Church Shopping

Nita, because you asked for it, here is a new blog. It is not exceedingly interesting, but it is what is on my mind at the moment. I hope you enjoy it. Love you!

So I have now been in Princeton for a month and I love it. The only problem is, I can't seem to find a church to call home. I hate the term church shopping because to me it sounds as if I am putting my personal preferences a head of where is God wants me to be. It perpetuates the consumerist mentality our culture has about church. It is not about me. It is about glorifying God. However, I am concerned with finding a church that passionately follows Christ. In my search for a church, I have encountered two major obstacles.

First off, most of the churches here are very traditional. Now, keep in mind I do not think there is anything wrong with a traditional style of worship. There is much to be applauded in the traditional liturgy and there is much to be said for maintaining roots in the past. Our faith is an historical faith, meaning it is centered on an historical event. God entered history in the incarnation. This cannot be forgotten. Traditional liturgy grounds Sunday gatherings in this sense of historicity. While this should never be disparaged, there is also something to be said for capturing some sort of relevance with the culture in which we are currently placed. This is the benefit of a contemporary style of worship. Personally, I feel more at home in a contemporary setting. I like how it is more free and fluid. I also can put more of myself into the music. I love hymns, but I like them better when driven by a guitar and not an organ. There is more pathos in a contemporary service than traditional, at least in my experience. For someone who worships primarily through music, pathos is important. So that is the first issue with east coast churches, contemporary services are hard to come by.

The second issue is much less about preferences, at least I hope so. The churches here seem to be less concerned with mission to the city and more about keeping the church alive. Every church I have been to so far in my time here has a significant lack of young adults. Almost every person in the pews has gray hair. Don't get me wrong, I love steady rock the older members act as. I just think there needs to be a mixture. These churches that are mostly 50-year-olds and older are quickly dying. They are less capable of witnessing to the culture around them because they are separated from it by their age. Older people can and do add a lot to a church, but it cannot survive without a younger population. I really want to find a church that is committed to following Christ and discovering what that means for their daily lives and the city. Vintage is such a great church that is passionately concerned about bringing God's kingdom to bear on Spokane. That is what I want to find in Princeton. I do not if such a church exists.

At this point, I am very discouraged about finding a church that I like. I am okay with going to a church that is more traditional if I cannot find a contemporary service. Like I said earlier, I do not want to buy into the consumerist mentality. However, I will probably have to settle for a church that is dying slower than others, which is a depressing thought. Please pray for this search. Thanks!

Reflections on Fall

Fall on the east coast is very different from that in Washington. Most of the trees here are deciduous, which means that the Autumn months are gorgeous and full of color. It has been quite warm until the last few days, so the trees haven't completely changed color, but they are beginning to turn. Right outside my window, there is a beautiful tree (don't ask me what kind, I don't know my deciduous. If you want to know the difference between a pine and a fir, I can help you there, but I can't tell you which one is an oak or a maple), which has just begun to change from green to a light yellow. When the sun is shining, the leaves fill my room with a beautiful glow. I thoroughly enjoy all of the various colors of Autumn: the yellows, oranges, and reds. It is so pretty, however, I miss the evergreens that cover the landscape of Western Washington. While the colors here are spectacular, they are the final act before all the trees are bare and winter sets in. Winter without the presence of evergreens is depressing. I think that is one of the things that I love the most about Western Washington: no matter what season it is, there will always be color somewhere. While many people say that the Seattle area is depressing because it is always gray, it is my position that it is less depressing because the trees are fully clothed all year round. Yes, it rains a lot in Washington, but the endless green is so worth it. When I moved out here, I did not anticipate missing my home state as much as I do. I did live in Eastern Washington for the past four years, but there are still evergreens there, at least near Whitworth. I like New Jersey, but I definitely prefer the beauty of Washington's fir trees, the Puget Sound, and Mount Rainier. Though there are only two season in Washington: constant rain and rain with some sun mixed in; I love that state and will miss it for at least the next three years.