52 Churches

Michael informs me that the best ideas are “co-opted” (which is to say, stolen), so it comes as no surprise to me that I stole this particular grumbling from him.

When we lived in Raleigh, our priest, a Tri-Cities boy, waxed poetic about the coffee bars and espresso stands that churches in WA all had. When we ended up at a church that which serves really bad AA-quality coffee (usually something that rhymes with Tracksbell Mouse or Smoldgers), we just knew for certain he must have been yanking our chain. But he wasn’t. It’s true that there are churches serving great java. Michael is a no-cream-no-bean kind of guy, and I didn’t actually get a cup of coffee at St. Ann’s, but they have great (which is to say, fresh) donuts at their coffee hour, which is not high on my list of requirements for a church, but fits in well with my thought that if the church is going to throw a party, it ought to be reflective of the Kingdom of God, and not an afterthought.
Continue reading →

A few months back, I came upon this post, and I just thought, “Ouch.” And I thought ouch because, given its timing, I’m pretty sure it was pointed at me, and my unwillingness to give up breathing* “for the greater good.”

I freely admit that that is my position: I am unwilling to give up breathing.
I’m also unwilling to give up Farmergirl’s lungs. Michael’s unwilling to give up attending church with us.
Continue reading →

We became a two-Jeep family last week, and although Michael was insistent that he get a Wrangler with a hardtop, he wants to take it off to enjoy our oppressively sunny Spokane summer. This is fine for him (no hair), and Farmergirl (really really short hair) . . . but the two of them were laughing themselves silly as we drove down the road with the top still on, and the windows open–with my Medusa hair whipping around in the wind.

Continue reading →

This morning, in the shower, my brain posited the following question to myself:

Which is worse:
A church that preaches, but doesn’t practice the Gospel?
or a church that practices, but doesn’t preach the Gospel?

The question was a culmination of interactions I’ve had recently. While on jury duty, I got into a discussion with a retired AF officer on the subject of churches, and told her a little about the 52 project. I think she thought we were church shopping, because she launched into a dissertation on the importance of getting the mission statements and doctrines of the churches in question, on the grounds that there were a lot of churches I might find that supported things she thought I shouldn’t, notably abortion and homosexuality. I refrained from quipping that I had mentioned I was Episcopalian, and that right after we have abortions, we’re assigned gay lovers*. But this whole doctrine thing got me thinking about how much importance I place on doctrine . . . the answer to which seems to be “not much.” Continue reading →