Why Church?

 

I can think of many reasons why NOT church:

1. The church has been hypocritical— talking the talk,
but not walking the walk.
2. The church has been cruelly manipulative—threatening people with eternal
damnation if they don’t
play by certain rules.
3. The church has underlined power structures
that favor privileged white
males.
4. The church has treated
people as second class
citizens—blacks, native
Americans, women, gays
and lesbians.
5. People in churches love
to point fingers at other
people’s sins while ignoring their own.
6. Crusades, inquisition,
colonialism—need I say
more?
7. The church is out of touch
with the world of today—
old language, ideas,
hymns.
8. If you go to church, you’ll
be expected to spout the
same stuff, so that you
become a hypocrite.
9. A lot of people who go to
church are really weird.
Really valid reasons. And
living in Cook County
there’s another reason why
NOT church.
10. Beautiful woods, gorgeous lakes, sparkling
ski slopes….surely better
places to meet God…

I must admit many of my personal God meetings take place in a canoe or on a trail.

So why church? I believe there is one really good answer: community. A faith community can give us many gifts. . Community accountability— in a faith community I choose to involve myself with a group of intergenerational seekers, many of whom I might not have chosen for friends. If I’m open I can expect to hear truth from these people, to encounter perspectives different from mine. . Community acceptance— a church can offer a safe place for me to discover and use my gifts, a place to expand my spiritual journey. . Community challenge— While I love my walks in the woods, in a church community I must grapple with demanding texts—not a verse here, verse there—but the radical, counter cultural teachings of Jesus or Paul. On my own I’m prone to dodge the challenging parts and choose my favorites! With a faith community I can’t get away with that. . Community strategic action—I may as an individual care about people who are starving, but larger programs work more effectively. A program like Feed My Starving Children pulls people with similar concerns together, and figures out the best way to respond strategically. Arguably this is how slavery was brought to an end. . Community belonging around the world—As an Episcopalian, I am part of a community as Spirit of the Wilderness here in Cook County, but also the Diocese of Minnesota, the North American Province, and the Anglican Church World Wide. On Sunday, our liturgy, readings, even songs and hymns— are being read, prayed, sung in Uganda, the Arctic and Singapore. While I may not agree with certain brothers and sisters in the Anglican church in Nigeria, we are connected and need to hear each others’ voices. . Community connection back through time—In a faith community I read the prayers of John Chrysostom who lived in fourth century Syria. This Christian, whose life was so different from mine, speaks to me and for me: another connection I value. . Community encounter with mystery—As part of a faith community, especially one that is sacramental, I am offered mystery: the conviction that there’s something out there that I can’t get my mind around but can encounter. The sacraments are not something any of us fully understand, but Sunday by Sunday we are fed in the Eucharist.

We’ve been told that individuals can figure it out, connect with the divine, live moral lives. The solo quest is not bad, but it is limited. Church can provide safety, impetus, and support—the connection with other seekers around the world and back through time. If we are willing to say with humility that we can’t figure it all out alone, we may join others and find our lives immensely enriched and deepened—and who knows? We may encounter God. Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s s contributor is Mary Ellen Ashcroft, Vicar of Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church.