“I gave up not going to church some time ago. Most Sundays I am there, praying and singing – another lapsed atheist hoping that the non-existent God I was brought up not to believe in doesn’t see.” G. Coren
Dear friends,
In last week’s Wednesday Lent Study we explored places where hope is taking root in matters of Christian faith. We heard music and listened to stories about young people praising God in concerts and revivals happening in unexpected places as the Holy Spirit grabs hold. Some of the stories felt like “miracles” but one story feels like simplicity and realistic hope, inviting us to participate in this hope. “I gave up not going to church some time ago. Most Sundays I am there, praying and singing…” (read that line again so you see what he is saying with the ‘double negative!’)
Giles Coren, a British food critic and author, for most of his life a professed “non-believer” tells of bringing his son to church and simply participating, without needing to know “all the answers.” He writes “I have a sense that God is there – in the tradition, the words, the 2,000 years of conviction, the imagination of all the people who came before me…”
In our post-pandemic world, we are deluged with information constantly through news feeds and podcasts as we seek to learn about things, to understand what is going on in our world so we can say the right thing, or avoid saying the wrong thing (!). There is a lot of pressure to feel competent and appear to be “in the know.” One result of this information deluge is that we often shy away from simply experiencing something in real life; just trying something new—like worship. Coren’s decision to “give up not going to church” suggests that even if we have doubts, or don’t know that much about Christianity, or lack confidence in our ability to tell our children or grandchildren “the right Christian message” that simply showing up, bringing them along to share in and to have their own experience is a way to connect to God and community through singing and praying together.
In the Sunday Lent Forums, when asked about why we come to church, many of you responded “for the community.” Community involves showing up, participating, and welcoming others into fellowship. Perhaps there are family members or friends in your life whom you can simply invite to join you in real life on Sunday, or for one of the upcoming Holy Week services, or for Easter. No need for an informed confession of faith, or a clear understanding of what you or they might experience, but a curiosity and willingness to experience something together. The Tenebrae Service on Wednesday of Holy Week is a particularly mysterious and evocative liturgy; one simply submits to the strangeness and the interplay of darkness and light. Maundy Thursday with its foot washing and stripping of the altar is also a wonderful opportunity to just be with Jesus and the disciples in the events leading up to Good Friday. How might you participate and bring others to share the experience with you?
Maybe you yourself haven’t been here for worship in real life in awhile. Some of us are not able to be here in person for reasons of health and mobility, and we are grateful that our technology allows for all to be included in our worship via the live stream! But many of us could “give up not going to church” and simply show up as we are, with our pain, our questions, our tender hopes. What would it take for you to “give up not going to church?” The welcome is here to come to God’s table, to sing and to pray in communion with each other….no intellectual or theological knowledge required, just come! God will meet you here with joy to see your return.
Lenten blessings,
Nancy+
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