Stewardship at First Baptist Church of Ogden

First of all, I want to apologize for not blogging the past couple weeks. I have had some issues with my apartment and finances that have caused me to be temporarily at a couple friends' apartment. Hopefully all of this is sorted out soon. At any rate, I'm back for the blog.

The Sunday before last, I went to First Baptist Church, part of the American Baptist Churches USA. The American Baptist Churches USA traces its roots back to the 1600's in Massachusetts. The church is considered a mainline church and historically a progressive church in regards to race relations.

Beliefs of the American Baptist Churches USA:

• Belief in the Trinity.
• Belief that Jesus was the Messiah.
• Christ's death and resurrection saved mankind from sin.
• The Bible is the Word of God and final authority on matters of faith.
• Belief in the priesthood of all believers.
• Avoid the use of creeds and allow members to be guided by the Spirit with interpretation of the scriptures.
• Believe in the autonomy of the local church.
• Practice a believer's baptism by immersion for those old enough to understand the sacrament.
• Practice open communion using bread and grape juice as symbols of the body and blood of Jesus.
• Ordain women to the ministry.

In addition, this congregation is united with the local Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), another mainline Protestant church which currently doesn't have a church building they meet in. This church doesn't meet separately with the Baptists in Ogden, but instead has merged it's congregation with the Baptist congregation. As such, I'm not going to include the additional information of this congregation as the service looked exclusively Baptist, and that is the main identity of this church.

So how was it?

Atmosphere:

First Baptist Church of Ogden is a stunning example of Federal architecture. The building is large, the only religious structures that dwarf it in Ogden are the Ogden LDS Temple and St. Joseph's Catholic Church. It's a red brick building that looks like it fell out of New England onto Utah's soil.

The interior was large and very traditional looking with white washed walls, pilasters, crown molding, dark wood pews, a simplistic sanctuary with room for a small choir and a pulpit. The sanctuary had a screen down to project the lyrics for the hymns.

Overall, the atmosphere was stunning. I would definitely go back just for that.

The People:

We got there right before the service started, so there wasn't much chance for people to mingle with us. The usher was nice, a few people introduced themselves and were nice to us. The congregation was mostly made up of middle aged to elderly people and children and were mostly white. They seemed really nice for the most part.

I wish that we could have interacted with them more, but given the lack of interaction, I still felt welcomed.

The Service/The Message:

The structure of the service wasn't the typical structure I'm used to in Baptist services. The pastor himself said that it was a unique service for that Sunday to highlight that it was Stewardship Sunday.

Because of the unusual structure of the service, I merged these two sections together as there wasn't a distinction between the two.

First they talked about how we show stewardship for creation. The pastor read from Genesis where God gave man dominion over all the earth. He then talked about how we have a responsibility to the earth and must care for and conserve it. This was followed by a hymn praising the Lord's world.

After this, they talked about how we must steward our talents. To demonstrate this, the pastor showed a quilt that was going to be given to the homeless. They sang a hymn about giving all your service and future to God, then the pastor dedicated the quilt. During the prayer, he said we didn't know who it would go to, whether they were believers, or of a different faith, or even an atheist. He didn't seem as comfortable saying the atheist statement, but nonetheless included it in the prayer.

After this, they talked about stewarding children. The youth pastor brought the kids of the congregation up and gave each of them a piggy bank with ten pennies. He told them that it was their choice what they did with it, they could take the stopper out and take the money out or put money in it. He said if they brought the bank back unbroken, there would be a reward later. After this, they sang another hymn about blessings.

Next, they sang a song about offerings and talked about stewarding finances. The pastor talked about how silly it is that people don't have an issue giving money to a movie theater, sporting event, concert, etc. But they're not happy to give money to the church and see it as a burden. He then said that investing in the local church was the  best investment you could ever do in this life or the next. He said it was a privilege to pay tithing. I hate this argument. They make it seem like there's nothing more important than giving money to the church and that giving money to this organization is the same as giving to God. Of course, what better time to take up a collection than after this message? And that's exactly what they did.

They then sang the Protestant Doxology, they took up another collection for the needy for Christmas, then the pastor asked for various concerns and celebrations from the people in the congregation. After he'd collected all their concerns, he gave an impromptu prayer talking about the needs of the community.

After this, there was another hymn and served communion. Communion was done using matzo crackers and grape juice. The pastor said the words of Jesus at the Last Supper and the deacons passed around the crackers, then everyone ate it together. Afterward, the pastor said the words over a chalice of grape juice. The deacons then passed small, plastic cups of grape juice to the congregation and then everyone drank it together.

After this was another hymn and then a benediction over the congregation.

Overall, it was an interesting structure for a service. I enjoyed seeing it, and the communion portion was like a hybrid of Catholic and Baptist traditions which was interesting.

Overall Experience:

Of the Baptist services I've been to, it was the nicest one and the most uplifting. The people were friendly, and the messages, for the most part, were lovely. However, I've grown very weary of Baptist and Evangelical services in general and am not planning to return to one for a very long time.

Additional Notes:

Only 3 religions left! Stay tuned for some awesome announcements!

Until next time, peace be with you.

Sabbath greetings at the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Ogden

On Saturday, I visited the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Ogden. Let's right to it and see where the Seventh-day Adventists come from and what they believe.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the largest branch descended from the Millerite movement founded in the 1830's. Founded by William Miller, Millerites believed that Christ would return in 1844. Miller gained a huge following of people who believed that Christ was about to come. The day of Christ's predicted return came and went like any other day, and the event is now known as The Great Disappointment. After this, the movement still continued, but eventually split into different groups, including: Christadelphians, Branch Davidians, Church of God General Conference, etc. The most well known (other than the infamous Branch Davidians) and by far the largest is the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Beliefs held in common with traditional Protestant Christianity:

• Belief in the Trinity
• Belief that Jesus is the second person in the Trinity, the Messiah, and Savior of mankind.
• Mankind deserves eternal punishment for their sinful nature. 
• Grace is a free gift of God made possible through the atonement of Christ and accepted through faith alone.
• Believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and completely free from error.
• Believe the Bible is the sole and final authority in matters of faith and practice.
• Belief in the Ten Commandments and that they are still binding on Christians today.
• Practice baptism by immersion.
• Practice communion. For them it is done quarterly using unleavened bread and grape juice. A foot washing ceremony is part of this service.
• Adherence to traditionally conservative stances: abortion not condoned except in cases of the health of the mother or severe congenital defects in the child, homosexuality condemned, modest dress encouraged, any sex outside marriage condemned, swearing discouraged, belief in a literal six day creation, etc.
• Christ's return is imminent.

Beliefs not shared with other Christian faiths:

• They don't worship on Sundays like most Christians. Instead, they hold to the traditional Jewish Sabbath believing that Christians are still obligated to observe it. This begins from sunset on Friday evening and goes to sunset on Saturday evening. Members are encouraged to limit activities and focus on God and Bible study on the Sabbath.
• Mankind is an indivisible unity of mind, body, and spirit. There is no immortal soul and mankind is unconscious after death. (This belief is shared with the Jehovah's Witnesses, who were influenced by the Millerites.)
• Immortality is conditional. The wicked will not go to Hell, but instead be annihilated on the last day. (Another belief held in common with the Jehovah's Witnesses.)
• Mankind is involved in a Great Controversy between God and the Devil. There has been an ongoing war between the two factions since Satan first rebelled against God and mankind is in the middle of this war.
• They believe the date of 1844 was correct, but that it wasn't referring to Christ's return to Earth, but instead him beginning the cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary, preparing it for the End of Days.
• They believe that since 1844, the judgment of professed Christians has been ongoing to determine the salvation of all mankind since the beginning of time.
• There is a remnant of people in the End Times who will remain faithful to the commandments of God.
• Prophecy continues into the modern day, though prophecies must be tested against the Bible for validity.
• It is recommended members adhere to a vegetarian diet often following kosher laws. Members are also recommended to not partake in drugs, alcohol, or tobacco, and many members abstain from coffee, tea, and soda.

And now, onto my time with the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Ogden.

Atmosphere:

The Seventh-day Adventist Church of Ogden is a rather unremarkable building from the outside. You can tell it's a church, but it's a very simple red brick building without much adornment or anything that would set it apart from other churches in the area.

I forgot to snap a picture of the interior while I was there. The interior is a basic chapel with pews, mint green walls, and a pretty standard sanctuary with a place for a band to perform, a screen down to play a video at the beginning of the service, and a pulpit. The most unique part of the chapel were the small sections on the sides of the chapel. These sections were separated by an arcade (row of arches) from the rest of the sanctuary. The Sabbath school lessons were given in this part of the section, and some of the elderly members remained there throughout the service. I didn't see any crosses in the chapel, but there were a couple of lovely metal cutouts of angels sounding trumpets on either side of the sanctuary.

Overall, very simple and traditional style atmosphere. Nothing of major note, but it was done well.

The People:

The people were friendly, though rather reserved. A few came up to us and introduced themselves. One very nice girl hunted us down after the service and said that she was so excited to see someone our age because most of the people there are children, teenagers, or older and that few are college age.

Everyone was very well dressed, men in suites and ties, women in skirts or dresses. The congregation was pretty diverse. There were a number of white people, but also Asians, Latinos, among others. The people all seemed to get along pretty well and seemed to be a very tight knit group,

Overall, the people were nice. Fairly typical of a lot of other churches I've visited around here.

The Service:

The service was sort of like an Evangelical service, but a little more traditional than modern Evangelical services. It began with announcements, then the Praise Team got up and sang a song together with the congregation. The music was traditional hymns accompanied on piano.

After that, there was a video that featured an attractive young man showing clips with ominous music of Halloween scenes. The young man said that Halloween has a dark history and basically called it Satanic. But then he said, it doesn't have to be and encouraged the congregation to purchase pamphlets and hand them out as they go door to door trick-or-treating this year. Or if you're not going door to door, hand them out to trick-or-treaters instead of candy. 

It's starting to really annoy me hearing these churches talk about turning every single thing into a way to proselytize and spread their message. Can't we have a fun holiday with candy and costumes that doesn't have to be about Jesus and spreading the Good News? It's like church and Jesus consume every part of some of these people's lives with no balance outside of it. There's a lot of complex layers to life. Letting one aspect of it dominate every other part just makes me sad. Not just with religion, but with everything. If alcohol, weed, sex, church, God, a hobby, your job, anything is taking up so much of your time and thoughts that it seems that it's what you're living for or it's taking away from other things you love, then you probably should consider cutting back, diversifying your life. and enjoying different things more. There is so much out there to waste everything on just one thing. And we're all guilty of this from time to time, but it's important to sometimes step back and reassess things in your life.

After this they sang another hymn and took up an offering. Like in most churches, the deacons came around with collection plates and took money, but children also went around collecting money in their hands and bringing it up to the front. This was interesting to me. I think it's cute to get the kids involved, but nobody seemed to really be watching them. I know if I were a kid, it would be very tempting and easy to pocket some of that money. I think there should be a little more monitoring of them, but that's just me.

Afterward, there was a children's sermon. A lady told the story of Moses parting the Red Sea and related that to what she called a miracle in her uncle's life. He was driving a big rig and a herd of animals came out in front of it, but they parted miraculously when he was driving and he didn't hit any. This is a pretty low scale miracle to me. Animals have a survival instinct and most will dart out of the way of a moving vehicle. It's nowhere near as impressive to me as say if somebody were actually able to make waters part.

After the children's sermon, there was a lovely song sung by two men playing acoustic guitars. It was very pretty and I enjoyed it

After that, there was a community prayer. The worship leader and several other people got up front and got on their knees and gave a long prayer about the needs of the community. While they did this, some members of the congregation knelt at their pews while others just bowed their heads.

This was followed by a brief scripture reading, then a sermon. I ducked out during the closing hymn, but the bulletin said there was just a closing hymn and a closing prayer. I had had my fill of the service by then, so left.

The service was a traditional style Protestant service, but pretty slow paced and went on much longer than I thought it would.

The Message:

The sermon was pretty hard for me to sit through. It started out with the man quoting the scripture that we were to test everything by whether it taught us that Jesus had come in the flesh. He then said that there were three big Satanic teachings that were the spirit of the Antichrist that were popular today: Darwinism, pantheism, and spiritualism.

He said that Darwinism is the belief that everything just happened and that the universe evolved out of a Big Bang and that life just happened on earth and that there's no reason for it. He said this kind of thinking devalues human life because we're just an accident and there's no reason to live. He said that this teaching is appealing because things seem really old and there's a mountain of evidence like giant ice sheets, radio carbon dating, etc. But then he said that it was mathematically impossible, and that it contradicted the Bible.

Christians, please, for the love of God, don't talk about things you don't understand! If you want to talk about evolution, the Big Bang Theory, natural selection, etc., you had better have read actual scientific textbooks and material on the subject, and not just stuff that the church handed out to you or you found on a creationist website. Because more often than not, when I hear Christians talking about evolution and how it's evil, they explain evolution to me in a way that is not scientific and that is not taught in science classrooms. First off, evolution has absolutely nothing to do with the Big Bang Theory. Those are two separate theories in two separate branches of science. Evolution is part of biology, and the Big Bang Theory is in the realm of physics.

There is no such thing as Darwinism, this is a term created by those who teach Intelligent Design to malign people who teach evolution and other scientific theories that are contrary to a very narrow interpretation of Christianity. Evolution isn't the enemy of Christianity. Many millions of Christians the world over accept the Theory of Evolution with no consequence to their faith at all. It is accepted by the Roman Catholic Church, many Anglicans, many in liberal Lutheran churches, many Eastern Orthodox Christians, most other Mainline or Progressive Christians, etc. In fact, outside the United States, in Christianity, the denial of evolution and the Big Bang Theory are only upheld by a minority of Christians. Intelligent Design is not supported by the scientific community as a whole, populated heavily by Christians, and is largely an American phenomenon.

He then said that Darwinism wasn't created by Christians nor is it really believed by Christians, so he focused on another Antichrist teaching that has permeated the Church. He said pantheism was an Antichrist teaching because he said that it equated God with everything in the universe, which would mean suffering, sickness and death were part of God too, and that's not right. He talked about pantheism, but what he actually was talking about was panenthism. Pantheism is the belief that God is the universe, that everything in it is God. Panentheism says God is the universe, but that God also exists separately from it, which is how he described pantheism.

He then said that a final Antichrist teaching that is popular is spiritualism, which is the belief that matter and spirit are separate and that spirit is all that matters. He said that this is contrary to the holistic teaching of the Church which is that mankind is mind, body, and spirit and that there is no separate immortal soul. He said that this was a popular belief in Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Eastern Religions, but was gaining popularity in Christianity, too. Essentially, he called Hinduism and Buddhism Antichrist religions, which is a nice roundabout way of demonizing Eastern Religions.

Overall, I found this message really ill informed and spread some very upsetting messages. I did not enjoy the sermon and couldn't wait to get out of the church throughout the whole thing.

Overall Experience:

The service was slow paced but pretty, the people were lovely, and the sermon was awful. I wouldn't return to the Seventh-day Adventist Church again as it made me very uncomfortable to hear a message like that being preached to people who don't understand that much of what is being said is misinformed and misguided. A person giving a sermon like that perpetuates misinformation and creates a vicious cycle in which people just accept what they hear as the Word of God and anything outside of it is seen as satanic so they don't investigate it and then they pass on this misinformation to everyone else creating a culture of fear around something so integral as education and research.

If you can't say something nice, blog about it anyway.

So, I apologize for the delay in getting this blog out. I have two blogs I am pumping out one right after another. The one after this will be about my visit to the Thai Buddhist Temple. This one, however, is about my time at The Salvation Army.

Spoiler, I didn't enjoy my time at The Salvation Army. The reason I've taken so long to write this is that I was having trouble not being completely negative about the whole experience. However, I've never sugar coated on this blog, and I've been completely honest and fair in my assessments so far. So, I'm just going to put it out there. But first, a little background on The Salvation Army.

Origins and Beliefs of The Salvation Army:

The Salvation Army was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by William Booth. The Salvation Army is a Christian denomination with origins in Methodism (though it's not classified as a Methodist church) and patterned to be quasi-military in style, though they are not an actual military nor do they carry weapons or engage in fighting. They call themselves a military because they are a volunteer army fighting for the salvation and aid of mankind. The clergy are called officers, complete with military ranks, and the members are called soldiers.

The group's primary focus is charity work. In fact, they are so involved in charity work, that people often don't know they're a church, but simply think they're a charity and/or thrift shop. This is the primary reason I haven't wanted to say anything negative about The Salvation Army, I don't like tearing down groups that do so much good for their communities. But, for as much good as they do, their beliefs were hard to swallow, the experience bad, and they also have been involved in a few controversies, including anti-gay scandals. Discussion of those is a bit out of the scope of this blog, so feel free to research those on your own.

Here are some basic beliefs of the church:

1. Belief in the Trinity and divinity of Christ.
2. Belief the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and the only guide for the salvation of mankind.
3. Belief that the fall of mankind left man spiritually wounded and totally depraved with no goodness within them.
4. That the atonement of Christ offers mankind salvation through regeneration by the Spirit.
5. Salvation is a free gift from God given by grace through faith alone.
6. Belief in the end of times, resurrection of the dead, return of Christ.
7. The Salvation Army doesn't practice any sacraments, such as baptism or communion, as they feel they distract from God's grace by focusing on the act rather than what the act symbolizes.

So, let's get the ball rolling.

Atmosphere:

The Salvation Army chapel is located in downtown Ogden. The exterior of the building is very simple and done in a contemporary style. My friend and I sat in the car in the parking lot listening to the song Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes because the name is derived from the name Salvation Army.

The interior of the chapel was fairly typical of a Protestant chapel: chairs lined up in pews, a sanctuary with a section for a band to play live music and a pulpit as the central piece, flower arrangements, etc.

Sadly, it was hard to focus on anything in this chapel as there was an overwhelming stench of cat urine that assaulted your nose when you walked in and was impossible to ignore throughout the whole service.

The atmosphere, overall, was simple, but the smell was overwhelming and really diminished the entire atmosphere giving it a very cheap and low rent feeling.

The People:

The people were eclectic as far as age and race, Some were elderly, some teenagers, some Latino, some white, some wearing hippie clothing, some wearing Hawaiian shirts and sandals. It felt like most of them were people who had once been down on their luck and had learned about The Salvation Army through their charity outreach. This assumption was confirmed when a man got up and bore his testimony saying that he was no longer homeless and was now clean and sober thanks to the Lord. 

A number of the members were dressed in uniforms. This was something I was told to expect. Many members purchase Salvation Army uniforms and wear them as a sign of being soldiers for God.

The woman who ran the worship service was an older woman who seemed kind of grouchy, especially when she yelled at the children for misbehaving, and kind of upset me with how she acted with people, yet covered it up with a smile and facade of caring.

Overall, it was an interesting group of people. I'm very glad that a number of them seem to have turned their lives around thanks to The Salvation Army.

The Service:

The service was fairly typical of a low church Protestant service. It began with a few announcements and welcome. Everybody went around shaking each other's hands, then the real service began. It started with a song. There was no accompanying music, only the acapella voices of the congregation. I've encountered congregations that don't sing well, but nobody here sang well at all. Because of that, the music wasn't enjoyable, just painful to listen to. I didn't want the singing to continue.

After there was a prayer and then they took up offerings. After that, they had the children's sermon before sending them off to Sunday school.

The kid's sermon was actually nice. It was on how words can hurt people and how we can't take back what we say. I am all for teaching kids this and encourage it.

After that was the main sermon. Then there was another song and a benediction.

Overall, the service was fairly simple, the music grating, and the overall tone extremely casual.

The Message:

The sermon was delivered by a guest speaker. The sermon was supposedly about God's contract with mankind, but really it bounced around a lot. He said that his wife just knows Jesus is the Messiah and that's all she needs. He said that he was a facts person and that he needed more than that. He said that the facts that convince him that Jesus was the Messiah are that nobody but God could do the things that Jesus does in the Gospels, therefore it's all true, Jesus is the Messiah. This is a very flawed argument that I will go into in a special blog on the Bible I've been planning.

He then talked about a conversation he had with his friends once in which he was talking to and how he and his friends tried listing off the Ten Commandments, but couldn't and ended up with a list of about fourteen and still didn't have all of them. I was absolutely amazed he admitted this. A lot of Christians cannot name the Ten Commandments, yet still tout them as the central piece of their faith and (mistakenly) say they're the basis for our laws here in the US. But I was very surprised to hear him admit that he didn't know what they were, and it only solidified what I knew.

After that, he talked about how we need to read the whole Bible cover to cover and read it as literature because all of the questions you'll ever have are answered in there and that there are no gaps in it. Essentially saying that the Bible is free from error. Clearly he hasn't taken up his own challenge as nobody who reads the Bible entirely can say that there are no gaps in it unless they aren't paying attention to anything they're reading. The Bible is filled with gaps and errors, often within the same chapter. More on that in my Bible blog I will do.

He also said that once a person repents, God doesn't remember their sins and that all sin is equal to God. A big sin is just as bad as a little sin, and a big good just as good as a little good. I hate this way of thinking. Murder isn't not on par with fibbing about your age. Rescuing a child from drowning isn't the same as telling your mom the truth about whether you stole the cookie. Things are complicated, not all actions are equal. Conversely, I know people who follow this mentality who think, well, I watched some porn, I already committed a sin, might as well go out and do all the things I want to since I'm damned.

After this he encouraged people that it might be fun to have the kids and adults dress up as Bible characters for Halloween, then when people asked who they were, they could share the Gospel with them. He then ended by saying that only God saves, we're just the ones delivering the message, but we never save anyone.

I found the message to be extremely juvenile in its understanding of Christianity and filled with a lot of problems and flawed logic. It was hard to sit through this sermon with a straight face knowing what I do about religion.

Overall Experience:

I hated my time at The Salvation Army. The whole time I was there, I just felt dirty and like I needed to leave. It's hard to explain why I felt that way, and no words could really capture the feeling. But really I didn't like my time there and have never felt more uncomfortable in a church. I couldn't wait to leave the service, and I will never go back to it.

Additional Notes:

I'll be posting my review on the Thai Buddhist Temple tomorrow. I also am working on a piece about the Bible, and I am visiting the United Methodist Church this Sunday.

Until next time, peace be with you.

The Solitary Path: my time with a Neo-Pagan practitioner

Yesterday, I interviewed and joined a friend of mine on a brief ritual as part of his faith tradition. My friend is what you would call an eclectic, solitary Neo-Pagan. What exactly is this? I'll explain.

Neo-Paganism is a term that describes a number of loosely connected modern religions. The religions are attempts to reconstruct ancient pagan practices (known as Reconstructionist Pagans) or pagans who use elements of ancient religions tied with modern practices and philosophies. Thus far, I've covered one Neo-Pagan religion, Wicca, however there are other Neo-Pagan religions.

My friend is a solitary practitioner of Neo-Paganism, meaning he practices his faith alone without any group influence. He may at times join others in worship, but he strongly prefers to practice alone. He is also eclectic, meaning he draws from a number of different sources and pantheons. He identifies himself as above all else, being a devotee of the Mother Goddess.

My friend's faith has similarities to Wicca, in fact, Wicca was how he started out on his path. However, he has since evolved into his own practice which is separate from Wicca.

His faith is a common story among people in the Neo-Pagan community. Many start out in Wicca and find it no longer suits their needs and outgrow it.

Some similarities between my friend's individual faith and Wicca:

• Both worship a God and Goddess figure rooted in nature.
• Both believe in magic.
• Both honor nature.
• Both use similar ritual tools.
• Both use meditation.
• Both borrow from ancient pantheons and mythology.
• Both believe in channeling energy and working with it to alter their world.

Some differences between my friend's faith and Wicca:

• My friend rejects the aspects of Wicca he describes as "occult based" By this he means the ceremonial magic elements taken from Renaissance magic, the OTO, Rosicrucians, etc. For instance, my friend doesn't call upon the Guardians of the Watchtowers, or use set ceremonial formulas. He also rejects the elements that come into the faith from Kaballah.
• Wiccans use the classical four elements united by a fifth element, spirit. My friend doesn't believe in the four elements.
• Wicca is traditionally structured with certain feast days, ceremonies, and in the most traditional versions of it, set words and ritual directions in ceremonies. My friend's faith is free form. While he sometimes celebrates the same holidays, he doesn't commemorate them with rituals, but rather goes out to party or just remembers the day.
• My friend borrows from other faiths and beliefs, including Hinduism, Asatru, New Age religions, etc.
• My friend's ceremonies are informal and don't usually involve casting circles, summoning various beings, etc.
• Wicca divides the natural world into male and female entities. The Sun is symbolically masculine, the Moon feminine, etc. My friend sees male and female in all things,
• My friend uses the same ritual tools as Wicca, though only when he feels that they would be appropriate. Also, within Wicca, the tools are associated with various elements. As my friend doesn't believe in the four elements, the tools have different meanings.

My friend's altar:

Here are the ritual items held on my friend's altar, as well as other items important to his faith.

There are three items on the back wall which represent the God principle of nature: the Horned God, which represents animals, death, the Otherworld, and our animal nature. The Green Man who represents the plant world and nature itself, Finally, the Sun, which represents the life giving power of the Sun and light.

Directly on the altar itself are three items which represent the Goddess, or feminine aspect of nature. They are: a bowl of sea shells which represent the waters of the earth that give life and abundance. There's candle in a green candle holder representing that she too gives life giving light through the Sun and other ways, and also represents nature with the green holder. 

Then there is the central tool my friend uses: a cauldron. The cauldron to him represents the whole cycle of life death and rebirth. This is due to the Celtic myths involving cauldrons where the cauldron of a goddess was able to resurrect the dead, and the cauldron of the All Father (a powerful god) was able to feed people without ever emptying. For him, this symbol represents male, female, Goddess, and God. It represents all of the universe and is his most prized tool.

Also on the altar are flowers and a gourd to remember the season, as well as an image of Dionysus (in his bull horned form), a figure which to him represents emancipation, being yourself, and enjoying your natural self.

He made this statue, as well as another one which represents the Horned God. I think he did well on both of them.

And here are my friend's classical tools which are used in Wicca as well:

His knife. To Wiccans, the knife represents fire usually and is associated with projecting your will. To my friend, the knife represents cutting away that which is harmful to you, such as attachments to unhealthy things.

His chalice. To Wiccans, this represents the element of water and also represents the womb of the Goddess. My friend still sees the womb imagery as he does in the cauldron, but doesn't see the same association with water. Often he uses it for offerings. I love his chalice because it's shaped like a goat head at the base.

His pentacle. For Wiccans, this is a symbol of the element of earth and symbolizes grounding. For my friend, it represents the Star of Venus and thus represents the Goddess in her celestial forms.

My friend's wand collection. My friend has multiple versions of each tool, But the most of any tool he has are his wands. To Wiccans, the wand represents air, and also is used to direct the will. My friend only sees it as a tool to direct his energy when working magic.

My friend also has a cabinet full of herbs which is quite extensive.

And a few more miscellaneous items he uses, including a crystal ball for divination (which he says is not about telling the future for him, but sorting out things in his own head and reading energy around him), a singing bowl, and three books which contain writings of his beliefs, practices, and meditations.

The symbol on the first two books is called a triskelion and is a very ancient symbol dating back to the neolithic (new stone age) period that has had many meanings throughout history. For him it symbolizes the flow of energy and is his primary spiritual symbol and the one that represents his faith to him. He even has it tattooed on his shoulder.

I asked him a series of questions. The main one was what divinity meant to him. He said that he feels like there is something like the Hindu concept of Brahman, the ultimate reality. This reality is neither male nor female, conscious nor unconscious, existent nor non-existent, Everything is part of this ultimate reality. He said he was a pantheist and believed that everything that exists is divine and adds to the divine reality like a rich tapestry. He expresses this pantheism through animism (believing everything has a spirit or energy) and polytheism with the Gods

He sees the Goddess as the Great Mother Goddess, and the feminine expression of everything that's out there. He primarily worships her, but all the other goddesses in history have represented different aspects of her.

He also worships, though not as extensively it seems, the All Father, an all encompassing god that represents the masculine expression of everything. He feels that all the gods in history have represented different aspects of him.

Neither is superior to the other, and to him both of them are in every single thing in this universe. He says that he doesn't believe the Gods created us, that all living things create the Gods and that we only enhance them. The Goddess and God are everything, therefore they are life and death all at the same time, kindness and cruelty, Summer and Winter, etc.

He also says that he believes everyone's path is different and that his is open to all paths because all of the gods are aspects of the ultimate divine reality. He said he even feels that atheism fits into his beliefs because he constantly doubts everything. He acknowledged it could all just be in his head and that none of this is real. But he said that all it does is help him to sort out his life, help him overcome his problems, and help him feel connected to the world around him. For him, it's about making his own reality.

The Ceremony:

The ceremony was pretty simple. We went on a hike, no ritual tools, no books, no special robes, no candles, just us. We went up a trail on the mountainside near our homes. We got to a small clearing with some stones set up in a circle around a little pool. There was a pipe running off water from the snow cap up on top of the mountain down into the pool which was trickling down into a little stream down the mountainside.

We stopped here and my friend sat and meditated on nature and his life. I took pictures while he did.

After meditating, he took water onto his hand streaming into the pool from the pipe. He used it to anoint various parts of his body and chakra points. He said this was to feel cleansed and empowered by nature.

He then talked about some personal issues his mediation help get some clarity on. Prior to that, I had been tossing pebbles into the pool, and I explained how the ripples acted like sound or light waves and how energy moves in waves. and that the surrounding objects create other ripples and patterns. He said that was a great symbol of his belief on spiritual energy, that it's all around us, and we can make it move and manipulate it, but it affects everything around us, and what you put out can bounce back to you in unexpected ways.

We then packed up and left the spot. That was the whole ritual. He said this was typical ritual for him. No tools or fancy words, just him meditating in nature on personal problems, the Goddess, nature itself, or something else. He only uses the other ritual stuff when the urge or need arises, but for the most part, this was how he practiced his religion.

Overall Experience:

Even though I don't believe in spiritual energy or anything supernatural, I have to say, that his beliefs and practices are pretty interesting and cool. Mostly it just feels like self help framed in a spiritual setting. Indeed, he told me he thinks people who do self help are doing magic and are not any different than him. He has his set beliefs, but he's open to change and new possibilities. He doesn't force his beliefs on anyone nor decry others for their beliefs. He just lives life his way, and that involves a magical worldview.

He's very realistic and says that magic won't solve your problems. That saying a spell won't make someone fall in love with you, make your body image problems go away, or get you the money you want. Instead, they'll give you focus and open you up to possible avenues to make those things happen for yourself. But ultimately you must do the work.

I have no problems with spiritual systems like this existing as long as they don't cause problems like people not seeking real medical attention in favor of spiritual healing, or people denying science in place of pseudoscience and woo woo. For my friend, this all seems to just be something that helps him feel connected with nature, the world around him, the universe, and help him deal with issues in his life that he might not otherwise find a good avenue to deal with. I think it's a beautiful and charming outlook he has. So I say, have fun.

A walk through a Mormon temple.

This past month, I went to the Ogden LDS Temple open house twice. The temple tours were identical minus the lines to get in (it was much more crowded the second time). The first time I attended with my friend, the second time with members of my immediate and extended family. Temples are normally not open to the public. In the weeks prior to them dedicating the temples, they allow the general public to tour them as they're not set aside for temple worship yet.

Because of the nature of this special blog, I will not follow the normal format. Instead, I will talk first about the general purposes and beliefs about the temples in the LDS Church; the video which begins the tour; the exterior of the building; and I will then describe the various rooms as I remember them, their purposes, and my impressions of them.

What Temples Mean to Mormons:

Temples are the most important places on earth to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For them, they are houses of the Lord. Many members of the LDS Church believe that God himself personally visits temples, and that the Holy Ghost's presence dwells within them.

Temples are unlike regular church buildings, which are called meeting houses in the Mormon tradition. Meeting houses are where regular Sunday worship occurs. All people are welcome to attend services at meeting houses. Regular services at meeting houses include: Sunday school for adults and children, various meetings for men and women, and a communion service called Sacrament meeting. I attended one of these services previously. Check out that blog here:

http://52weeks52churches.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-saints-testify.html

Temples on the other hand are open only to members of the LDS Church who meet strict requirements. These include:

• A testimony that the teachings of the Church are true concerning God, Jesus, the atonement, that Joseph Smith restored the ancient Church that Christ started, and that the Church is the One True Church on earth with living prophets.
• Complete sexual purity. This means the person has not had premarital sex, an extramarital affair, viewed pornographic or obscene material, engaged in any homosexual behavior whatsoever, or masturbated. If they have, they must have confessed the matter to a bishop of the church (similar to a pastor in most churches) and gone through a probation period (often a year) before they may enter the temple. In all honesty, I have known a shockingly high percentage of people in the Church who lie about this one during interviews. There is a large stigma surrounding sexual sin in the Church. It is called the sin next to murder and as such, many lie about it. This isn't unique to Mormons, but a common thread among conservative churches which demonize all sex outside of marriage.
• Ensuring your relationship with your family is in accordance with Church teachings. Essentially that you're not abusing your family, that you are fulfilling your responsibilities, etc.
• Ensuring that you do not support nor associate with any person or group who's beliefs and practices aren't in harmony with the teachings of the Church.
• That you attend your regular church meetings and try to keep your covenants to the best of your ability.
• Being honest in your dealings with people.
• That you pay a full and honest tithe. This for members of the Church is 10% of all of your gross income. Though some interpret it to mean net income.

If members do not meet 100% of these requirements, they are not permitted to participate in temple ceremonies nor even enter the temple.

Temples ceremonies are quite different than ceremonies in meeting houses. They are composed of rituals for the living and the dead and follow strict formatting, special clothing, and secrets only temple worthy members are told. All things that happen within the temple are not to be discussed with outsiders. Members say that these ceremonies aren't secret, they're sacred and shouldn't be talked about. This statement has never made sense to me as they are secret ceremonies because they are sacred to them. Therefore they are sacred AND secret to members.

The Video Prior to the Tour:

Just before the tour, there is a short video about what temples mean to the Church. They don't really go into much detail as to what truly happens inside a temple nor their true significance. This is a common theme in the temple tour. There are no tour guides, they rush you through the temple, they don't encourage questions while on the tour (nor is it really easy to ask questions of the temple workers), and they tell you there is a tent outside which will give you more information about the various rooms, but it mostly tells you about the building structure and materials than anything else.

The video features several members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This group of twelve men, along with the President of the Church and his two counselors (known as the First Presidency) make up the most senior leadership of the Church. Some spoke about temples being important in ancient times, claims that the temples now have the same function as the ancient temples, and they really drove home their message that families can be together forever through the temple.

The Exterior:

Here are the only pictures you will get of the temple, as photographs were not permitted inside the building. You can view photographs of these rooms that I describe online through various sources, including Church publications.

The original Ogden Temple stood from the 1970's until 2011. The design of the original temple was very much a product of its time, and the beauty of it didn't stand the test of time. The newly designed and renovated temple bares no real resemblance to the original. The new building has a look that is inspired by timeless houses of worship, with stone walls, stained glass windows, and a traditional single spire.

Truth be told, I think the exterior is quite a good face lift to Ogden. It is much better to see than what was there before.

The Tour Itself:

The Baptistery

The tour begins with you entering from the back door on the west side. There are people there who put protective coverings (shower caps essentially) on your feet in order to keep the new carpets clean. You walk inside and they take you to the basement to the first room, the dressing rooms near the Baptismal Font. After snaking through several doorways, you enter the Baptistery. This contains a giant stone baptismal font on the top of twelve stone oxen. This is modeled after the basin in Solomon's Temple. The twelve oxen represent the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Behind the font is a portrait of Christ's baptism which extended from floor to ceiling. Off to the left and right sides of the room were paintings of a river, which I assume were the Jordan River in Israel.

This is the room where Mormons perform baptisms for the dead, a practice known widely outside the Church. Regular baptisms of members do not take place here, but are done in much smaller and very simple fonts in local meeting houses. It is said that the dead require the same ordinances as the living, therefore, those who died without baptism have the chance to accept a baptism done on their behalf by a living member of the Church.

This is a ceremony I participated in when I was a Mormon, and it is the only ceremony a minor can participate in under normal circumstances. Anyone over the age of twelve with a recommend (specifically good only for baptisms for the dead for minors) may participate in this ceremony. It is just like a regular baptism in Mormon circles, following the formula of baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, members dressed in white jumpers, being fully immersed, etc. The only difference is that the name of the deceased person is read instead of the name of the member doing the baptism. Typically, a person is baptized for a dozen or more people in one baptismal session.

The administrative offices

After the Baptistery, they take you through some halls in the basement that pass by a few rooms, the only real one of note was the cafeteria. They then take you to the first floor of the building. This floor contains the temple recommend desk, where members must present their paperwork stating they can enter the temple. It also contains a lobby to wait in. The rest of the floor is filled with the administrative offices of the temple. After that, there is a dressing room for the brides to get ready in on their wedding day. It's a pretty little room with several vanity mirrors for multiple brides to get ready at the same time.

The Sealing Rooms

The next floor is pretty much entirely dedicated to Mormon weddings. There is a lobby there for the families of the bride to wait in while she gets ready. This is like a nice hotel lobby in appearance. Most of the rest of the rooms on this floor are called Sealing Rooms. They are small chapels where weddings are performed. The rooms are laid out with a padded altar in the center where the bride and groom kneel facing each other. There are chairs along the sides of the room for the families of the bride and groom as well as those officiating to sit in. The most striking feature of these rooms are the mirrors. There are mirrors on the walls in front of and behind the altar. These mirrors reflect each other in an eternal image. This symbolizes the bride and groom's marriage lasting for eternity as Mormons believe that marriage and family are eternal when they are sealed together in these ceremonies.

There were a few of these rooms, some were huge and could accommodate a several dozen people, others were very small and could only fit a few people in them.

The Chapel and Ordinance Rooms

The last room on the second floor was a small chapel which is very reminiscent of standard Mormon chapels. I am told the dedication of the temple will happen in this room, and that this is where people who perform the Endowment Ceremony wait before participating in the ceremony. 

You then walk up a flight of stairs and see a painting of Jesus's second coming at the top of the stairs looking down at you. The top floor is filled with Ordinance Rooms. These rooms are the rooms where members conduct the most sacred and secret of ceremonies that most will participate in, the Endowment Ceremony. Essentially, the Ordinance rooms are small, well decorated theaters where members watch a video detailing their version of the creation story in Genesis. Members are given special signs and tokens they believe are necessary to enter into God's presence. They also swear oaths and make covenants with God, don certain ceremonial clothing, and participate in a prayer circle during this ceremony. The ceremony ends with them passing through a veil into the Celestial Room. More on that in a moment.

Mormons believe the Endowment Ceremony bestows upon them special blessings and will allow them to enter into the highest of the Three Kingdoms, the Celestial Kingdom. Mormons teach that there are three kingdoms mankind will be divided into on the Last Day:

1. The Celestial Kingdom, said to be the glory of the Sun. This is the highest kingdom, where God the Father will live and reign. Those who go into this kingdom were worthy Mormons who went through Endowment Ceremony and lived by the teachings of the Church. Those who were married in the temple are at the top of this kingdom and may become gods of their own worlds. (Though the Church seems to be changing this doctrine as of late. More on that in another blog, perhaps.)
2. The Terrestrial Kingdom, said to be the glory of the Moon. This is the second highest kingdom and is ruled by Jesus Christ. Those who will go to this kingdom lead righteous lives, but were deceived by the craftiness of man and thus didn't accept the fullness of the Gospel in this life or the next.
3. The Telestial Kingdom, said to be the glory of the stars. This is the lowest of the kingdoms of glory. Those in this kingdom were sinful in life, and as such not deserving of the first two kingdoms. After this life, they will go to Spirit Prison (a similar concept to Purgatory) where they will atone for their sins. They may accept the Gospel and change their eternal fate while in Spirit Prison. If not, they will remain there until the end of Christ's Millennial reign, and be sent to the Telestial Kingdom on the Last Day. Though it is the lowest of the kingdoms, it is said that if you saw this kingdom right now, you would kill yourself to go there.

Outside of this, there is also Outer Darkness, the Mormon version of Hell. This is where Satan and his Angels will end up. It is nearly impossible for a human to end up here as they must have had full witness to God's existence and still denied him.

The Celestial Room

At the end of the tour, we came across the most sacred room in most temples, the Celestial Room. This is a room that members enter after passing through the veil in the Ordinance Rooms. This room represents the glory of the Celestial Kingdom and being in God's presence. It is always the most well decorated and beautiful of rooms in the temple. This one was no exception.

There were crystal chandeliers, white walls, extremely thick, padded carpets, golden lamps fixed into the ground in an Art Deco style, gorgeous couches, a white dome that looked like glass or alabaster over the center of the room, several end tables with fresh flower arrangements, etc. 

The room is not unlike a fancy hotel lobby in a luxury hotel. Members don't perform any ceremonies in this room. Instead, they simply sit in quiet prayer and meditation, thinking about the ceremonies they just performed and believe that in this room they are closer to God's presence than anywhere else on earth.

There is one temple with a room considered more sacred than this one. That is the Salt Lake Temple, which contains a small room called the Holy of Holies. This room looks much like a Sealing Room and is not used by the general population of the Church. Therefore most people will never see it, nor have need to. Only the top officials of the Church, and those personally invited by them for a special ceremony called the Second Anointing will ever enter that room. As such, there is currently only one and in all other temples, the Celestial Room is the most sacred room in the temple.

This was the last stop on the tour. After this, we were taken to a stairwell down to the main floor of the building and led out the front door, where crowds of people were taking pictures.

Overall Experience:

Overall, it was a very pretty building and a pleasant experience both times. It was nice to experience in a small way what my Mormon relatives experience with the temple. The artwork and craftsmanship of the building is phenomenal. The stained glass windows were simple, yet gorgeous; the dark, African wood was a great contrast to the white walls; everything was just really pretty.

That being said, it just doesn't feel like a house of worship to me. It feels very much like a luxury hotel without bedrooms. Since leaving the LDS Church, temples have been an issue for me. They claim to follow the models of the ancient temples of Israel, but they don't bear any real resemblance to them other than the baptismal font and that there is a veil and one temple with a Holy of Holies.

I understand this building and the ceremonies inside mean the world to much of my family and friends. I understand they fill a huge need and give many of them comfort and spiritual grounding. But my biggest issue with them is their exclusivity. I know many people who have issues when the time comes to get married and their family must wait outside the temple while they get married because their family aren't members or are members but don't hold temple recommends. This saddens me. They are a church heavily focused on family, but this policy often creates conflict within families.

This happened to me when my brother was married. I had to wait outside the temple with the rest of my family. I was a minor at the time, which is why I was unable to attend. Other family members were unable to enter as well for one reason or another. We waited outside as well for them to exit the building so we could all take pictures and congratulate them. This was the first time I ever really questioned this policy.

I was seventeen at the time and severely questioning my faith in the Church. I had all but left in my mind at the time, but was afraid to tell anybody. I knew in my head that I wouldn't see the ceremony, but I was quite another thing waiting endlessly outside the temple for them and feeling left out of a huge moment in his life simply because of my age. 

There is a small lobby inside the doors of the temple where you can sit if you're not attending. I sat in there with my grandma and she was talking about temple worthiness and things of that nature. I saw all these people walking in and out of the temple with their valises full of their temple clothes. I just remember thinking to myself, "Who could ever consider themselves worthy enough to enter God's house? Isn't that an arrogant statement to make?" In that moment, the whole temple thing felt like a country club for the righteous. It also felt contrary to the life and ministry of Jesus, a man who surrounded himself with tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, and other outcasts of society and often scorned those in religious authority for being self righteous and caught up in the pomp and ceremony of their faith. I couldn't see him endorsing the idea of a members only temple for the righteous.

I felt like a monster thinking these things in the lobby of this building. I felt like I had betrayed God. Even though I was pretty much already emotionally and mentally out, there was still a small part of me clinging desperately to the faith of my childhood. I still wanted it to all be true even though it was getting harder and harder to believe. I was still convinced that the problem was entirely with me and that I was alone with these thoughts.

And I still felt that way going through these open houses, especially with my family who are LDS and temple goers. It felt like there was a large gap between us. There is a whole world they have that I will never experience and am not invited to. This is not their doing, but a consequence of their deeply held beliefs that are extremely dear to them. But, for a brief moment in time, these tours allowed us to bridge that gap in a small way. For that, I am grateful for this tour.

Sunday at Canyon Road Assembly of God

First of all, sorry for the inactivity on this page. I got busy and distracted by a few things in life. I'm not back in full force with 2 blog entries in 2 days.

Last Sunday, I went to Canyon Road Assembly of God Church. A little background information is in order for the Assemblies of God:

• The Assemblies of God is the largest Pentecostal church in the world with over 66 million members.
• They are Evangelical.
• They believe in the Trinity, that Christ is the second person in the Trinity who died for the sins of mankind.
• Believe in the resurrection of Jesus.
• They believe the Bible is the Word of God and the final authority.
• Believe in salvation by grace through faith alone.
• Believe in baptism in the Holy Spirit and gifts of the Spirit such as speaking in tongues, faith healing, etc.
• Practice baptism by full immersion, separate from salvation which, which prepares the person for service as a Christian.
• Practice communion, which is symbolic of sharing in the atonement of Jesus.

So how was Canyon Road?

Atmosphere:

Canyon road on 12th street in Ogden and is literally down the road from the mouth of a canyon in the mountains. The building is pretty unremarkable from the outside, and other than church signs and a pretty little rock display, you might think it was a strip mall for dentists' offices and insurance companies.

I didn't get any pictures of the chapel inside. It wasn't too different from chapels at other Evangelical churches: stage up front with a live band playing, colored lights shining onto an abstract modern backdrop, a cross in the center of the wall behind the stage, padded chairs lined up in rows, nothing too different. The only thing that made the inside setting different than Alpine Church, the Genesis Project, Crossroads, etc, was that this one had multiple flags draped along the walls of various countries.

Overall, the same sort of atmosphere I've come to expect from Evangelical churches. Not much variation or innovation with most of these churches. What's interesting is around here so many people tell me that they just discovered Alpine, or the Genesis Project, or some other church and tell me that it's not like any other church they've seen and that I need to check it out. But it seems that this type of church setting is more the rule than the exception with Evangelical churches. They all have a coffee bar, they all have a live band that plays contemporary Christian music, they all use multimedia, they all have special seminars and classes, etc.

I think the main reason people around here feel these churches are unique and not like anything else is because most of the people going to these churches come from LDS backgrounds and this style of worship is vastly different from that. But it is far from unique.

The People:

The people were pretty nice to us. We were greeted and escorted to the chapel by a lovely lady dressed very well in a summer outfit. She introduced us to the pastor who asked us a couple questions and welcomed us to the church.

There were people of all sorts of walks of life dressed in everything from suits and ties to track suits. There was a lady in front of me who had a fan made out of blue feathers. I wanted to steal it out of her hands and run I loved it so much. But of course I wouldn't.

Overall, the people were nice. Not much else to note on them.

The Service:

The service was what I've come to expect from an Evangelical church, they began with a song, opening prayer, announcements, a few more songs, then a sermon and altar call.

The announcements were interesting. They talked about a youth event that had some PowerPoint slides to go with it. Then they talked about how they had members going to Mexico for a mission that sounded like it would also include a revival at the end. The pastor said he was flying out later that day to join them.

Afterward, they talked about a fundraiser they had. There was a couple of Latino guys who got up and spoke about the fundraiser. One spoke about it in Spanish, the other translated. There was a Spanish video that wasn't translated at all advertising the event. It turns out it's a fundraiser to help orphans in Latin countries. At least that's what I gathered from the presentation.

The church is also focused heavily on missionary work. They seem to have a lot of active missionary programs and brought up how important it was to go out and save people. I noticed most of their missions were to Latin America.

The service was nothing I haven't seen before at other similar churches. I feel like with many of these Evangelical denominations I rehash the same things.

The Message:

The message was on prayer and was pretty similar in many ways to the sermon given at Crossroads Christian Fellowship a few weeks back. As such, I'm not going to really rehash a lot of the same points as you can read about them there.

What I will say is that the tone of the sermon was different. While at Crossroads, it was given in a loving gentle sort of manner, as though the pastor were talking to his friends or family in his sweet Irish accent, here it was very much done in a preaching style and delivered as a well mapped out sermon.

Some differing points he made:

• Prayer is like steroids. It boosts up your spirit and your life
• Prayer feels good and is supernatural. This is an interesting point. Prayer doesn't feel good because it's supernatural. We actually feel good due to it stimulating parts of your brain that other activities such as mediation will do. It will create a sense of connection, euphoria, and relax you. All of this is quite natural and well studied.
• Complaining is bad. Prayer is the answer to making you stop complaining.
• If you don't invest your time in church or God, then how can you expect to feel connected? If you're feeling disconnected from either, it's not on them, it's on you.

Again, pretty similar sermon to the previous one.

Overall Experience:

I feel jaded saying this service was just business as usual. But it really felt that way. I don't see a lot of variety in these churches and would like to. I understand this is what most Evangelical Christians want in a service, but it just leaves me wondering each time, is this all? In a lot of other spiritual communities, there is a lot of symbolism, a lot of ritual, special holidays that call to mind differing parts of the tradition. You fast some days, you don't others. Here, it all just seems to be the same thing in and out every week with no real variety. When does it go deeper than sing these songs and listen to this man tell you what to believe?

Additional Notes:

Expect another blog tomorrow about Faith Baptist Church. I went to this church for my friend Austin. This was his childhood church, and though we had already been to a Fundamentalist Baptist church, I felt it was important for him to experience this.

Stay tuned for that because it was quite interesting, to say the least.

Until next time, peace be with you!

A Sunday of Gospel music and kind people

This past Sunday, I went to Embry Chapel here in Ogden, part of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), a historically black church.

A little background on the AME. Like virtually all historically black churches, it was founded because of the uncomfortable subject of race. The white Methodists of the time were discriminatory against black people within the Church, segregating congregations, limiting the involvement of black members of the clergy, either by separating black members in a different part of the church building, or forcing them into separate congregations completely.

Several black clergymen founded the AME as a place where black Methodists could worship without discrimination and fully participate in the life of the Church.

The doctrine of the AME is Methodist. Methodists come out of further reformation of the Angilcans, started by John Wesley, bringing Christianity to more of a practical everyday experience, with more focus on preaching and being workable for the poor and everyday person.

The AME is a Protestant church and has some of the core beliefs:

• Belief in the Trinity, one God in three persons.
• Belief Jesus is the Messiah and second person of the Trinity, fully God and fully man.
• Mankind is inclined by Original Sin to a sinful nature.
• Jesus died for the sins of mankind to deliver them back to the Father.
• Mankind is forgiven by God's grace through faith alone, not by works.
• The Bible contains all that is necessary for the salvation of mankind and is the final authority on matters of faith and practice.
• Two sacraments are practiced: Baptism, which may be administered by pouring or immersion, and administered to both adults and children. Baptism is seen as an outward sign of an inward grace and regenerates the spirit. The other sacrament is Communion, in which Jesus's body and blood is present spiritually through faith.
• Ministers may marry.
• Both men and women may serve in the ministry.
• No bar based on race to membership or ministry.
• Focus on the poor and community well being.
• Traditional views on human sexuality, including discouragement of homosexuality.
• Episcopal structure of the Church (ruled by bishops).

So, what was the experience like?

Atmosphere:

The building itself is really simple. A very small, red bricked building in a less than desirable area of Ogden just up from the dog food factory. There are no frills to the exterior of the building. Just a simple sign and a cross.

The interior was a simple chapel with a pulpit in the center of it. Behind it were some music stands for the choir, to the left of them was an area for the band. Directly in front of the pulpit was the communion table and small baptismal font. On the wall behind the sanctuary was a cross with studded with light bulbs illuminating it for the whole congregation.

Overall, elegant, but simple decor inside gave this place a very homey feeling that I very much enjoyed.

The People:

I have to say, these, so far were the friendliest people I've encountered. We walked in and were instantly treated like family. People came over and introduced themselves to us, some hugged us, all said nice words. Every person in the congregation met and talked to us at some point. One man was nice enough to tell us that there were doughnuts in the other room and to help ourselves to them and some water before the service. Another woman talked to me about her work at the university I used to attend. Apparently she works with the Diversity Center there. It was nice to hear.

The congregation isn't diverse at all. In fact, my friend and I were the only people in the whole congregation who weren't black. But that didn't seem to matter to them at all. We were completely welcomed there.

While getting the doughnut and water from the other room, I noticed the church had several of their outreach programs up on the board. The programs included tutoring for K - 12 students, a food pantry, and HIV awareness and prevention courses.

Overall, nicest group of people I've ever met. I'd go back just to get to know more of them better.

The Service:

The service was much like I expected it to be. It began with a Gospel rendition of Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow, then a responsive call to worship. Afterward, they sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and a lady gave a very heartfelt prayer.

Afterward, there was another Gospel hymn sung, while the whole chapel clapped together to keep rhythm. Afterward there was a scripture reading about Joseph discovering Mary was with child and choosing to put her away in private rather than publicly disgrace her.

They then recited in unison the two great commandments given by Jesus: love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. This was followed by a Gospel rendition of the Gloria Patri, a short Catholic hymn praising the Trinity: "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." This was followed by yet another Gospel song.

Afterward, there were a number of announcements, mostly doing with church activities and the activities of several other churches that members were invited to. They seem to have a strong interfaith focus, which I find nice. We were also asked to stand and introduce ourselves as guests. They found out we were former students of Weber State, and that we both had degrees in language. We were asked to speak a bit for them in our foreign tongues. They welcomed us as a group and made us feel awkward, just like a real family gathering.

They then had an altar call. Unlike other churches with an altar call, every single person in the congregation was asked to come up and kneel around the altar, which we did. That felt kind of awkward for me, but it was over quickly. Then they took up a collection while the choir sang another song.

After this, the pastor gave a sermon, more on that below. The congregation then recited the Apostles' Creed, and ended with a prayer.

Overall, the music was very upbeat and inspiring, and the structure was pretty seamless. It was quite a lovely service.

The Message:

The sermon was kind of all over the place. Part of it was similar to the Southern Baptist sermon I heard, in that the pastor said, "If you're wrong about Jesus, it doesn't matter what you're right about."

He then asked the famous question, "What would Jesus do?" followed by talking about how Jesus is a great portrait of God because God himself is love as we read in scripture.

He then stated we need to withhold nothing from God, and that we serve two masters, or think we can handle things on our own, we're wrong. We need Jesus.

Then he said that Jesus promised the Kingdom of Heaven, but just as surely as those promises are true, so are his promises of that place called Hell. He reiterated that we have free will, but God knew what we would choose before we were born.

This has always struck me as a disturbing paradox about God. God, knowing that much of his creation will end up in the Hell he has created as a never ending punishment for them, still creates them and allows this, even though he supposedly is love itself. The idea of eternal damnation is one of my biggest problems with Christianity. The concept of Hell is outrageous and contradictory to a being that is supposedly all loving. I understand they teach that God is all just, but there is nothing just about eternal damnation for finite crimes. There is nothing I can think of that a human being could do that would warrant punishment that never ends.

The sermon was unstructured, and all over the place, but I noticed that didn't matter. With churches like this one, it doesn't matter what you say, it matters how you say it. The pastor delivered the sermon in the iconic style of black preachers, dragging out words, shouting with conviction, sing-talking at points. The congregation played their parts well. The people would shout, "Amen!" or "Alright! Alright!" at most anything. One woman kept saying, "Say it," when the pastor would pause, then shout out "Amen!" when he would make his point. Many seemed distracted with children or some other task as they shouted. It was like it was what was expected for the atmosphere, so they did it because they were supposed to. A very interesting phenomenon to say the least.

Overall Experience:

The church was both an interesting cultural experience and a fun time. The people were absolutely lovely and I would love to talk to a number of them outside of church to know them better. I would definitely go back and spend another Sunday at Embry Chapel.

Until next time, peace be with you.