offered for me to interview him if I wasn't able to interview the reverend. I don't remember the services from those visits, so I paid close attention to the service today.
Before we get into the visit. What do Presbyterians believe? Presbyterianism came out of the reformation movement, specifically John Calvin. His beliefs are similar to those of Martin Luther in how all believers are called to the priesthood, the core authority of scriptures, salvation through faith alone and original sin. John Calvin was more extreme on certain tenants in some cases.
Next was John Knox of Scotland who brought Democracy to how the Church was run, while following Calvinistic principles. The Presbyterian Church later made it's mark early in America's history, split during the Civil War and then reunited during 1983. It became the official Church of Scotland in 1690. Here is more on the history of the church: http://christianity.about.com/od/presbyteriandenomination/a/presbyhistory.htm
As can be expected from a Christian faith, Jesus was the main theme. The service began with a woman playing the xylophone and another woman on the piano. The large building was almost empty due to it being summer, but slowly filled up completely as the song ended. Then two psalms were read, with a song inbetween, that focused on the glory of heaven and it's beauty: psalm 84 (Open now thy gates of beauty) and psalm 118 (I love thy Kingdom, Lord).
I felt a bit off initially. The focus on Jesus felt as if mattered more then being a good person, and that it was the only way to be a good person in the church's eyes. Knowing good atheists and agnostics, and myself being an agnostic theist perpetuated the feeling of separateness and judgment. That changed when the prayer was said, though.
The prayer said by the Reverend was one of the most beautiful prayers I've heard. He didn't call for people to come to God, or even special treatment for his faith community. His prayer was for everyone. For all who were suffering, for all who needed help, for all students, and for God to be there for people in their trails and embrace them in His love. It was a beautiful prayer that I only sensed genuineness from.
Then came the sermon on Luke 5:1-11. The passage is about the miracle of the fishes, in which Jesus is preaching and has Simon Peter cast off of shore so he can preach from the boat. After he finishes preaching he tells Simon Peter to cast in deep water for fish, even though no fish had been caught that day. Simon Peter does catch fish though, because Jesus says so. The boats get filled with fish and he falls on his knees saying, "Lord I am a sinner, leave me." Then Jesus says he will make him a fisher of men, and Peter joins him.
First the reverend gave he historical context of the story, and promoted his "Easy Bible Study" on Wednesdays (both in seriousness and as a joke) before going on about how Simon Peter grew up a fisherman and how that was all he knew, so trusting a man from 'High Rise Galilee' was a big deal.
Then the reverend used the story as an example of how Jesus is always with us, if we just let him on the boat, if we trust like Peter did. He told the story of a poor woman who had gotten an abortion and was feeling guilty. The woman and the reverend improvised a prayer together and both experienced healing and grace. He said that by letting Jesus on the boat, the truth of ourselves is revealed and we are given a chance to be a part of God's plan.
It was a beautiful sermon, and the story was powerful and personal, and I found I could relate to it in the metaphorical sense. I could never be baptized because I don't believe a person can be God, or that salvation can happen through a person or deity. To me the story acts as a metaphor to the light we can hold up within ourselves, to be honest about the good and bad that makes us up, and to forgive ourselves and grow. Basically what being born again is like, minus God. We use the archetype of Jesus in us, I think going off of Jungian philosophy, and we use that part of ourselves to make peace with our mistakes, forgive, love and grow. I've experienced that transformation first hand, both without thinking of a higher power, and with thinking of a higher power. The stories I shall save for another day. The point is that transformation happened though, that light was shown to reveal myself in my entirety, in order for guilt to turn to forgiveness and change and then action; transformation if you will.
After service I talked to the reverend briefly, but he was too busy to interview. So I took up Mr. Lund on his offer. Since he'd been in seminary for a year, while going to college in Chicago, Illinois. The discussion was amazing.
I learned about how his search to make sense of God began in junior high, when he asked himself if he believed or not. He found he did, and from there decided a personal God was the only God that mattered. He also related the core principles of Christianity on why he chose Christianity. The core principles being 1) Love God, 2) love people because God loves people.
We talked about the problem of evil in the world, and Mr. Lund said he couldn't answer why some random evils happen, but discovered within his own life, how trials, pain and suffering became agents growth, new community and change.
We talked mortality, life and death finding that we agreed that there is so much growth that can come out of the pain of losing someone close, and then growing closer to the people you were around, but never knew, and the friendships that come out of that. It was a great way to end the discussion.
What would I say are the pros and cons of Presbyterianism? The pros are you are part of a community that cares about making a difference and is run by a democratic process. Elders are nominated by members of the community and then voted on by the congregation; Deacons are nominated and elected as well. It is then the Elder's role to help the community and church in their specialties (Psychology, finance, etc.) and act as a Board of Trustees. Deacons are there to serve the community in counseling, welcoming and service. They serve three year terms. I wish more churches elected their leaders so that the leaders would be direct accountability to their community. The community members are their for each other in small groups, Elders, Deacons and pastors. The music is also a major pro, there is a modern service with a more rock n' roll feel and a traditional service where the amazing Bel Canto Choir performs. The community is also involved in service worldwide, helping war orphans in Rwanda, and Christians and poor people in Cambodia, as well as the poor at the Jubilee Reach Center in Bellevue.
One of the cons of First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue is it's size. There is something for everyone, but it is hard to form any close bonds after service due to the sheer amount of people. There are four services, and thousands of people attend the church.
The cons if you're not a christian: Let's just say, Jesus saves, no one else. You can question your faith and Presbyterianism believe you should, but I don't think anyone who doesn't take the Bible as fact and Jesus as the messiah would do well in this community. This is a universal con across Christiandom for the most part. If you aren't saved, you're sick, because you are refusing to accept the Good News. This is the darker side to the mission work, since since the greatest way to live love for many in the Christian community is to convert people to the Good News (aka the Gospel), when in fact what the Good News means in it's entirity has been debated for centuries. This has never jived with me, and was one of my reasons for leaving the Mormon Church, since it's one interpretation of the Good News being seen as the only true way.
I was so grateful to visit the First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue again with one of my adopted families and to have discussed mortality, faith, and God with Mr. Lund and learned about how leadership in the Church works from Mrs. Lund. The Faith like any faith community has it's pros and cons, but I believe the Presbyterian Church is doing a lot of good in their community and the world.
