2 :: Freedom House Church

Today I attended Freedom House Church in South End. I have walked past this church hundreds of times, but I knew very little about Freedom House. This church is about a ten minute walk from my flat. My original intent was to visit Saint Gabriel's Catholic Church this morning. Most of Charlotte's Catholic churches are opening this weekend with measures in place like social distancing and masks. 

But things changed. 

As I was enjoying the effects of the caffeine kicking in during my morning walk, I wandered past a group of people praying in front of Freedom House.

People. Praying. In a big circle. Outdoors.

You can imagine that I stopped and made a connection.

I prayed with them for a bit and then spoke to one of the women who looked like she worked there. She told me I had a half hour until their first of two services. I went home quickly and changed out of my tie dye and shorts. I got into something that I thought would look better at a modern church like Freedom House.

I put on khakis and a polo shirt and zipped back on a Lime scooter. It was shaping up to be a very South End church experience and I hadn't even entered the place yet!

First, a little background - my whole life I have attended churches that have blazers, organ music, hymnals and very scholarly sermons. I have never been a regular at a church with a rock band or with slick graphics or rough brick walls or a sermon that is called "a message."

As we entered, we had to high-five the greeters with wooden hands. This felt like a nice gesture that reminded everyone to keep their distance. You'll notice a bunch of empty seats in the pictures. This was intentional. You could only sit near the people that you came with.

Here are some pictures from the first part of the experience. It started with a greeting from the head Pastor, Troy Maxwell. Freedom House's main campus is in the University Area of Charlotte, with a second campus at Lake Norman and a third in South End, where I was. 

After the announcement, the service moved on to the inevitable rock and roll part - something that I am deeply unaccustomed to. And they were awesome!

Then we got to the core of the service, which was really engaging and solid. Penny Maxwell was the preacher this morning, and she was powerful! She and her husband Pastor Troy are the head pastors of this church.

As I reflected on the state of the world later today, I realize now that she had three major things coming at her this morning - 1) it is Pentecost Sunday, 2) the country is being torn apart by racially-charged social unrest and 3) this is the first time that the church had been together in person since March.

On all counts, a considerable amount of expectation.

Pastor Penny mentioned that the arrival of the Holy Spirit in the "tongues of fire" was something meant for all people. And she brought up that Pentecost was the moment that a fractured world was made as one, quoting Galatians 3:28 -

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female - for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

This was a racially diverse group of people in attendance, which felt all the more meaningful this morning. It is often said that the most segregated hour in America is 11 to noon on Sundays. The more modern churches are really helping to change that, which can only make a positive difference.

Hers was a profound message about oneness on a day that we desperately needed to hear it. The message of oneness rung more poignant as the world continues its slide into oblivion or apocalypse or renewal... whatever word best describes what is happening right now.

To finish up, she expounded on some technical details of how Old Testament blood sacrifices prefigured the blood sacrifice on the cross. She went into a deep level of detail, both physically and theologically. This is always an engrossing thing to ponder. 

Cool to think about.

She nailed it by emphasized how on Pentecost the words of the Apostles were audible in the language of each of the hearers in the audience. She said this was the moment that Babel was reversed (Genesis 11:1-9), meaning the primordial divisions of humanity were knit up in a new reality of unity and oneness.

Simply great sermon.

As the service ended and we were dismissed, we had to leave by row and walk out the side door with the people we came with. Everyone was careful not to congregate or get too close. No hugging of friends that had been missed since March. If and when that comes back remains to be determined.

I got on my scooter and went home, preparing to go uptown to a vigil / protest related to police brutality. This service left me feeling energized to do so. I glanced over my shoulder as I was leaving and liked what I saw. A modern, fun and welcoming church that was returning to some level of formation as Charlotte and the US slowly emerge out of this pandemic - or whatever it is that we are doing right now.

This was an excellent way to spend Pentecost Sunday... which, to be honest, I didn't even know that it was. But it all fit together well and I enjoyed this place a huge amount. I definitely want to come back.

1 :: Denver Baptist Church

This morning, I drove out to a Southern Baptist church in Denver, North Carolina. For those in-the-know, Denver is in Lincoln County, which is past Gaston County, which is next to Mecklenburg County. Denver Baptist Church was featured in a recent news story about churches that are making an effort to adjust to the Covid-19 pandemic by holding "drive-in church." 

Denver is far from Charlotte, I drove forty minutes. And if you know the Charlotte area, forty minutes in any direction is definitively country.

Denver is a rural town, but in recent years has attracted more people looking to build huge homes on the western shore of Lake Norman. Denver is a true mix of rural and suburban. It's both Old South and New South. What is also unmistakable in Denver is that church is a big deal. There are churches everywhere in Denver. Old school and modern ones.

Lots of churches.

A lake home in Denver, NC

For those outside of the Southeast, you likely have less familiarity with the Southern Baptist denomination. It is oft reputed to be the largest in the US, with more than 30 million members on the books. On the whole, they have a reputation for being conservative, both theologically and culturally. While I have found much more nuance in Baptists that I know personally than the stereotype indicates (and isn't that always the case?), Southern Baptists are unquestionably a unique group of folks.

More Southerners are Baptists than any other denomination. This is true in both the black and the white communities, which have separate Baptist denominations. 

MLK, Jr. was a Baptist. 

The abolitionist John Brown was a Baptist. 

Despite noteworthy names like that, the painful history of race in the South has led to two distinct Baptist denominations - one mostly white and one mostly black. There are a few other Baptist denominations throughout the country, but they are largely dying out now.

Some new churches that are (or were) loosely affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, such as Elevation Church in Charlotte, are very racially integrated. Of note, Elevation Church broke its ties to the Southern Baptist Convention.

I pulled into the church at 10 this morning and was directed into a row of cars filled with the faithful. I parked toward the back of the vehicular congregation, which meant that I was a good distance from the band and the pastor. 

Drive-in Church

They had everyone tune to 90.5 FM. The church emitted a low frequency onto that station, beaming the service across the field. The aggregate effect of each car playing the service led to an ambient noise that filled the immediate environs. It helped you feel connected with the service and those around you.

No one got out of their car. Many people stared at their phones for the whole service, which may have been by design. The church bulletin was on the website and available for download. It contained the lyrics to the worship songs, as well as the sequence of the liturgy itself.

If nothing else, humans are very adaptable.

Digital Church Bulletin

The pastor stood on the roof of the entrance to the church's "West Campus" building. He gave a sermon in a deep Southern drawl about how Jesus was like the soldiers we are honoring on Memorial Day. He explained to us that Jesus was like a captain in the military, in that he went to battle for our souls. He said that Jesus marched up Calvary with the resolute nature of a military fighter.

Rooftop Preaching

Candidly, I was not accustomed to this kind of sermon. 

My mind was racing with thoughts. 

• Could The Prince of Peace be reasonably compared to a military member?
• The One who said that those who live by the sword would die by the sword... a soldier?
• Military metaphors proliferated throughout the sermon. 

The point of the sermon was simple and clear, as I expected prior to my visit. There was little to wade through. Christ came to save us two thousand years ago and He remains ready to lead us like a strong military leader.

Wow. That feels different to hear.

As I looked around, I got a very real sense that I may have been the only one listening closely, at least on my row. There was nothing on the bulletin to read during the sermon, yet many appeared to be engrossed in digital pursuits.

Faithfully Distracted

Despite this, I know that some outside of my row were indeed listening closely. I knew this due to the fact that they honked their car horns in unison at key points in the sermon, including when the pastor said someday they would all be back together in the main church. 

The honking of the horns was a mechanistic proxy for yelling "Amen," I came to believe.

I also honked my horn a couple times. It felt good, to be honest. That my car horn became a facet of worship is but one of many illustrations of what uncharted territory we find ourselves in these days. 

Once the sermon was done, we had another song or two and then we were permitted to depart in an orderly fashion. The closest I came to another human never went below six feet. I left feeling like I had had a unique cultural experience, albeit perhaps less the type of experience that resonated deeply in my soul and psyche. Perhaps the Soldier Jesus didn't feel like the Yeshua that I know.

Quick and interesting. 

I am grateful for having had a chance to be in the company of people worshiping this morning. In many ways, it felt a bit different to me. On many levels.

But, feeling out of place and stretched is what this spiritual shift is all about.

Sincere thanks to Denver Baptist Church for their Southern hospitality, which always feels nice.

Start :: What in the world is going on with the world?

I find myself on the front end of a spiritual shift. Right now.

It is but one of many spiritual shifts that I have undergone. And knowing myself as I do, this is very likely not the last. Or at least I hope not. I have always believed that Faith is best experienced as an ever-evolving things, not something that is static or repeatable or lifeless or filled with something small like static certainty. 

I am going to chronicle this spiritual shift. The entirety of this spiritual journey will be chronicled through this blog.

What's bringing it on? I believe God is. I think it also makes sense to say that everything around me seems to be popping with spiritual resonance right now. This reality has hit a fever pitch due to the pandemic we find ourselves in. Recent connections with friends has quickly led to discussions of God, life and death, human consciousness, archangels, the nature of the self, cosmic redemption, Marianism, eschatology and much more.

All discussions and questions are fair game. But all answers are not.

While the above conversations may speak volumes about the kind of people I form connections with, I think it is also indicative of a general shift in society more broadly. As some segments of US society become definitively more secularized, other segments are increasingly focused on things that are transcendent. 

I want to explore this phenomenon more deeply.

By way of background, I spent the last twenty-five years at Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. 

It is a place I loved deeply. 
  I loved the people. 
    I loved the structure's elegance. 
      I loved the rigor of the preaching.
        I loved the music. 
          I loved the warmth of the people.
            I loved the openness of the community.

SAPC will remain a very important place to me and to my family. I thank the church for a wonderful twenty-five years.

What is this "spiritual shift" that I speak of?

Beth and I plan to attend 100 churches and chronicle the entire experience. 

We will adhere to the Biblical definition of church as found in Matthew 18:20 - "Foror where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I with them."

We plan to visit big churches and small churches. We'll worship in mixed settings, We'll worship at "white churches" and at "black churches" and at churches where only Spanish is spoken. We'll join the places that have rock bands and the places that only have an old organ. We'll worship at churches filled with immigrants. Megachurches and tiny churches. Up-and-coming churches. Dying churches.

We plan to hit as much as we can.

Liberal
  Conservative
    Underground(?)
      Eastern Orthodox
        Roman Catholic
          Protestant
            evangelical
              Quaker
                 Pentecostal

                    Etc.

                       And so on

Beth and I plan to attend churches of a wife breadth of denominations. The only prerequisite is that we must find ourselves in a place where two or three people are gathered in the name of Jesus. Since we have been asked this question, we will say definitively LDS, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Scientist and Unitarian Universalism are out of scope. This journey will focus only on denominations and communities within the limits of orthodox and traditional Christian belief.

We've been asked another question often - Will this journey be only about visiting churches? What about other religion? 

Yes, this journey will only involve churches. My personal history of visiting religious locations of other religions is pretty solid, despite the fact that I am anything but a spiritual relativist. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. There is no other path to God, it is solely through the Cross and the Empty Grave that a soul is saved. 

In my life, I have visited:

• Synagogues in the US, Israel and Cochin, India
• Hindu temples in the US, India and in Bali, Indonesia
• Mosques in India, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates
• Buddhist temples in the US, Sri Lanka and Singapore
• Sikh gurudwaras in the US and in Punjab, India 

Finally, we plan to invest in this experience. we plan to make decisions about domestic and international travel in the context of this spiritual shift and these 100 church visits. 

Some of these church visits may be solo (just Byl), we hope the vast majority will be together. Since we started during Covid-19, my first experience was at a rural drive-in church. Southern Baptists, no less. 

And away we go! Read on...