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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: I love my church because....
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Ramarius
Shipmate
# 16551
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Posted
They believe in me.
How about you?
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'
Posts: 950 | From: Virtually anywhere | Registered: Jul 2011
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
Not my second family -- my only family.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
I can combine my hobby (singing) with my faith.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
They don't really seem to have anything much in common except that for whatever reason, that's where they turn up on a Sunday morning. It makes me feel that I'm no-one special, and at the same time that I'm very special- a very good and precious combination, ISTM.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
I don't love my church.
I appreciate aspects of it. But I don't love it.
Sorry to rain on the parade, but there it is. These days most of my meaningful relationships exist outside the church I attend.
It wasn't always like that, but it is now. Whether that's a natural progression or a healthy development, I don't know.
But I don't want a life that revolves completely around church - although I do appreciate the structure of the church-year and liturgical offices and so on (few of which my church actually observes).
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Hugal
Shipmate
# 2734
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Posted
It is difficult to put my finger on why I love my church. I have been a member since it started nearly 20 years now . We are an experimental church and I love that we take risks. I can be viewed by some as a little eccentric, but the people at church seem to understand that.
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I have never done this trick in these trousers before.
Posts: 1887 | From: london | Registered: Apr 2002
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cattyish
Wuss in Boots
# 7829
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Posted
I love the local church because it's a gathering of people of all sorts which works very well as a single group.
Cattyish.
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...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Posts: 1794 | From: Scotland | Registered: Jul 2004
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
I love my (very new) church because even though almost everyone is about 20 years older than me and from quite different backgrounds, everyone has been so kind and welcoming and it makes me sad that the Christian Union at uni are only recommending the big student churches/Vineyard/the resolution C Anglican church. Plus the vicar is Welsh and so has the most marvellous accent for homilies and sung Eucharist ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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Ruudy
Shipmate
# 3939
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Posted
Because it's the last house on the block.
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The shipmate formerly known as Goar.
Posts: 1360 | From: Gatorland | Registered: Jan 2003
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
I can combine my hobby (singing) with my faith.
You and me both, Chorister. And we use the Book of Common Prayer.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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St. Gwladys
Shipmate
# 14504
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Posted
Cos I've realised that apart from a handful of others - some ex coll;ege friends and a couple of craftspeople, some of whm aqre Christian anyway - all my really close friends are at my church - certainly all the people I trust
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"I say - are you a matelot?"
"Careful what you say sir, we're on board ship here"
From "New York Girls", Steeleye Span, Commoners Crown (Voiced by Peter Sellers)
Posts: 3333 | From: Rhymney Valley, South Wales | Registered: Jan 2009
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Caissa
Shipmate
# 16710
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Posted
I concur completely with Gamaliel's first 4 pargraphs.
Love has gone out of the relationship for me. It's currently a marriage of convenience.
Posts: 972 | From: Saint John, N.B. | Registered: Oct 2011
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Truman White
Shipmate
# 17290
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
I have been waiting to see if someone else admits that they do no love their church. To love a church is somewhat idolatrous. Mine is a community with warts and saints. That is enough for me.
Christ loves his church. But before this starts sounding more like a Purg thread, I love my church because it's full of people like you describe, because I'm one of them, and because despite that, we recognise there's gold in each of us waiting to be unearthed.
So maybe were ain't so far apart on this after all Leo.
Posts: 476 | Registered: Aug 2012
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
I have been waiting to see if someone else admits that they do no love their church. To love a church is somewhat idolatrous. Mine is a community with warts and saints. That is enough for me.
Why does love have to equal idolatry? ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
All the people I love have both virtues and warts and so does my church. I love my church because despite periodic hissy-fits, affection comes out on top.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
It's that unique combination of music and food. Gets me every time....
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
I have been waiting to see if someone else admits that they do no love their church. To love a church is somewhat idolatrous. Mine is a community with warts and saints. That is enough for me.
I'm a bit confused by this. Is it idolatrous to love other people, then? By love I don't mean I worship my church, or put it above or in place of God. I just really enjoy going there to worship - a church that helps me worship God is worth loving, surely.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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Latchkey Kid
Shipmate
# 12444
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Posted
Wot JC said ![[Biased]](wink.gif) . Plus they are there at the shops, BBQs etc.
Anyway, It's part of Johannine insistence that we love one another, or we can't be loving God. And if they are a shit, then they are our shits.
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'You must never give way for an answer. An answer is always the stretch of road that's behind you. Only a question can point the way forward.'
Mika; in Hello? Is Anybody There?, Jostein Gaardner
Posts: 2592 | From: The wizardest little town in Oz | Registered: Mar 2007
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Flausa
Mad Woman
# 3466
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Truman White:
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
I have been waiting to see if someone else admits that they do no love their church. To love a church is somewhat idolatrous. Mine is a community with warts and saints. That is enough for me.
Christ loves his church. But before this starts sounding more like a Purg thread, I love my church because it's full of people like you describe, because I'm one of them, and because despite that, we recognise there's gold in each of us waiting to be unearthed.
This is precisely why I love my new church. They took us, warts and all. We've been through some serious crap together and are walking and stumbling TOGETHER. They are taking and using what we have to offer rather than trying to make us fit roles that aren't appropriate for us. And they are good to our kids and genuinely want them to be there and to be involved. Yes, I love my church ... and I love the wider church (though I do want to give it a good slap upside the head sometimes).
Posts: 4610 | From: bonny Scotland | Registered: Oct 2002
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leo
Shipmate
# 1458
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
I have been waiting to see if someone else admits that they do no love their church. To love a church is somewhat idolatrous. Mine is a community with warts and saints. That is enough for me.
I'm a bit confused by this. Is it idolatrous to love other people, then? By love I don't mean I worship my church, or put it above or in place of God. I just really enjoy going there to worship - a church that helps me worship God is worth loving, surely.
To be 'heavy, the Kingdom/Rule of God comes before church - so I can love fellow CNDers and members of other pressure groups that do concrete work for the Kingdom (whether or not they acknowledge it).
Maybe 'idolatry' is a bit strong but it might apply when people say that their church is better than another church.
I love certain worship styles - catholic, good music, bells and smells; I loathe other styles - happy clappy Kendrick. But that is a matter of personal taste and isn't the same as locing a church.
My church building is, to my taste, hideously ugly. Yet fans of Victoriana say that is a priceless gem.
As for the people who attend the church, they approximate to types found in other churches - the sceptic, the one who loves doing little jobs during the week, the liturgical 'spike', the one who says we are the 'best', etc.
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My Jewish-positive lectionary blog is at http://recognisingjewishrootsinthelectionary.wordpress.com/
My reviews at http://layreadersbookreviews.wordpress.com
Posts: 23198 | From: Bristol | Registered: Oct 2001
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
I have been waiting to see if someone else admits that they do no love their church. To love a church is somewhat idolatrous. Mine is a community with warts and saints. That is enough for me.
I'm a bit confused by this. Is it idolatrous to love other people, then? By love I don't mean I worship my church, or put it above or in place of God. I just really enjoy going there to worship - a church that helps me worship God is worth loving, surely.
To be 'heavy, the Kingdom/Rule of God comes before church - so I can love fellow CNDers and members of other pressure groups that do concrete work for the Kingdom (whether or not they acknowledge it).
Maybe 'idolatry' is a bit strong but it might apply when people say that their church is better than another church.
I love certain worship styles - catholic, good music, bells and smells; I loathe other styles - happy clappy Kendrick. But that is a matter of personal taste and isn't the same as locing a church.
My church building is, to my taste, hideously ugly. Yet fans of Victoriana say that is a priceless gem.
As for the people who attend the church, they approximate to types found in other churches - the sceptic, the one who loves doing little jobs during the week, the liturgical 'spike', the one who says we are the 'best', etc.
But I (and I think most people who have commented here) love their church for the people in it, with the building/music/liturgy coming second. I don't think many people would stay in a church that did those things to their taste but was very unwelcoming. And you can love your church and still see the faults in it - for example, the congregation at mine is mostly retired and I would like some people closer to my age. It's a Victorian stone building so gets cold in winter very easily and is too expensive to heat for a small congregation by Advent (so we move into the church hall). I definitely didn't get the sense that people thought their church was better than others.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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marzipan
Shipmate
# 9442
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Posted
my church has good cake. And tea. And church lunches. I'm mostly there for the food.
(most of the people are lovely too - especially the ones that make the cake!)
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formerly cheesymarzipan.
Now containing 50% less cheese
Posts: 917 | From: nowhere in particular | Registered: May 2005
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Yangtze
Shipmate
# 4965
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Posted
...because it's not perfect and neither am I
...because I can be myself there - I don't have to pretend to be a happy shiny everything's perfect now I have Jesus kind of person
...because of the people - where else in my life do I mix with such a variety
...because it has an evening service
...because it doesn't care whether someone is gay or straight; married, single or living with someone; old or young, black or white, smart or casual, rich or poor, even liberal or conservative everyone is welcome
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Arthur & Henry Ethical Shirts for Men
organic cotton, fair trade cotton, linen
Sometimes I wonder What's for Afters?
Posts: 2022 | From: the smallest town in England | Registered: Sep 2003
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Yangtze
Shipmate
# 4965
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Posted
Sorry for double post - just wanted to say I could also post a post saying 'I hate (well maybe not actually hate that's a strong word) my church because...' It's really not perfect (and neither am I.)
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Arthur & Henry Ethical Shirts for Men
organic cotton, fair trade cotton, linen
Sometimes I wonder What's for Afters?
Posts: 2022 | From: the smallest town in England | Registered: Sep 2003
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
We have a team of cooks called 'Divine diners' whose meals really are divine.
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Aravis
Shipmate
# 13824
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Posted
Because it is full of people who are generally nice to one another and to pretty much everyone else. The phrase "salt of the earth" comes to mind with many of them.
Posts: 689 | From: S Wales | Registered: Jun 2008
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
I belong there in every sense of the word.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Edgeman
Shipmate
# 12867
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Posted
Because it's a beautiful, well kept building. Because the people and clergy are welcoming and laid back. Because it's the only place in this archdiocese that I can go to for a full, traditional, catholic prayer, devotion, and liturgy. The music is top quality. There are loads of fellow former Anglicans, including the organist and a few fellow choristers.
I really don't think I would fit in anywhere else because of all of these.
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http://sacristyxrat.tumblr.com/
Posts: 1420 | From: Philadelphia Penns. | Registered: Jul 2007
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Loquacious beachcomber
Shipmate
# 8783
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Posted
Because when a mid-70s aged man suddenly became a widower, various members of the youth group, by instinct and without being asked, took turns sitting with him during each service for a couple of months, missing their own gathering time to do so.
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TODAY'S SPECIAL - AND SO ARE YOU (Sign on beachfront fish & chips shop)
Posts: 5954 | From: Southeast of Wawa, between the beach and the hiking trail.. | Registered: Nov 2004
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
Love the people - hate the liturgy (or lack of it).
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Brian: You're all individuals!
Crowd: We're all individuals!
Lone voice: I'm not!
Posts: 12927 | From: The Pool of Life | Registered: May 2001
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Drewthealexander
Shipmate
# 16660
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Loquacious beachcomber:
Because when a mid-70s aged man suddenly became a widower, various members of the youth group, by instinct and without being asked, took turns sitting with him during each service for a couple of months, missing their own gathering time to do so.
![[Angel]](graemlins/angel.gif)
Posts: 499 | Registered: Sep 2011
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
The sermons really make you think.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002
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Posted
Because our church has been steadily and reliably supporting the Basics Bank in the nearby city, week in week out, ever since it started, for (?) 20 years or so. ![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
And now that there is a purely volunteer-run branch at a church nearby, our church supplies probably about 50% of the volunteers to run it. If times are hard at the BB, you really only have to ask for help, and they will come across even more generously.
(not to knock what people from other churches do - just sayin' why I love ours) ![[Axe murder]](graemlins/lovedrops.gif)
AND because people from our church steadfastly and lovingly run a Youth Drop-In, while everyone else in the parish just wrings their hands and complains about the Yoof.
Mrs. S, singing the praises of St. Loony and the Jam Doughnut
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Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'
Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012
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malik3000
Shipmate
# 11437
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Posted
Most of my family these days is non-genetic, and my church family is a very important part -- not the whole -- of that family. They are only human, and don't claim to be better than anyone else. On the other hand hand they are, as Aravis' church "people who are generally nice to one another and to pretty much everyone else" -- regardless of socioeconomic situation. They do seem to have a natural quiet knack for making people feel welcome. "Salt of the earth" really does apply to the members I know. They certainly made me feel welcome. And they have a way of going out of their way to come to the aid of folks who have a need, nonmaterial or material.
Yes, I love them, and feel fortunate to be here. I often think that, given the fact that certain things, medical and otherwise, that subsequently have developed in my life, that God led me here because S/He knew it would be a good group of folks to be a part of.
[ 24. October 2012, 02:43: Message edited by: malik3000 ]
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God = love.
Otherwise, things are not just black or white.
Posts: 3149 | From: North America | Registered: May 2006
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
... they pay me*
sorry that's very unfluffy, but I'm finding this parish, in which I'm down to two days a week, rather unloving at the moment. Or maybe I'm just an ungrateful sanctimonious bastard.
But they have made it rather clear they don't want a priest to disturb their lives thank you very much.
*[ETA] sometimes on time ...
[ 24. October 2012, 07:48: Message edited by: Zappa ]
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shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it
and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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recklessrat
Shipmate
# 17243
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Posted
I love my church because....
The people are all completely eccentric, broken and very loveable...
The service is done with such affection and grace from all who take part...I feel very close to God there.
There is plenty of tat and a decent communion wine ![[Devil]](graemlins/devil.gif)
Posts: 80 | From: The Shires | Registered: Jul 2012
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Zappa, are you sure it's really a church? ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
When things were looking bleak here at my church, it was the people who gave me glimpses of Jesus, and I am grateful. My best friends in the world are in my church (or used to be!) That's one of the big reasons that I love my church.
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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PD
Shipmate
# 12436
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Posted
I have a sort of love-hate relationship with my local shack. The love side is that they are a really welcoming community, and they are really committed to making a go of St Hardup's. The downside is their adherence to an as dull as ditch water MOTR-High liturgy, and the fact some of the parishioners drive my wife absolutely screwy. (She gets to deal with the fruits, nuts and flakes more than I do!)
There are also little thinks that they do which make me feel unwanted.
1. They ignore my anniversaries, but are monumentally pissed if forget any of theirs
2. They regard my wife as the kitchen serf. I keep telling her to just not go in there.
3. The vestry always tries to take any administrative I enjoy off me - such as administering the parish website - and leave me with the crap.
4. They are always carping about the office expenses.
Like I said - 'love-hate.' Though probably more for the former than the latter, or I would not be there still.
PD
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Roadkill on the Information Super Highway!
My Assorted Rantings - http://www.theoldhighchurchman.blogspot.com
Posts: 4431 | From: Between a Rock and a Hard Place | Registered: Mar 2007
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by PD:
1. They ignore my anniversaries, but are monumentally pissed if forget any of theirs
Sermon on temperance called for, or is it just that you have forgotten your first language, Father?
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Brian: You're all individuals!
Crowd: We're all individuals!
Lone voice: I'm not!
Posts: 12927 | From: The Pool of Life | Registered: May 2001
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PD
Shipmate
# 12436
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:
quote:
Originally posted by PD:
1. They ignore my anniversaries, but are monumentally pissed if forget any of theirs
Sermon on temperance called for, or is it just that you have forgotten your first language, Father?
More a case of an insufficiently caffinated clergyman. I noticed looking through the post afterwards I had skipped one or two other words.
I guess that in a sense my parish is 'family' which means that I do love them, but I do not always *like* them. A bit like real relatives really. They were at their best yesterday, welcoming to the visitors they had, and making only limited bitchy comments about the incense, so I am currently feeling very benign towards them. However, it might be a little different next weekend if they manage to forget my tenth anniversary in the parish.
PD
[ 29. October 2012, 19:48: Message edited by: PD ]
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Roadkill on the Information Super Highway!
My Assorted Rantings - http://www.theoldhighchurchman.blogspot.com
Posts: 4431 | From: Between a Rock and a Hard Place | Registered: Mar 2007
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