I think I have found the perfect church for me. A few weeks ago at a Saturday afternoon masters swim practice, I was doing a kick set with one of my teammates, and he mentioned his church. Since I was still looking for a church home in Wichita, I asked him about it, and the first thing he said (sort of nervously) was, “Well, we’re kind of progressive.”
My ears perked right up. “Tell me more.”
And so he did. He told me about the new, inspiring pastor at College Hill United Methodist Church. He told me that the church supports a woman’s right to choose.
“What about non-believers?”
“Everyone’s welcome.”
“Good. I don’t want people judging me when Trent doesn’t come to church with me … what about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people?” I asked.
“Everyone is welcome and valued,” he replied. “My brother was gay, and I can’t abide churches that disparage people based on sexual orientation.”
“Was?” I asked.
“He died of AIDS.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, he was a great guy.”
So after swim practice, I got on the church’s website (http://collegehillumc.org/), and I was thrilled with what I found. Parishioners are encouraged to read Scripture with “patience, openness, humility, knowledge, critical thinking, skepticism at times, and a willingness to wrestle with complexity and contradictions” (College Hill Convenant). Yes! And the church is very focused on social justice and taking action within the community to raise awareness about injustice and take steps to right it.
In a couple of weeks, for example, the church is facilitating a three-day series on human trafficking. Did you know that Wichita is among the top five origination cities in the United States for exploited children? Traffickers come to Wichita, kidnap children, and take them to other cities and states to exploit them, usually sexually. Local experts estimate that 400-500 children and sexually exploited in Wichita each year. That’s horrifying. Now I want to figure out what I can do about it.
So I have been attending College Hill United Methodist Church for about 4-5 weeks now. I’ve joined the choir, and I attend practice on Wednesday nights with them. They are really good too. Most of them have musical backgrounds. Several are music teachers, and several are paid soloists at the church. But even with all this talent, they are extremely welcoming toward me and my non-professional voice. I know they don’t actually need me to sound good (heck, sometimes I’m just lip-synching because I’ve forgotten the notes), but every week every single person in the choir and the choir director welcomes me to practice, welcomes me to church, and thanks me for joining them. And today, I received a compliment on my voice from one of the soloists who teaches music at a local middle school.
“Surely, you must have been listening to someone else,” I replied.
“No, I was right behind you, and you sounded great.”
Totally made my day.
I love this church. I’m home.
Getting physical
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Training sessions have been going really well these past few weeks. I
swim, lift, and run on my own (or with the masters swim team) during the
week, and o...
12 years ago
3 comments:
Congratulations on finding a spiritual home. The chances of finding such a progressive church here in the northland is zilch. Diversity is not something they embrace, unless you count eating at the local Mexican or Chinese restaurant. In general I don't think they subscribe to the philosophy that you should be a free-thinker or question anything in the bible as that is probably the devil at work. It is nice to be surrounded by people who are accepting of others. I am disappointed in the pledges that members of the tea party and republican party believe candidates should be obligated to sign, how can we expect kids to not bully and be open to others who they perceive as different if our government leaders don't lead by example, not to mention their parents. I recently got an e-mail from a friend with a link to some FOX news story that tried to make Obama sound like he was not much better than Hitler and that he once again was probably a Muslim. I responded by telling her I didn't care if he was a Muslim or not. Our constitution gives us freedom of religion and supposedly that is what we are fighting for in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wasn't the war in Iraq "Operation Freedom"? How can we spread democracy and freedom if we truly do not have it here in this country? Anyway your church family sound like a very nice group of people, very welcoming. I hope you will be happy there. Oh and one more thing, I don't doubt for a moment that you have a very lovely voice---be it singing in a church choir or giving support and encouragement to those who need your strength.
I love the fact that you are so passionate about life. You give 100% of yourself no matter what you do. You are very competitive and yet you are concerned for people who need help. I am happy that you are surrounded by caring, loving people, especially the people in your church. I am excited that your church is doing a workshop on exploited children. These children need people to shine a light on that social injustice. It sounds like Wichita has become a place of nurturing and I am glad that you feel good about moving there. I agree with Fiddler, you have a lovely voice and you must be a welcome addition to the choir.
Awww, my aunties are so sweet and encouraging. My heart is singing right now. :-)
I like how you're taking action via e-mail, responding to your friend's message, Margaret. If you hadn't responded, your friend might have assumed that you were in agreement with her; it's certainly good for her share her perspective with her friends -- and it's even better that she's able to listen to your perspective. Bravo to you! I often just delete those kinds of e-mails. Maybe I'll try responding. :-)
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