Church shopping is hard work. Last year we spent several months checking out churches here in Kindersley, but then John lost his job and we thought we might move, so we made a quick decision. In hindsight we made a poor choice; we didn't feel like we belonged and we were often leaving church angry. Since Christmas we made a drastic change and are now attending St. Olaf Lutheran Church. That's a huge switch, but it's good; we are being blessed and we feel like we belong. I think I just need to think out loud and talk about this some more.
First of all, I want to say that I love the Church. I want to see it beautiful and I want to be part of that beauty. I didn't find that at the 'old' Church; we left it feeling angry and hurt, mainly because we tried to be a blessing to others there, but felt ignored and felt like we didn't belong.
For my husband the Liturgy in the services of the Lutheran Church are very important to him. In his early days as a Christian, he almost became a Catholic. Their teachings and traditions, particularly the Liturgy, contain beauty and meaning. I'm finding the Liturgy meaningful and I can appreciate its' beauty.
When I lived in northern B.C. for a year, I found a little Mennonite Brethren Church in Dawson Creek where the pastor's sermons touched me spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, etc. I experienced the same thing and more at the First Baptist Church in Cranbrook, B.C. the previous year when the pastor would take a familiar passage and make it come alive! That's what I keep looking for in sermons. I want to be touched and challenged. I want the familiar to be renewing and reinvigorating. In the Lutheran Church I am appreciating sermons with substance.
With a young family, it's also nice to know that a service will end at a reasonable time. That way we can make plans to get to birthday parties without skipping the last 10 minutes or more of Church.
The Lutheran Church is very friendly and welcoming. I know there is a place for me. John is already teaching an adult Sunday School class, and I've been asked to be a greeter. They have an old fashioned worship style, which reminds me of my childhood church. With my music background I can help make their worship more contemporary. I can help to make it fun and energized. At the 'old' Church I wasn't asked to do any music; they didn't need me. Granted, Austin was very young when we started going there, but that hasn't stopped me in the past and it wouldn't have stopped me now, if only they had asked. This fall I volunteered to help at Awana, the Wednesday night club for kids. This is a program I grew up in and I earned a Meritorious Award. When I spoke with one of the leaders, she suggested that I help wash dishes after the snack. I knew they had someone in place to do that. I wanted to have a group of kids to build into their lives and teach them about God's Word. Instead, I felt that the leadership ignored me and gave me token tasks to do. I watched them week after week, running around in a frenzy, on the road to burnout. One night a leader sarcastically said, "I love Awana." She was tired and rather frustrated. That hurt to hear because I really do love Awana and I wanted to be more involved. On another night one leader was missing, so I stood by his team to organize the kids for games and cheer them on. Then another person came into the gym and was told to work with the group I was standing by. Again I had been ignored; I left the room nearly in tears and came up with a reason not to go back. They have since recruited two other women to help.
Although I haven't been part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada for long, I expect that their view of the Church includes loving others and reaching out to their community. This is in contrast to what we experienced from two of the elders in the 'old' Church. Last spring, one of these elders started building a friendship with John. Suddenly in summer the friendship was over. When John questioned him about it, the elder said they couldn't befriends because they viewed things differently. We were left with the feeling that this elder only loves those who share his point of view. This contradicts Christ's teachings to love one another. A second contradiction to what we see as Christ's teachings came from another elder. This man told us that he would never bring non-Christians to Church because he believes Church is for Christians. The elder and his wife have been part of the same Care Group for fifteen years and they only invite certain people to join them; this explains to us the "clubby" type atmosphere we experienced.
No one Church is absolutely perfect or right. There are things in the Lutheran Church that won't fit me. I'm certainly not ready to become a member. However, at present, in this town, in this community, it is working for us. The Sunday School for the boys is almost twice as big as in the 'old' Church; more staff from my school attend the Lutheran Church, so it gives me a chance to get to know some others. Even Austin has a little girlfriend. So we'll continue to seek God's will and find a community of believers with whom we can worship Him!
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