And this is, I think, the key. None of the churchgoers here have stated that the ‘nons’ were naive, that attending church is more productive than playing WOW, that it is a pointless waste of time to do something other than attend church, or that those who do not believe are intellectual six-year-olds (fairy tales).
Several folks in this thread seem unable to disagree without taking the opportunity to be offensive.
mmm
I don’t either. That is why I didn’t reference any such statement.
mmm
I went yesterday, about 11:00-12:15. Lutheran.
The pastor’s sermon, ironically enough, was a reflection about her brother who thinks The Church and Christianity are not only wastes of time, but also destructive. She went on to say that he leads a pretty moral, empathetic life, and is an all-around good guy. She then asked, “is he The Lost or are we?” (Yes, we had the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin, too.) Essentially, she (and I) believes that it is not for us to judge, that Jesus came to save all of us, and that it’s not so obvioust that someone must embrace Christianity per se to be saved.
Come to think of it, I think she may also have been inspired by the Ground 2 Cultural Center kerfuffle, as our church is close to the WTC site, and it was 9/12. Hence, “don’t judge my new-agey brother” may also mean “don’t judge other religions (i.e., Muslims).” Given my knowledge of the people in the congregation, though, I can guess we were all disgusted by the man in Florida who wanted to burn Korans, and we could all give a shit who builds a mosque where.
Shodan: It really doesn’t help to get defensive.
There is a difference between stating personal opinions and disparaging others. I for one did not say ANYONE who goes to church is wasting their time. If you think these comments are disparaging to people who did go to church then that is your problem.
I want to thank you all for your responses, I appreciate it very much.
I walk by a lot of churches, each day, walking my dog. I’m not a Christian but am always curious about what they will be talking about today! I have a better understanding now, so thanks!
(Mean Mr Mustard should consider a name change to Hypersensitive Mr Mustard. All non church attending people can be grouped together as disparaging, based on a few off the cuff remarks? But heaven forbid we judge all Church attenders based on a bunch of wanna be Koran burners. Unto others and all that. mmm should read that book a little harder, in my humble opinion. Especially that part about not judging others. Doesn’t seem a very Christian attitude to me.)
No. I haven’t been to one for anything other than a wedding, funeral or christening since boarding school. I’m not even a Christian, so that shouldn’t be a surprise.
Yes and no - church from 11-1. (Yesterday not today.) Left after the first hour due to MS related pain and weakness. The rest of the family stayed.
Hour 1 - Importance of forgiving others.
Hour 2 - Lessons from the Book of Joel.
Hour 3 - Three speakers - Faith, Hope and Charity, respectively.
Yes.
11:00 AM to about 12:15, with a fifteen-minute coffee hour afterwards.
Gospel reading was the parable of the lost sheep and the women with the lost coin. Sermon included the fact that this is sometimes called “the parable of the crazy sheperd” and “the parable of the obsessive-compulsive woman”, because in real life most folks wouldn’t go to such great lengths for a sheep or a coin. In other words, the meaning of the passage is that Jesus’ love goes way above and beyond the call of duty. Also urged us to reach out to the homeless and give more food to our food bank because demand is high.
Yes. 10:30 to 12:00.
There wasn’t a “proper” sermon, which happens maybe 10% of the time. One member reported on her missions trip to Africa. We were challenged to consider taking on a short-term missions trip ourselves. Then the pastor did sort of a 9/11 reminiscence with emphasis on the firefighters who gave their lives there and continue to risk their lives on a daily basis.
That is this weekend’s passage from one of the major sermon calendar guidebooks.
On Saturday, went to a Mass (at 5:00 PM) as part of my son’s Catholic private school school is starting event. Sermon was the sheep, the coin, and the prodigal son.
On Sunday, I missed our services at our Presbyterian church (My wife went to the 9:00 AM while I was coaching soccer), but the sermon was the sheep, the coin, and the prodigal son.
Eeewww.
Yes, I went to Kroger. That was church to me.
Moderator note
Nancarrow, a thread purporting to ask about people’s religious habits is not the place for snide allusions to a scandal affecting a particular religion or denomination. If you want to pit the RCC or discuss the pedophilia scandal, do it in an appropriate thread in the correct forum. Don’t do it in this thread.
Wow, that is a long time. You must be ordained or otherwise actively involved in the ministry.
I’m surprised that non-Catholics had the same Gospel reading as us.
I went yesterday from 9-10. We’re starting a series on First Timothy, but I was coming down with a sinus cold/headache/congestion so I can’t remember now what the sermon actually was about. Last week’s sermon was about how it’s more important to act in a spirit of love than to follow the rules. I attend a United Methodist church.
I forgot to.
I forget to a lot.
I went yesterday - we go to the second service which is 10:30-noon. However, yesterday I skipped the worship service (which I never do) to attend a concurrent discussion group happening in the Parish Hall about the Anglican Covenant. I was supposed to be an Usher for the main service so I had to switch with someone.
Normally we’re in church from 10:15 until about 12:30, depending on how long we hang around talking to people afterward.
ETA: I did look at the worship bulletin and saw that the Gospel reading was the parables of the lost sheep and lost coins. But I missed the sermon, which presumably referred to those parables.
Define “church”. I spent a couple of hours in a grove of giant sequoias…that qualifies in my book.
Yep, went yesterday. I sing in the “choir”, it’s more like a quartet, with an accordian player as our “organist”. Rehehersal was at 10, service at 10:30, lasted til 11:45. Lessons was lost sheep and coin. Homily was about the joy of finding what was lost, if we can rejoice for what we think was lost but was was found, think of what the angels feel when a sinner who was lost found their way to God by any name. Followed by coffee hour. Episcopalian.