Episcopal

“Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” Psalm 95

This morning I attended the St. Thomas Episcopal Church of Overland Park via my bed. It looks like this is going to be the normal for visiting my 30 religions before 30, well for a while it seems. My mindset is still the same as last week, I do wish I could get that in person experience because I think so much more can be said for it but I won’t complain as it is also so convenient for me to sit here in my pajamas under the warm blankets and “attend” a service at my own convenience.

So to be fair today is Saturday, March 21st, and I am writing about last Sunday’s sermon, which was March 15th.

I will be honest, I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the St. Thomas Episcopal Church’s service. On their website they showed that they offered a Saturday evening service and two Sunday services. So, originally I had marked on my calendar that I wanted to attend a Saturday evening service. Their website describes their Saturday service as follows: Our Saturday evening service is a quieter service with hymns played on a grand piano and accompanied by a cantor. This service has a relaxed and contemplative feel.

I imagined myself sitting in the pews, eyes closed as I listened to their hymns play inside their church walls. I saw myself going into a meditative state where I just let the music flow in and out and all around me. Walking out with that relaxed and contemplative feel they so richly described.

But when the service options showed up on their face book page, my mouse clicked on their 10:45 am Sunday service. Apparently this morning I was feeling a different pace. And so I clicked on the video and never looked back.

The camera shot straight ahead to the front of the church. There was a pulpit and an alter setting. The alter had many candles and through the scope of the camera I could see that a large cross was placed on the back wall (or front, depending on how you want to describe it). There was what sounded like a choir being accompanied by a piano playing hymnal worship music in the background.

The first person to enter the video was who I thought of as a priest. But upon more research from their website I learned that their leaders are titled under Reverends. So, the first Reverend stepped on stage and lit a few more candles. He wore a white robe that came down all the way to his feet.

Then another Reverend came up to give the morning announcements. His name was Reverend Gav Demo and he is the head Reverend at St. Thomas. He also wore a white robe that draped down to his feet. He thanked everyone for showing up via the online service and said that we could leave any prayer requests in the comment box. I liked that they used facebook live as one of their main outlets (the other being you tube), as it let people still connect in a real time way. Community at it’s best via good old Facebook. Thanks Mark Zuckerberg and gang!

The service then really began with the choir and piano playing more music. This time was for prayer and reflections. As someone who grew up in a traditional Mennonite church setting, I am very familiar with the good old hymnals. By all means I wasn’t a fan when I was young, I thought them to be old and boring. And looking through the eyes of a child, yes, I can understand that. They aren’t by any means upbeat and or up to date with the current worship music of our times. But as someone who is a little older now, remember almost 30, I now see them as calming and simple in their ways. Simple, not meaning anything other than that I find my mind can be calm and steady while listening to them, entering into a meditative space.

There were many hymnals played or sung or both, during this service. The first hymnal that everyone was asked to sing was called, “Be Thou My Vision.” Right after the music ended the Reverend stood up and said that it was repentance time. He offered a prayer and told us to kneel if possible.

I’ll be honest, I have some PTCS (post traumatic church syndrome) with kneeling. Which I guess I should get over if I plan on attending a Catholic service at some point. (Maybe I can find a service online… they won’t know I didn’t kneel 20 times throughout the service, right?) Anyways, as a child I remember the pastor very rarely, I emphasize very rarely, asking the congregation to kneel. I don’t recall why we were asked to kneel, maybe it was in prayer, maybe it was for forgiveness. “Father, forgive me for feeling so utterly uncomfortable and despising that I am being asked to kneel right now! Can I please just disappear or could the rapture take place like right now, thanks! … Amen” -Me

It was just such a rare thing that I never grew accustomed to it. The process seemed foreign and it was in some strange way weird to see my parents kneel with the rest of the congregation. I felt so out of place and I’m sure I had the look of a dear in the headlights, filled with panic when the pastor would call upon the congregation to bow down. Everyone else looked so “into it”. They knelt down on both knees, bowed their heads, some would face the front of the room, others would turn around and bow down, face first on their chairs. (Think of the germs now on your face, really!)

Yes, I would kneel, so as not to be the only one standing, looking like what, I didn’t love Jesus or something and therefore wouldn’t bow before him? I took a knee and bowed my head, truly contemplating where we go for lunch in 30 minutes. Important things to think about, obviously.

So that is my story with taking a knee in church. And I imagine if I had attended St. Thomas in person, I would have had the deer in the headlights look and then looked around to make sure Everyone else was also kneeling. If there were a few who just sat, maybe my inner child would have spoke up within and said, yes, I can love Jesus and sit with the rest of you! And then I would have sat down.

Well after the singing and kneeling, it was time to jump into the meat of the service. The sermons, and yes that is plural.

The first sermon was from Exodus 17:1-7, although they call them readings, not sermons. Exodus 17 speaks of the Israelites complaining to God and Moses that they are in the wilderness without any water. God finally tells Moses to travel ahead of the people and strike a rock with his staff so that water will pour out for his people. After the reading, the Reverend and congregation said in unison, “Thanks be to God.”

And I should add, the Reverend did mention at the beginning with announcements that their doors were still open. He said that technically the in person services were now meant to be viewed online, but if one did decide to show up, they would not kick you out.

The second reading came from Romans 5:1-11. The Reverend summed up this reading by saying, “Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces hope and hope does not disappoint us. Thanks be to God.”

The third reading was from Reverend Kelly Demo. She read from John 4:5-42, which spoke of the Samaritan woman meeting Jesus at the well. They do actually read word for word each verse. From what I understand their service hand outs would have all the readings written out word for word. Each Reverend carried a hand out and they looked as though there were multiple pages, which makes sense because, besides announcements, everything that was read by a Reverend from which was in their hand outs.

After the third reading was finished, Reverend Gav Demo set down his Sunday hand out and spoke freely. He said that each Sunday the church’s outline readings were from what they called the lectionary. The lectionary gave the readings at random but often Reverend Demo said that he couldn’t help but notice how the readings often lined up with what was happening with the community in real time.

The Israelites were lost in the wilderness, they were terribly thirsty for water. Aren’t we all thirsty right now for community? We may not be lacking actual water but more so what the water stands for, something we so desperately need as human beings, community. We are being asked to social distance ourselves right now so as not to spread this virus, but yet it is our human desire to be close to one another in some extent or another.

In John we see the woman at the well sitting before Jesus. Again, aren’t we all thirsty for something right now. She may not have even know it, but she was thirsty for a savor, she was thirsty for “The living water.” Reverend Demo challenged those listening to take hope from Jesus and then to go out and share it in some way with others. Offering help (without physical contact) or reaching out and encouraging others during this time of crisis.

He ended his speech with saying this, “It’s okay to be frustrated, but just don’t stay there.” I loved this! Yes, it’s okay to feel whatever you may feel during this time, but just don’t hold onto that negative emotion for too long. It’s not going to get you anywhere better. Instead take in hope and let that be passed on to others right now.

The service ended with everyone reciting the Apostle’s Creed, singing another hymnal, the General Thanksgiving prayer, Reverend Mother Kelly praying the intercessions (prayer requests for that service), another prayer that everyone recited, a few ending announcements and then finally ending the last few minutes of the service with how it began, with music and the choir.

St. Thomas Episcopal Church of Overland Park was very traditional. I honestly didn’t know what to expect with visiting this church. Through the readings I felt a bit of a disconnect from the Reverends and well me. Maybe it was the lack of eye contact and the monotone voice of reciting the versus and prayers. It was when Reverend Demo finally set down his hand out and spoke from the heart that I started to see him for who he was. Someone who cared about his congregation and those viewing online. I finally saw passion for what he believed and connected to him as a human being.

Tradition is very important to many, if not all of us in some form or way. As I have gotten older, I have questioned the traditional ways I grew up with. And to be perfectly honest, I find myself in a place where I question more things than not. It’s where I am on this journey. Maybe even part of the reason why my 30 religions before 30 project has sparked such an interest in me. I think as I get older, I am shedding the skin of my past childhood traditions and find myself wanting to step foot on a path where I get to make up my own.

I call myself a Christian but through this journey I have picked up parts in other religions that I want to incorporate in my own life. The Atheist’s non judgmental mindset, the Buddhist’s meditation and chanting, the Baptist’s true love of music, the Mennonite’s tradition and modern mix and now the Episcopal’s ways of keeping hold of important traditions. All of these are beautiful in their own ways and are things that I too want to embody.

I just finished reading Michelle Obama’s latest book, Becoming, a few weeks ago and I took a picture of her last paragraph because it sent a chill down my spine and gave me butterflies in my stomach, which was a good mix! Here’s what she had to say…

“Le’ts invite one another in. Maybe then we can begin to fear less, to make fewer wrong assumptions, to let go of the biases and stereotypes that unnecessarily divide us. Maybe we can better embrace the ways we are the same. It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about where you get yourself in the end. There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This for me, is how we become.” -Michelle Obama