60 :: Saint Peter's Episcopal Church

Today I visited Saint Peter's Episcopal Church in uptown Charlotte. This church is nestled in the middle of the skyscrapers in uptown Charlotte. From some things that I observed, I believe this may have been the first time that the congregation has met in person since the beginning of the pandemic event. There was a light turnout this morning as this church cautiously moves to an "open" state. 

This has been an interesting week for me. I had surgery (I'm doing great) and I have been on a strong regimen of rest and recuperation since Tuesday. This morning I was not going to make a normal worship service, that much was clear. My options were limited, in part, because I am prohibited from driving at the moment. But I also have a deep need for rest.

I decided to take the short walk up the street to Saint Peter's and participate in their service.

A bit of background - I have been visiting this church for years. During my years working in uptown Charlotte, this church was open during the day to people who wanted to duck out of their building and sit quietly in the sanctuary. I did that often between 1997 and 2020. I even took Communion here often during some years, The last time I visited Saint Peter's church during my workday was right before Covid started.

Despite this extensive exposure to this church, this morning was the first time I participated in a church service at Saint Peter's.

So, who are these Episcopalians? 

The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the Church of England. The Episcopal Church has been beset with intra-denominational battles and turf wars in recent years. It is also in numerical decline. I read a blog post about that numerical decline [link] on Juicy Ecumenism. Have a read, it is an interesting piece. The decline of Episcopal Church attendance roughly matches the decline in mainline Protestant denominations, overall. This is an important trend to understand and I have seen evidence of it during this journey.

When I entered Saint Peter's, most pews were roped off. A small group of masked individuals sat apart from each other across the broad sanctuary. Everything was very quiet. 

I stared at both the bulletin and the beautiful interior, in silence.

There was a serene feeling of quietness in the sanctuary. There is a role in the Episcopal Church called Cantor, just like in a Hebrew worship, as well as in Eastern Orthodoxy. The organ was behind those of us in the congregation, something I have seen in Catholic churches. In short, this was a unique amalgam of cultural contexts and I found it really interesting.

Then the clergy marched into the sanctuary while holding the Cross high. It was the beginning of the service. It felt very similar to what is done at the beginning of a Catholic Mass.

Then, we proceeded onto the sermon.

The sermon was interesting and made me think. During the sermon, the Reverend Amanda Stephenson [link] preached on the 23rd Psalm. She made the pointed that Psalm 23:5, where it states Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over, that the point to take away is that God prepared a table for both the afflicted (the author of the Psalm), as well as his enemies. This reconciliation between the besieged and the enemies is part of what people may miss, said Reverend Stephenson.

Hmmmmm.

Then, Reverend Stephenson seemed to imply that in John 10:16, Jesus called out people of other faiths as members of His flock. The wording goes like this - And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. This gave me pause, again. The common interpretation that I accustomed to is that Yeshua was calling out to an audience of Jewish listeners that He will also reconcile the Gentiles to His Kingdom of redemption.

On these two points, this sermon gave me very different perspective on verses that I was familiar with. 

Candidly, I found her interpretations deeply unconvincing. Nonetheless, I like hearing different perspectives and I enjoy feeling challenged on something that I adhere to. Reverend Stephenson's sermon achieved both ends.

Additionally, by hearing such theology, I felt that I was getting a glimpse what might account for the numerical decline in the Episcopal Church. 

We eventually moved onto the distribution of the Communion Elements, which were only the bread this morning. We were sent up in a controlled fashion, by row. 

Then, they marched the Cross back out again.

After the service, I spent some time walking around the inner area of the church, taking pictures of the magnificent interior, as well as the photographs of the prior Reverends who have headed up this church over the past 200 years.

Here are some of those pictures:

e church's outdoor garden

As I departed, I took in the spectacular beauty of the outdoor garden space. Just beautiful.

As I hobbled back to my apartment, I passed a sticker on a telephone pole that reminded me what life is all about:

And that, my friends, is indeed the Truth above all truths.

Baptized!

Beth and I got baptized today! This wasn't a church visit, per se, but it was a special outward manifestation of something we have done in our lives - handing over everything to the Risen One.

There were over 100 baptism's at Freedom House's Central Campus today. Next weekend, there will be another round of baptisms at South End, the campus where we attend.

God is good! 

(All the time).

59 :: The Place

Today we worshipped with The Place. Today was this church's first gathering, in Latta Park in Charlotte's Dilworth. The couple at the helm of this church are Ed and Pearl, who felt the movement of the Holy Spirit in their hearts to spin up this new church. Ed is American and Pearl is originally from South Africa. We really enjoyed meeting them.

One of the things that Ed said to me when we made introductions was - "Our land is primed for revival right now!" Yes, this was that kind of gathering. Boom!

The Place does not yet have a physical location. I believe there's an exciting story ahead for this church and it won't be long before they may be able to move into a physical location.

Beth and I had enjoyed a spectacular morning where we had been baptized at Freedom House. After that, we dropped by this church's inaugural meeting. 

Below are some photos of the group. At the top, you can see Ed talking to everyone. In the second picture, he is joined by his wife, Pearl. At the bottom is a picture of the park shelter where we all had lunch.

When Ed and Pearl spoke, they gave their vision for The Place. It was a vision of a community of believers that would shine Christ into a needing world. 

They had asked people to bring canned goods to the gathering, since it is a Christian obligation to help those with less. Pearl shared some of her story about being raised with food insecurity in a township in South Africa. It is on this church's heart to ensure that people are fed - both spiritually and physically. Ed and Pearl also prayed with those in attendance. These folks can pray powerfully! It was a profound moment as this church congregation lifted up their common vision for their future to God.

Beth and I spent time talking to a woman named Sophia, one of the people involved with The Place. She described her faith journey by explaining that she had been stretched in profound ways in recent years. As an introvert, she naturally grew up with some level of shyness. Her church experience had been positive in recent years in that she was now able to pray in front of a group without thinking anything about it. Years earlier, this would have been an issue for her.

I believe that The Place will flourish and I loved meeting people like Ed, Pearl and Sophia. 

Today Ed called me and we prayed over the phone about a concern that I mentioned to him. His prayers were strong and held a force that I don't hear often. It was simply awesome. And that is what the Body of Christ does - we support each other against the headwinds that life can bring. 

Quick side note, Pearl and I spoke Afrikaans at this gathering, we both got a kick out of that! That is her first language and it is a language that I picked up in my linguistic endeavors over the years.

This is both the smallest and youngest church I have encountered on this journey, so far. It was impossible to miss that the Spirit is at the helm of this budding congregation.

I wish The Place great success and growth in the coming years. I see great things ahead.

58 :: Life Church

 

Today we worshipped at Life Church on our way out of Fort Myers, Florida. Beth, MC and I had gone to visit my mother in Florida this past week. We found this church among many options that came up on a Google search. We spent time filtering through the multitude of options and liked what we saw with Life Church. 

This place spoke to us because of the words that their website used.

Charismatic.

Check.

Pentecostal.

Check.

Contemporary.

Check.

With the recent visits to mainline churches that stem from my spiritual lineage (read, Presbyterian), this felt like a unique opportunity to experience something different. It indeed proved to be just that - very different.

As is the wont of Pentecostal churches, this service ran for close to two hours. They had a great band that played music that Life Church composed. The message was mostly freeform, with the Pastor looking at his notes only occasionally during the nearly hour-long talk.

We went to the early service at 9 am. As we bought coffee and milled around the front lobby, we were greeted by a young guy named Caleb, young and personable. We talked for a while.

Then we were greeted by Jennifer, closer to our age and, again, super friendly. 

As it turned out, Caleb and Jennifer are son and mother. Ryan and Jennifer Deaton [link] are the Lead Pastors of the church and Caleb is their son. Ryan and Jennifer also have two daughters, both of whom are involved with the life of the church. 

It was such a neat thing to find out that there is a family that is at the helm of this church's leadership.

As you can see at the linked webpage, there are many other people on Life Church's staff in addition to the Deatons.

Then Beth and I chose our place in the auditorium (remember, it is not a "sanctuary" in a contemporary church). We watched the screens play the obligatory images and messages that are part of the pre-worship experience at contemporary churches.

Then the band came out and performed. We noted that a few of the songs that they performed were composed by Life Church. Really enjoyable. While we were not singing along to songs that we knew, these were very solid songs and we enjoyed the energy.

After the band finished, Delmar Gullet came on the stage to stoke the fire that had been lit by the band. He was great and energetic! I have a sense that he may originally be from another country. This church has a Portuguese translation of the second service, he may be associated with that. 

Following Delmar, Pastor Ryan came onto the stage and proceeded to give a strong message about the importance of "having ears to hear." It was an energetic message around the importance of hearing, in both a literal and a spiritual sense. 

Here's some of his delivery, which was done without looking at any notes:

One point that he made struck a special resonance with me. It was about the importance of not letting the context of your culture become the filter for your message. Culture is the context in which we hear God's voice. Despite this... it's important not to let a cultural context become the filter of what we hear from God.

Do our ears hear about oppression and division? Yes. Do our ears hear about racial strife? Of course. Do our ears hear about social injustice? All the time. 

While these are rightly focus areas of Christians, it is important not to let those be the filters through which we approach the totality of faith. 

At its most fundamental level, the gospel is being called to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, spirit and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself (Deuteronomy 6:4-7, Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:30-31 and Luke 10:27). When we start with our vertical alignment to God and then proceed to a focus on our horizontal relationships of loving others as yourself... the dark things cease to have a hold on us. This is true both individually and corporately.

Correcting social woes was not the reason that God joining us in corporeal form, nor why He died on a Cross and emptied The Grave for our redemption. Instead, those things happen(ed) to restore that which was broken in the original calamity at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Those things happen(ed) to provide a cure for the darkness which shrouds our hearts. These things happen(ed) to provide a way for Heaven and Earth - which were at the inception of The Garden the very same place - an avenue of re-coalescence.

Once the darkness of the human heart is addressed, the cultural woes of our times will also get addressed. Imagine a society filled with men and women whose heart-appetites have shifted into a new state, a state in which the broken things become mended and compassion rules the day.

I thought about the error of using cultural context as a filter for the gospel's message.

As I go through this journey, I do come across places that let the context of the culture become the content of their spiritual message. They may be said to follow a Yeshua who "...flipped tables as a way of combatting systemic racism."

No.

The Yeshua who flipped tables did so to correct the error of using the sacred as a means of exploiting other people. Not only is this a deeply profane thing to do... it is a two-fold violation of the dictate to love the Lord your God with all that you have and to love your neighbor. 

From such violations come things like systemic racial oppression. Not the other way around.

There was much more that came through Pastor Ryan, but this was the point that made me go "hmmm."

The message ended.

The band came and cranked out another song. 

Service finished thereafter.

As we left, the crowd for the second service was entering. It was a place filled with conversations, people catching up with one another... and a large number of wide smiles. This moment on the heels of a wonderful visit where my mother got to meet Beth and MC.... it made for a moment that lifted my soul.

This was a really meaningful church visit. The people immediately made us feel like we belonged. They were eager to welcome us. And to share with us. 

Life Church showed a great deal about who they are as a congregation, in that they stayed interested in us even when they found out that we were not local (not prospective members). A true example of hospitality to strangers.

Plus, the ecstatic nature of the worship was cathartic and just what we needed.

Thanks to Life Church for this experience.

57 :: Little Church on the Lane

On Easter morning, we attended sunrise service at Little Church on the Lane. This is a Moravian Church. Winston-Salem is a well known population center for Moravian Christians. Moravians are a people that hail from a section of the modern day Czech Republic. While the Moravian spiritual lineage is alive and well, most Moravian congregants are not people with Czech ancestry.

Here are some pictures of Little Church on the Lane, including the interior of the church, which we never saw.

This was as socially distanced an experience as we have had in the last year. Ever other parking space was blocked out and people were asked to stay in their vehicles. Despite the fact that we were wearing our Easter Best outfits, we never left our car. We were invited into the parking lot of the church and given some materials so that we could follow the worship. It included a radio station to tune into so we could hear the worship that was about twenty yards away.

There was a small brass quintet performing in the parking lot as the bow tie-adorned Minister read the responsive readings across the radio stream. We participated as the sun arose.

Was this an over-abundance of caution? I do think so, but I acknowledge fully this church's freedom to conduct whatever kind of service that they deem appropriate for themselves and their visitors.

I hope someday in the future that we will have a chance to see the interior of this place.

As we drove away, even Myers Park Methodist was holding an outdoor service with more than one hundred people standing outside.

And below are my girls wearing their Sunday Best, which includes phases one and two of this Easter Morning (Freedom House awaits!).

He is Risen!

P.S. - here we are after Freedom House, this afternoon. They had  petting zoo - big hit!