After my Mom remarried to my Stepdad, we did a stint at a local Episcopal church. It's the church his family had attended for years. You need some background before I continue.
I was 13 and did not like my Stepdad. It was a tough time in my life as well as the whole family, and he was my target for rebellion. So, if I didn't like him much, I didn't like anything he was associated with. (We have a good relationship now that I am not the young punk of days gone by)
I did not like the church we were going to. There was the the stepdad factor and there was the fact that I was used to more informal, evangelical traditions. So in one respect, church during those years was a chore. I was something I had to put my time in and never let on like I was enjoying myself.
But deep inside, there were things that I did like. Now that I am older, I can appreciate them. I will tell you about a couple.
In this church, I finally got to see God as someone a little more mysterious and less familiar than he was at other places. And these days, I see too many folks who have no clue about this mystery and "bigness". God is more their buddy, than the creator who simple spoke things into existence. These folks know all they need or want to know about him. That's kind of sad to me. I am very thankful to have felt the mystery there.
The other thing I loved and even miss about the place in the liturgical tradition. Growing up I had always seen bulletins with orders of service and what not, but not quite so beautiful as in the Episcopal church. The reverence of the service was very new to me. While it may have been overboard for me, it still added to the mystery and "bigness" of faith and God.
I will probably never be a part of an Episcopal church again, but I sure think we evangelicals have a lot we could learn from them.
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