#36 Worshiping in the First Methodist Church in America

WHERE I WENT AND WHY
This weekend I was in Leesburg, Virginia for my nephew's wedding  On Sunday I searched for an early service so that we could take the granddaughters sightseeing in Washington DC.  I expected the church to have a history, but I did not know it was the first Methodist Church in America, and that the current building was used as a hospital in the Civil War, until I read  the church history on line.

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO
Located at 107 Market St., Leesburg Methodist has parking readily available in a lot across the street.  Dress was church casual.  There was a nursery and a cry room, and busy bags were available.  It was nice to see families and children accommodated in worship.  Children's church is available at the 9:45 service.  The 8:30 service was sparsely attended,  about 25 people in the historic sanctuary.
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REFLECTIONS ON WORSHIP

MOOD

The sparse congregation was friendly and several people introduced themselves and asked my name.  After the first hymn, I noticed a woman on the far right of the Chancel painting.  Later I would learn that she was painting a scene depicting the sermon text for each of the weeks of Lent.  After the service she shared her partially finished painting with me and said she was asked to do this by the pastor.  Another  interesting element of the worship setting were the Lenten candles.  Six purple and one white candle were on a candelabra.  The purple candles each represent a Sunday in Lent and the white candle  represents Maundy Thursday.  Each Sunday a candle is extinguished as a Bible passage and prayer are read.  It was sort of a "reverse Advent wreath".  I found the symbolism  a unique and interesting way to express the meaning of Lent and Jesus as the Light of the World.

MUSIC

The music leader played a grand piano and a soloist performed an offertory and an anthem.  He had a beautiful baritone voice but could have used a mic to balance the piano.  The  Introit and Lenten candle response was sung to the tune of "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" which beautifully set the tone for Lent.  The hymns were very traditional.

MESSAGE

Rev. Jim Wishmyer continued a sermon series on Mark for Lent.  This week's emphasis was Jesus as the Son of God.  The text was a challenging story from Mark 5: 1-20 where Jesus performs an exorcism and the demons, named Legion, leave the man and enter a herd of 2000 pigs who then jump off a cliff and into a lake drowning themselves.  Jesus then rejects the man's plea to follow him and instead instructs him to return to his family and community and witness to what had happened to him.  Rev. Wishmyer said this graphic story is not often compiled in collections of children's Bible stories!

Christ is sketched but not yet painted along with the demonized man.  The demons as boars are "finished".  Too small to see in the photo are 3 crosses on a hill past the lake and cliff, another reference to Christ as the Son of God.  Her plan was to come close to finishing it at the next 2 services that morning.  The paintings are being framed and placed in the social hall.

The point of this story is Jesus claiming his divinity and asserting his authority over all realms of spiritual and physical life.  Mark was writing for both Jews and Gentiles and the story can also be viewed as an allegory.  Legion, the demon, has obvious ties to the Roman military.  They also would refer to their opponents as herds of pigs and used a wild boar as a symbol in their military hardware.

Rev. Wishmyer brought the story to our present time by talking about the church's role in witnessing to those with mental illness.  He spoke about being called to the funeral home to counsel a family who's teen had committed suicide.  Having been to 2 funerals of suicide victims in the past 2 years, the difficulty of this was still raw for me.  I was so touched by Pastor Pat's  (Riddle) sermon about Baptism and always being a Child of God at one of them.  

At the 9:30 service (which is more contemporary) they were to introduced the topic of mental illness with a YouTube video from the actress in the Big Bang Theory.  I think this is it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVKfrYhs0jk.  Rev. Wishmyer stressed that the church has a unique opportunity to minister to the mentally ill and those that care for them for we as the church can combine  spiritual and physical healing by working with physicians.  We can  provide a place that is open and honest, a safe place, not afraid of medicine, and where folks need not have shame or fear.  This again struck a chord with me as I remember my home church embracing the mental health community after a neighbor went off his meds and literally chopped up our sanctuary, chancel, hymnbooks, chairs, and liturgical art.  I vividly remember being at church the next day, cleaning up and having volunteers from the mental health community quietly just show up with brooms and help out.  As we talked to them, most were caregivers of a family member who could be just like our neighbor.  Twenty plus years later the church is still involved through a group home.

OBSERVATIONS AND OUTREACH

• I laughed at myself as I was using the Methodist Hymnal, I wondered where the music was to accompany the words.  As I was putting it up at the end of the service, I realized that I had picked up the Large Print edition!  How nice to have that available, and I didn't need my glasses, though I missed a few notes where the Methodists go "up" and the Lutherans go "down"...LOL. (That's my story for missing the notes, and I'm sticking to it!!)
• Besides the typical education opportunities and church meetings, the bulletin insert had multiple opportunities for outreach including ending human trafficking by buying fair trade bags, a financial Peace University seminar, an End of Life Workshop, planning for Native American Sunday, taking a meal to someone having surgery (organized on www.takethemameal.com), the Stephen Ministry, birthday boxes for children whose parents may not have the means to celebrate their birthdays, care packages for college students, and the Lenten offering is supporting a missionary in Papua New Guinea.  Whew!! This emphasis on social ministry is what I've come to truly admire about the Methodist Church.
• I struggle just a little mentioning this... for Rev. Wishmyer said, "What goes on at the 8:30 service, stays at the 8:30 service"... and I thought... oh dear, he doesn't know I'm going to blog about his service!!  Just before the sermon, he asked the musician to play another hymn, while he retrieved his sermon from his office!  The humor with which he did this was charming and self deprecating.  His notes were on an I-Pad, the second time I've encountered this so far.

TODAY'S EXTRA

Never a lack of cartoons!  

THE BULLETIN

#35 Loving Jesus on the Rock

WHERE I WENT AND WHY
Little Rock AME Zion Church is a well known African American church in Charlotte and had long been on my list.  Today seemed a good day to visit it.

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO
Little Rock is at 401 N. McDowell St. at the corner with 7th St..  Parking is plentiful, but I was able to ride my segway, though with no bike racks, I had to leave it at the bar across the street. Dress is dressy with a few women in hats and those in pants were still very dressy.  Most men had on ties.  The service started at 10 am and did not end until 1 pm.

REFLECTIONS ON WORSHIP

MOOD

The mood was fairly friendly, though no one asked my name.  When the service started, less than 100 people were in the large sanctuary, which gave it a sparce feel, but people continued to come in during the 3 hour service so that by the sermon, the sanctuary was pleasantly full.

MUSIC

The enthusiastic music director played a grand piano and often sang the solos or call and responses.  He was accompanied by 2 guitars, an electronic organ, drums, flute, and percussionist.  A youth choir sang.  The prelude included an amazing rendition of Amazing Grace with the jazz flute.  The flute counterpoints in the hymns and songs were also exquisite.  Two young girls sang solos and were very good, and I loved the way the congregation encouraged one of them when she was obviously a little nervous.  While several hymns and choral responses were sung by the congregation, only one had a hymn number listed in the hymnbook.  This seems to be a common practice in African American congregations.  It makes it hard for a visitor to follow along and participate when they are unfamiliar with the words for the hymns.  The practice of playing the organ "under" the prayers, and sermon was also used.  It seems spontaneous, but I wonder how much it is practiced.  I think it is an acquired style that a musician must practice.

MESSAGE

The theme of Dr. Dwayne Walker's sermon was "Give me Jesus."  He used as his text Matthew 5: 38-48, a familiar, and often quoted passage following the Beatitudes.  It includes the passages  "love your enemies, turn the other cheek, and if someone asks for your shirt, give him your coat also".  He stressed that as Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, He was teaching us about the Spirit, vs. the flesh and therefore his perspective and charge was very different from what the world was used to. I liked his quote, "You can't made a difference, if you aren't different."  Turning the other cheek, loving your enemies, and blessing those who curse you are all based on God's unconditional love for us all, which we are supposed to emulate.  He related this to Dr. King's non-violent resistance.  He asserted that like Dr. King, we should work to change the system, not the people.  But respond to all people with love.  He emphasized that those who try to destroy people by limiting food and medicine (referring, I assume to the repeal and replacement of the ACA) are choosing the way of Satan.  Our response should be to break the cycle of hate with love.  Exactly how this applies to the ACA, I wasn't sure (except for the changing the system part... but how?)

He said that we are called to be like Jesus, taking on his goodness and acceptance of all.  While he recognized God's grace, he said, "If you do God's work, you will get God's pay," meaning we will get into Heaven.  This is very close to a "Good Works Theology".  He ended his sermon singing "Oh How I Love Jesus" and "Love Lifted Me."  His cadence and oratory were very impressive.

The altar call and prayers were also impressive.  Twice, half or more of the congregation went to the altar to offer or receive prayers.  

OUTREACH AND OBSERVATIONS

• This was the longest service I've attended yet:  3 hours.  The great gospel music and the preacher's passionate sermon did not make it feel that long.
• Twice politics entered the service.  When talking about people of the flesh, Dr. Walker equated them to Beelzebub or Trump (he said, "oops") and during the prayer another pastor said "during the Age of Trumpism, many people are hurting." (This is the church that welcomed Hillary Clinton to Charlotte during the campaign.)

  

  Hillary with Zianna Oliphant who made
  the tearful plea to City Council at Little Rock

• The church has received a grant from the Health Department and was completing a health survey this week as part of the grant.  They encouraged members to participate in a 5K walk as part of the Village Heartbeat a joint project with several congregations.
• I thought it interesting that the survey, not only included health questions, but also questions about cell phone, TV,  and internet usage.
• No specific outreach was highlighted in their announcements, just church meetings and educational opportunities. 
• Each person who came up to make an announcement began with "Good morning, Church Family..." 
• Church ushers were recognized during the service, by a delightful elderly lady who ended her tribute by singing "Trying to make 100, 991/2 won't do"
• According to the church history, the name Little Rock comes from their first sanctuary (built after the Civil War) that was literally built on a rock.

THIS WEEK'S EXTRA

The Bulletin (There were also 5-6 pages of "ads" for church activities.)

Returning Home to Grieve

This Sunday I suspended my 50 churches project to return to Advent Lutheran to grieve with friends over the loss this week of our dear friend, Glenn Kelly.  

Glenn was a formative member of a group of 5 couples at Advent jokingly and lovingly called the "Winos".  We traveled together to local, west coast, and Italian wineries and used Glenn's expertise in wine and wine glasses to develop our pallets and taste for good wines.  But this was just an excuse to develop deep friendships and explore our common love for travel and exploration.  Since we are all Lutheran, we often explored different Lutheran churches in our travels (was this the seed of the 50 churches project?).  And when that was not feasible we had far-reaching discussions about our faith, the church (and its politics!), and finding God in beautiful natural settings, and great art (Michelangelo in Italy!).  Sometimes these discussions would go to the wee hours over great wine and bridge games.  Glenn was always our anchor and could  always cut through our discussions with an insight or quip that would bring us to our common faith and love of Jesus Christ.

This past week as his health spiraled out of control of the doctors and all of us, we gathered at the hospital to mutually support each other, his wife Pat and sons Kevin and Forest.  Their faith in the midst of this tragedy was a testament to Glenn as the head of their household, father and husband.  

Glenn truly loved Advent, its music and ministries.  There will be a hole in The Room at the Inn, the chili supper, the church BBQ, Lutheran Men and numerous ministries of the church.  He was a mentor and anchor to many individuals in the church. Glenn helped us laugh at the absurdity of church politics and the tradition of Morgan David wine at Communion.  

He will be missed, but we celebrate his life as a Child of God who brought a deeper understanding of faith and how to live it out in the world to many of us.

The Winos at Butchart Gardens in Victoria

Teaching and Learning about wine in California

Beside a mountain of hops at Rogue in Oregon.  Our rental car smelled like hops for days!

He always dressed and got in character for our  murder mystery games

Donning a football cap at a Super Bowl party

Venice - he helped us pick out glass art 

The art in Rome and Florence often brought tears to his eyes

Their love for each other will remain an example of a great marriage for their sons and all of us.

#34 Worshiping in a School with Millennials

WHERE I WENT AND WHY
Forest Hill has been on my bucket list.   David Chadwick has been the pastor there since 1980, the year we moved to Charlotte!  If that isn't a record for longevity at a church, it should be.   While I have heard him on the radio, I have never worshiped there.  When I found out that they had a satellite campus within easy segwaying distance to my house, that made it easy.

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO
Forest Hill Church has 6 campuses:  Fort Mill, Waxhaw, Ballantyne, Uptown, South Blvd., and South Park.  I went to the Uptown campus which meets in First Ward Elementary at 715 North Caldwell St. There was plenty of parking in adjacent lots on Sunday, but I rode my segway.  They have services at 9:30 am and 11:15 am.  These are also live streamed.  The Uptown campus was dominated by millennials so dress was casual.  The local youth pastor wore jeans and flannels with a baseball cap!  Even Rev. Chadwick did not have on a tie.

REFLECTIONS ON WORSHIP

MOOD

The mood was very casual.  There was the usual chatter preceding the service, but this group liked to stand around and chat instead of being seated.  About half of the congregation carried coffee mugs or to-go cups and sipped through the service.  Folks were friendly and YOUNG.  Millennials dominated this campus and though the group was diverse, less than a handful of the 150 or so folks were over 40 (much less 65!).

MUSIC

A praise band performed.  They had 3 guitars, drums, a keyboard, and 3 singers.  It was very professional and the keyboardist and soloists were exceptional.  However, it definitely felt like a performance versus worship.  While the words appeared on a screen, very few people in the congregation joined in.

MESSAGE 

David Chadwick gave the message via video.  It was a continuation of a series on John focusing on John 11:17-27, the raising of Lazarus. Instead of focusing on the well known story, he stressed the meaning of resurrection and the "I AM" statements in John. He mentioned that John has seven "I AM" statements and this story contains the fourth:  I am the resurrection and the life."  (My study Bible contributes eleven I AM statements in John... but hey!  He made me look!!)  I AM has a significant meaning in the Bible going back to  Moses when God calls himself Yahweh or "I am."  

If you are looking for "proof" of the resurrection, he outlined 10 facts to "win you over"...(These were also outlined on the "bulletin card".)

1. The truth of eye witnesses.  It is recorded in all 4 Gospels and in Acts, Paul says that 500 folks saw Jesus after his death.
2. Eye witnesses repeat multiple appearances.
3. Historians credit the first creed declaring the resurrection as early as 33 AD
4. There is no record of Jesus' body being produced.
5. The testimony of the Jewish women as being the first to witness the resurrection.  This is significant because women couldn't be in court as witnesses, so if it is documented by even the least of society, it must be true.
6. Who moved the stone?  There were guards.
7. Right after the resurrection, the followers of Jesus changed their worship day from Friday to Sunday, changing 1400 years of tradition.
8. Emphasis was changed from the Passover to a new tradition of Communion, again going against 1400 years of tradition.
9. Jesus' followers especially James, Peter, and Paul had conversion experiences.
10. The willingness of Jesus' followers to die for their faith.

As he talked about these facts, elaborating on them, his sincerity and desire for others to believe was evident.  He said, "I am asking to use your mind and intellect.  For through it your heart and soul will follow and be affected."

After Rev. Chadwick's message the local chaplain, Jason Smith, expounded on the four I AM messages as a prayer:  "I am the bread of life" - Jesus will give us sustenance.  "I am the light of the world" - Jesus will bring us hope. " I am the good shepherd" - Jesus will keep us safe and we need not be lonely.  "I am the resurrection and the life" - Jesus brings us Grace and eternal life.

The service ended with an altar call where the leadership came up front to stay after the Benediction to talk and pray with folks that requested it.

OBSERVATIONS AND OUTREACH

• Even using a video sermon, Rev. Chadwick came across as a powerful preacher who can "win you over" with his quiet sincerity and intellect.
• This congregation began in the Presbyterian church but has left to become non-denominational.  The service had a Baptist feel with its emphasis on preaching and lack of liturgy.
• The "bulletin" consisted of the outline of the sermon and a flyer for newcomers on prayer.
• No outreach was emphasized during the service, though the website mentions several including Beds for Kids.
• Meeting notices emphasized opportunities for Singles and Millennials to mingle.
• I was impressed with the amount of work this group must do every week to change the school into a gathering and worship space, especially with the emphasis on technology and performance.

THIS WEEK'S EXTRA

Who knew there were Resurrection Cartoons?!!!?

  The "bulletin"

#33A Can Ash Wednesday be religion free?

WHERE I WENT AND WHY
Having "mattressed out" on Sunday, I sought out a worship service for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  City Church came up on a google search for "Ash Wednesday services near me".  Their by-line of being "religion free" and their story of being a contemporary Anglican church growing out of a dinner conversation in London was intriguing, so I braved the predicted storm and set out for Plaza Midwood (see the last bullet under Outreach and Observation).

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO
City Church is located at 2300 McClintock Road at the corner of Westover St. in Plaza Midwood, between Commonwealth and Central, just East of the big "Teeter".  Parking on Wednesday night was not a problem but from their website, I would plan a little extra time to find a place if their lot is full.  On-street parking is limited and restricted on some streets.  Dress was very casual, several folks were even barefoot (or took their shoes off!).  This is a very young millennial-dominated congregation with a few "gray hairs" sprinkled among them.  As with millennials, it was pleasantly diverse. 

REFLECTIONS ON WORSHIP

MOOD

When I walked up, "rock and roll" music was being played on a speaker, and my first thought was that I was going to have a "rock and roll Ash Wednesday."  Pulling this off seemed an interesting exercise.  I was welcomed by several people and Barbara asked my name.  During the latter part of the service, two people approached me and offered to pray with and for me.  I found this awkward, but I think that speaks more to my Lutheran background.  This was obviously part of their tradition.

MUSIC

The music was more "contemporary or praise" rather than rock and roll.  And, as I've mentioned a few times on this blog, this is just not my favorite type of church music.  They had a band that consisted of 2 guitars, a keyboard, violin, and singer.  There were drums on stage so I assume they use those on Sundays.  Though the hymns were unfamiliar to me,  folks around me sang with gusto, and the music obviously spoke to them which is great. My problem is, to me it all sounds like variations of the same song.

MESSAGE

Above is a quote from their website about being "religion free" and fun to be at.  The pastor was obviously struggling a little with the seriousness of repentance at Ash Wednesday and what the congregation expected in a message.  He even voiced this.  However his message of repentance to begin the season of Lent was powerful and very religious (sorry, Al).  For his texts he used  the confessional Psalm 51 (Create in my a clean heart, O God) , and James 4: 1-10 on repentance.  His basic message was that we need to confess our sins and reject the devil in order to receive God's endless grace.  This can be transformational  in our relationship with God.  We prayed a Prayer of Repentance which I recognized from the liturgical tradition.

Rev. Al Hardy

After the sermon he had us write down on a pad of paper under our chairs the sins we wanted to confess and work on during Lent.  We then came forward to receive the ashes and put our papers in a vase at the foot of a cross (to be burned later). I found this fairly powerful, much more so than just receiving the ashes. Communion was "self serve" in the back as we returned to our seats.  This, however, was a little too casual for me.

Following this ritual, there was an altar call while the band played several songs.  We were asked to remove the chairs and "enjoy worship" while folks came forward for personal prayers and others walked around asking folks if they wanted to pray.

OBSERVATIONS AND OUTREACH

• Their facebook and website lists several outreach events such as a fundraiser for refugees, building a handicap ramp for a house, and a Haitian fundraiser and mission trip.
• The liturgical elements and the altar call was a unique blend of structure for a worship service.  
• It was nice to see about 70 millennials spending their Wednesday night in church. 
• A powerful thunderstorm complete with lightening, thunder, and the lights flickering a couple of times came through right as the pastor was talking about the Devil!  He asked a guy on the front row to check and make sure we were safe.  The guy replied, "Well, yes I think so, but I'm not sure about you holding the mic right now."

THIS WEEK'S EXTRA:

There were PLENTY of cartoons for Ash Wednesday in Google.... Here are some favorites!

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  The praise band felt only slightly like this.  A quiet violin or piano solo would have been great.

  
  

  

  This isn't about  Ash Wednesday, but I often wonder who's pew I'm sitting in when  I visit... LOL
  
  

  
  

  
  

  THE BULLETIN: