Will the real church please stand up? I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about my church history~ my own church history. I guess you can say I am an eclectic Christian. I mean that I have visited or have been a part of several types of churches. Those include (not in chronological order) Baptist, Mennonite, Assembly of God, United Methodist, Presbyterian, Wesleyan, Catholic, non-denominational , etc. I have been to churches where two pot-bellied stoves kept the room warm, to a large mega-theatre atmosphere where hundreds gathered at a time, and the weekend' s total attendance averaged well over 1500. I have been to churches where English was the 'secondary' language, and as a Caucasian I was definitely in the minority.
My earliest church memories as a child began with a church whose history dates all the way back to pre-American Revolution days. However, my most memorable and happy church experiences go back to when I was just out of college and a volunteer on a Southwest United States Indian reservation. There the Christians are definitely in the minority, numbering only about 2% of the population. The faith of those Christians I have yet to see matched anywhere else. My saddest church experiences are from several different churches through-out my life, where conflict, selfishness, materialism, and plain old stubbornness rule, unfortunately.
Where is the real church? I don't know. In my current quest for personal spiritual renewal I have to say that American churches for the most part are caught up in materialism. But I have sensed the Holy Spirit, most often in small intimate gatherings on the reservation where the struggling Christians came together weekly out of pure necessity to encourage, learn and support each other. The surroundings were often simple, as church sanctuaries go. Often wooden slat benches filled with worn-thin pillows were the only comfort we had to sit on. But that did not matter. Nor did time matter. Often Sunday worship services were like the rest of the cultural emphasis on the reservation- time was not a god. 1 1/2 to two hours for a worship service was not uncommon. After being in that environment, I found myself shaking my head the first time I went back home for a Christmas visit and my home pastor said, "Please share how reservation life is treating you within a five minute time frame."
I will never will forget on the reservation the monthly practice of the Christians meeting together for a "Day of Prayer". One Sunday a month the Christians would attend their local churches for Sunday school and Worship. Then about mid-afternoon they would travel to the host church for the Day of Prayer services. A prayer service, with a couple of hymns would begin the afternoon. Then we would break for a potluck supper. After supper, each church or group represented would sing 1 or 2 songs for the audience. The evening would also include time for testimony, congregational singing, and a sermon. What always amazed me was that the group would consist of two neighboring Native American tribes who on the outside were seen as enemies, but within the church walls were seen as brothers and sisters. In addition to the Native Americans, there would be a few of us non-natives. But what a foretaste of heaven, where people from mixed tribes, coming together to worship the Lord! I remember one time, for the evening service on this Day of Prayer, the children were excused to another room, just to free up more seats for the standing room only adults! When one counted up the hours spent in church on any given Day of Prayer, from the early morning till night, it could quite easily reach at least 7-9 hours !!
To be continued...
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