Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Faith in decline...?


This past Sunday I was at a United Methodist Church service in Columbia, MO. Beautiful service it was. Glorious old ornate church building, great people, wonderful music (especially the organ). The service stirred emotion like I have not felt is a while. Hard to put in to words the emotion I felt. But let me try.

Have you ever been singing and you feel something, and you just can't sing any more? Lump in your throat or what ever it is. I love it when the organ gets progressively more powerful as it goes through each verse on the simple hymn. The first verse or two it basically plays the vocal parts and then as the last verse it's like all stops are out and the music just flows with beauty and majesty. Music is best when you feel it, with your ears and your heart. My whole body felt that, and it was amazing. THAT is the way hymns should be played and felt.

Lovely service, from the baby being baptised with the water being poured as the words are spoken to the parents and congregation, to the robed processional carrying banners, candles and the Bible held high over head. The message was a thought provoking one as well. Part of it was about the decline of the Methodist church and gave statistics of the projected decline and eventual end of the church.

I left, thinking to my self and discussing with my wife and mother that it is not hard to understand why the church is in decline. The message was specific to this church but it's across the board. It also talked of the average age going up and how that could affect the future. How can we expect people of younger ages to embrace the church ( any church ) when the country has for decades been working to eliminate faith and church from government, courts, schools and others influences of life in the United States of America. We send the message that we cannot teach faith values in schools, the 10 commandments need to be removed from court rooms and the city squares.

I wish I had an answer, but I am just one person... one heart. We need to change millions of them. How do we do that? One at a time.

This country will be great again, getting there might be painful but it will be as glorious as that Sunday in church with great family, great music and great faith. It will take all of us, republicans and democrats and all faiths. Yes we can, one day at a time. One heart at a time and one verse at a time.


* Thank you Katie and Stephanie for inviting us, we loved it !!