Church #5. Strathcona Presbyterian Church

I see pretty colours :P …… lol.  So this last Sunday was a Presbyterian church as you could have guessed. And upon entrance there is one major thing you notice. SUPER AMAZING BEAUTIFUL STAIN GLASS WORK!  Credit to the person that made the panels in that church, god blessed them with some kick-ass art skills.  But on a less positive note I also noticed the walls, filled with massive cracks, this was my first indication that this church, like many others is at risk of dying. 

As most Sundays, I pick a random bench and end up introducing myself to some sweet little old lady and having a conversation.  Today we had a conversation on what I will refer to as the “dyeing church syndrome” . Because lets be real, that is exactly what is happening to its patrons, and with a lack of a younger generation coming in to the church to refresh the population, it will all be “to dust” as they say.

As our conversation continued I made a point of say there are A LOT of reasons you don’t have a younger generation coming to church.  And I am sure all of you reading this, church go-er or not can think if a long list of your own reasons. But one thing I will throw out there only because I have heard this issue brought up by church leaders themselves is the fight to be progressive. In the past 5 church’s I have been to almost all of the leaders have expressed concerns over their daily struggle to make the sermons more progressive and modern. This at times has met with outrage, from what is generally the most senior population, and in some cases has added to people leaving the church. These leaders are doing their best to hold and progress their church and I pray for them.

The population mix here was similar to most 2 dozen people with the odd young couple and a hand full of children. Well more than a handful at this one. More like 10!

The sermon’s theme today was “you can’t serve god and money” it was an intriguing story from Jesus that she brings up that really doesn’t fit the rest of his teachings (I have my own theories on this). But despite it being a real odd one she found a way to pull a positive moral story out of something that would seem very immoral. Credit for her on that.

We also sung the Lord’s Prayer today (never done that before).  And you know that line that normally says “Forgive us our trespasses and those that have trespassed against us”. When I was singing this thing and they threw out the word “trespass” for “debt, and debtors” ? I asked the reverend afterwards about this and she told me that there is more than one “lord’s prayer” written in the bible and also the bible being re-translated at MILLION times, that word has been swapped put with “debt”, “sins”, “trespass” and many others. She also mentioned to me that they use the “debt” line because it comes for an older version and that this church offers a more “traditional” service…..o god you’re telling me (see angry rant below).

This was defiantly one of those services where I was sitting there gritting my teeth trying not to throw something…. Because there was a lot of “our future is in god’s hands”, “we have no control over gods will”, “we must submit to god” etc. and my only thought is…….

NO FUCKING COMMENT!

So after the service I made my way down stairs to cool down and have a nice cup of tea and awesome homemade cinnamon swirls. Everyone I met was very kind and loving and would have me back any day.  

 This church is like the tea they serve, warm and welcoming, but the flavor is not to my taste.  Thanks guys. Time for me to march forward. *stomp *stomp *stomp.

Church #4. Garneau United Church

           By request of one of my good face book friends I decided to check out a United church today. Not to say that I haven’t been to a united church before. I have been to a few different ones on occasion but,  gotta have a fresh one for the blog.

 So I rolled my butt out of bed this morning to walk 6 blocks to go check out this place. It is in one odd looking building set up for a church. It is pretty much an open meeting area of the entry way to a very fancy apartment complex. But it works…. The service is mostly seniors and there were 24 people-ish? Including a few parents and their kids. The reverend was a very warm fellow, Santa clause like in appearance, who is accompanied by his wife who also preaches. Here was notably what would look like middle school science poster displaying a scientific diagram of the earth hanging from the podium. The alter was something interesting, lol. It was apparently a sermon on themed on “fonna and flora” and “the season of creation”. so the alter and the table in front of it was covered in fish nest with wildlife pics attached to it with a plant sitting on it and a blow of fruit and of course the rainbow candle.

This particular United congregation is a certified “Affirming congregation” which means that they have decided to accept sexual diversity as a gift, not a sin and that gay people can be members and leaders of the church.

            There was a lot of singing in this church, and despite the age and limited abilities of its patrons, I do really fell like there was some very real worshiping going on (I felt a lacking that in some of the last few sad to say) . 

             I got to talk to the reverend and his wife afterwards and he is a top notch guy but what I really give him credit for is his work with the kids. During the service he ask the children to bring out the “magic carpet” which they did, and placed it at the center front of the church . And despite what I am sure were very well warn knees and hips the reverend carefully lowered himself down to it on the carpet with the children to do their special lesson for the day. The even bigger thing to me is that in that lesson he looked the kids in the eye and honestly admitted to them they he had done “a bad thing” when he tells the tale that he cut down a tree in his yard ,that they latter discovered to be over 100 years old, and now regrets doing so.  

            Over all I was very impressed and I am thankful for my experience today at the Garneau United Church and the new read i was given “Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism” by John Shelby Spong.

            Love you guys! You ROCK!

Church #3. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 10761 82 Avenue

STOP. MORMON TIME :P .LOL.  OK, so on the list of churches that I was more nervous going into; this one was deffintly on the list. Partially in the fact that I was worried that being 23, I might walk out with a wedding ring and 3 kids (jokes) . Clearly I did not research the dress code.  As I observed the members of the church; the men were in black jackets and white shirts. All the women were in dresses with their hair done very nicely. What does Alanna walk in with? Jeans, high top sneakers, and back jacket white shirt: P .

I was kind of surprised when I walked into the place, it was 90% full and everyone in there was of the age range between 18-27 years old. This phenomenon was latter explained to me, with the fact that we were right next to the university, and as a Mormon you need to attend your church in your designated area. I also noted that there was no collection plate. I was told that they supplement the lack of monitory donations with a strong wiliness of its congregation to do whatever the church asks of them when called upon. 
One thing that really struck me was how "into" their faith these group of people were. I could literately see the whole room listening at full attention, hanging on every word that they are being fed. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. Devout followers are generally something to be desired in a church environment. But needless to say I find this behavior concerning. In this room I felt I might be observing something know as "Blind Faith". One dictionary I found describes this as “belief without true understanding, perception, or discrimination.” This concerns me. Just seeing the people in this room, I was sure that if there was a respected leader at the front of the room, and if he told them the moon was made of Swiss cheese they, would 100% believe it. I kid you not. I am not saying that the person at the front of the room was abusing their authority, or has ever abused their authority. What I am saying, is that if there was a leader in this church that did desire to abuse ones authority, they would have a very easy time getting away with it. In my opinion. In the wise words of Petter Parker's Uncle:

There are endless examples of spiritual abuse in the Christian community and in other spiritual communities. As much as I could go on about it all day, I have found something better. This is a link to a brief article, that describes the sings and symptoms of an abusive spiritual community. Church hunting should be done optimistically, but always with a seed of caution. 

10 Ways to Spot Spiritual Abuse 
 

Random fact, the main speaker at the head of the church....... was a lawyer. Take that as you will.

The service started at 11 but after the first hour, I decided to head home as there Sunday worship is done in multiple parts and lasts till 3 pm. So I decided to book a meeting with one of their missionaries after church so they could answer some of my burning questions…

            I had a panel of 4 that I got to speak to in a private room ( poor people were more nervous than me I think….) I threw them some hardball's such as, continued marriage after death, having a living person baptized in representation for a un-baptized dead person. Etc. however I was nice enough to avoid the whole polygamy topic, As I  could literately write a while blog on that topic itself. They tried to answer my questions the best they could and do believe we enjoyed out discussion (we had a few  laughs) .

But at the end of the day as nice a bunch of people as they are, just don’t buy into the Belief that the Joseph smith as a profit or as the book of Mormon being an authentic ancient text. But like anything spiritual, I suggest you hack that one out for yourselves. Peace Out Peoples!

Church #2. Unitarian Congregation Westwood

Bring out the party hats and glitter! Here come the Unitarians! :P Now there is a lot of churches out there that say “Everyone Welcome”, but sad to say, that is far from the truth.  These guys literately accept EVERYONE.  People of all faiths, religions, ideas, and ideologies are welcome. This includes, atheists and homosexuals. All of these people are fully welcomed as members, and even leaders of this kind of church. I was also surprised that there is a very strongly based earth spiritually  social group within this church. 

Unfortunately on the day I can it was not much of a regular service but more of a meeting for the start of the season.  Very small little church, right in the middle of a residential street (almost didn’t see the little stinker, and walked right past it) so make sure you keep the full address on you when you go to find this thing.  The demographic of this church ( well from at least who came to the meeting ,) seem to be a lot of seniors and a hand full of young people.  Who were all more than happy to get to know me after the meeting/mini service?  From what I am told, the actual services involve rotating speakers from all different religions and backgrounds. 

Since it is not a 100% Christian community there is no crosses in the church and the community centers itself around what they refer to as the 7 Unitarian principals. Which after reading them, I can understand that they make practical sense for spiritually centering such a diverse community.  I highly enjoyed meeting with churches leader, she was very kind and welcoming and was interested in what I had to say( which is good because I never stop talking some days ).

But I just have to say, the coolest part about Unitarians is their wedding ceremonies!!!! :D  Just in case you didn’t know, you, yes you,   even as a non member of the church can hire a Unitarian leader to do your wedding service in whatever manner you like, including custom made services that blend cultural/religious traditions, and pretty much whatever you wanna throw in your spiritual blender. 

So I left the Unitarians  enthusiastic waves of  joy and worked my way back to my home to hang with my roommates and catch one of the few final episodes of breaking bad…SO INTENSE!!! As much as I love and enjoy the Unitarians I don’t think they are fully for me as I do feel that I need a more fully “Christian” environment to get my spiritual fix. Over all, very cool church. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! XOXOXO.

Church #1 St. Anthony's Parish.

Ok, well what do I have to say about this one? Regular old Catholic Church service? Sounds about right. When you walk in, you notice the room has a very round structure, like a very large pie wedge (mmmmm pie) LOL . All the pews are curved in facing towards the center. This is a very mixed demographic type church; you got singles people, families, old, young different ethic groups, etc.  What I particularly enjoyed, was what I might refer to a “deep worship”. So a lot of singing, kneeling praying, bowing your head, and all that jazz.  That and there was a cute guy about my age with so nice tattoo work down his arm that shared a song book with me ;) as nice as it was I don’t think this church is for me, because in all honesty I am x-catholic. I am not willing to elaborate on that point in this blog.