Experience # 5

This morning I attended Real Life Church, which is affiliated with the Assemblies of God. It was a mid-sized church, located in a warehouse space. When I arrived, there were people walking around chatting with one another. It seemed like most of the people knew one another. Everyone I met was very friendly. I had a number of people introduce themselves to me, and welcome me to the church. As I looked over the bulletin, I was struck by how many things this church has going on. There are groups, events, studies, and services every day. When the service began, it began with music. As I've stated before in my previous posts, I am not always a fan of contemporary Christian music, but let me tell you something. This music was funky...in a good way! (Double points for funk) They were awesome. People were dancing. It was very energizing. This week's service was a "mission" service. I'm not sure how I keep ending up at churches on the days that they're doing something special, but hey, who cares? Because it was a "mission" service, they spent a large portion of the time talking about the missionaries that they support in different parts the world. They spoke about some upcoming mission trips that were available for people to go on. There were two members of the congregation from Africa that spoke about the difference that missionaries made in their lives. It was very touching. The woman's father died when she was young, and she subsequently ended up being a victim of trafficking. She now holds a PhD. Pretty inspiring. After a little more missionary talk, the pastor began today's sermon/lesson. The reading was from 2 Kings 4:1-7. What I took away from it was that when you say you have nothing to give, what you are doing is closing yourself off from God. Basically, you need to make yourself available. I really liked this lesson, because I think it really relates to almost everything in life. If you constantly say that you can't, or you don't have time, or you don't have anything to give, then you are also keeping yourself from being able to receive. Overall, I enjoyed my experience, although I'll admit, it was a little more "tame" than I was expecting. :-) I would like to go back for a regular service sometime. Thank you Rebecca and Adrian, for bringing me along.

Experience # 4

Today I visited Westminster Presbyterian Church. Let me start by saying that this was not their regular Sunday service. This was Mardi Gras Sunday!! If you know me, you know that they had me at "Mardi Gras." I actually heard about it on the radio and thought, I MUST GO. :-) I'm not really sure I even knew what to expect. I was slightly familiar with the Presbyterians, and I was very familiar with Mardi Gras , but I couldn't quite put the two together mentally. I know that Mardi Gras is technically a holiday that is directly related to Ash Wednesday, and the season of lent, but Mardi Gras, as it is typically celebrated, is not very "Christian." lol I always kind of think of it as the last hurrah, before six weeks of penance. I digress. Anyway, when I arrived they had people standing at the entrance to greet you and hand you a bulletin, etc. Get this! They were handing out Mardi Gras beads too! I love it! I found a seat close to the back. It was a mid-sized church. I'm guessing maybe 150 people. As I'm walking in, there is a fantastic Dixeland jazz band playing. It just keeps getting better. So, the band is playing some fabulous Dixieland tunes, including "Basin Street Blues," and people are coming in and getting seated. It was a pretty good mix of people, young and old. As the service begins, the band starts playing, and a parade of people, led by the pastor start walking down the aisles. Some have parasols, some have masks, and some have feather boas. There are young and old, and seem to be having a fantastic time. I was too! We started the service by singing "When the Saints Go Marching In." I'll admit, I was shaking it a little bit. :-) There was a reading from Exodus, in old testament. It was about Moses' face glowing after speaking with God on Mount Sinai. We sang some more Dixieland tunes and there was a second reading. This time it was from Luke, in the new testament. This was about Jesus glowing after speaking with God. The name of the sermon was, "Relax and Enjoy." The basic idea was to enjoy the moment, because we are only here for a short time. The best part is coming up. :-) During the sermon, the pastor says that all week he had been trying to figure a way to tie in the sermon and the readings with the Mardi Gras theme. He said that he was listening to his ipod while washing dishes, and Liza Minelli started singing "Cabaret." When he heard it, he thought, "That's it!" Then he quoted to us from the song lyrics. He talked about celebrating life(the cabaret) He even said, "when I go, I'm going like Elsie." I would have died happy, if I would have died right then and there, in what culminated as a church service designed just for me. A Mardi Gras service with quotes from "Cabaret" as part of the sermon. Hallelujah!! Down side, No Food. ;-) Thanks for going with me Kristy!

Experience # 3

Last night I attended a SacFAN meeting. SacFAN stands for Sacramento Freethinkers Atheists and Nonbelievers. The meeting was held in a private room at a local coffee shop. Before the meeting started, people just hung out and talked. Quite a few of the people seemed to know each other, so there was a lot of conversation. The rest of the people seemed to come in groups. There were little groups of people here and there talking. I sat at a large table with my friend. A few more people joined us, and everyone was very friendly. This particular meeting was a "newcomers" meeting, so a lot of the people were there for the first time. The meeting was lead by a gentleman, who I assume is the group's "president" or something. lol I'm not sure if he has a title. As I mentioned, this was a newcomers meeting, so basically, he talked about all of the events and meetings that take place. One of the things he did talk about, which I found interesting, was the fact that a lot of these meetings basically take the place of "church." What I mean is, Church usually involves a lot of fellowship as well as social activities where you can get to know people who have common beliefs and interests. In that way, these SacFAN meetings are very similar. A lot of people who attend, are people who at some point, were a part of a church. These meetings are like a fellowship, without God. SacFAN is a group that falls under an umbrella group called the Sacramento Coalition of Reason. There are many other groups that are part of this coalition, and all of them have slightly different interests. There are "Humanists" groups, which focus on human's relationship with nature, each other and society. (this is my understanding of it) There are skeptic groups, which promote skepticism in relation to religion, alternative medicine, creationism, psychic fraud, etc. Pretty much anything you can be skeptical about. lol There are numerous other groups, but the main theme seems to be scientific facts over mysticism. There are also a few groups that are more political in nature, and focus more on separation of church and state, and freedom from religion. My overall experience was pretty neutral. Everyone was friendly and welcoming, but there was no clear belief, goal, agenda, etc. This was a newcomer's meeting, so that may explain some, as it was just an overview. I believe that I should probably check out one of the more specific groups to get a better idea of what it's all about. My understanding of it, at this point, is that it is more of a social club for people who are nonbelievers. I will add, since my friend mentioned that I always talk about food and music in my blogs, that the food at the coffee shop was fantastic, and at one point during the meeting, a guy's phone started playing some cool 80s tunes. :-) Thank you Florence, for taking me along.