Monday, December 28, 2015

Bucket List of Faith: Twelve Down {{Miss' Perspective}}



Greetings from the mister and soon-to-be-mrs., as we recount some of our favorite experiences on the Bucket List of Faith thus far. (For more information on what the BLoF is, see this blog post.) 

Today, I share with you my experiences thus far on the road. I have certainly grown in and cemented a majority of my personal beliefs, as well as gained a great appreciation for other beliefs and cultures. While I have attempted to speak fairly and justly on most churches,  I cannot discount what made me uncomfortable or just plain angry. But I am okay with sharing that; it was inside those experiences that I found my peace.

I've asked the mister to step in with me as we talk about some of the things we've seen and experienced so far. Basically, I emailed this to him and he filled in his parts. I've also included a photo of each location; I scrapbook the photos and all paraphernalia we receive as a marker of where we've been and a chart of how we've grown. His responses are featured here; enjoy!

Background on the Miss
I converted from a non-denomination Protestant church where I was active, a Sunday school teacher, and considered myself well-read; I was confirmed in the RCC this past Easter vigil. Since converting I've sought out as much information as possible on the RCC and thus consider myself fairly well-catechized. The BLoF was started when I decided that I wanted to learn more about other faiths for the sake of knowing and understanding. Through this journey I have grown leaps and bounds in strengthening my own personal beliefs. When I walk into a church I ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit that I may learn and be receptive to what He would like me to learn about others and myself, and attempt to clear my mind from any and all pre- and mis-conceptions.


Places Visited So Far
Roman Catholic
August 12, 2015
A baldachin and tapestry for Our Lady of Guadalupe
Well, as we are Roman Catholic, we've visited quite a few! I challenge myself to find something unique in each church and learn more about it, such as a saint I've never seen, a style of side altar, a baldachin... the list goes on and on. To sum up my experience; if I hated it, I would never have joined.

Episcopalian/Anglican 
November 29, 2015
Some beautiful stained glass.
I initially came out of this service shaken and unsettled. After a careful examination of my feelings, I determined that it was because I did not quite know what was happening. The drummer occassionally interrupted the pastor, people were making the sign of the cross at what seemed to be random times, and the entire idea of optional Real Presence caused me to choose a blessing instead of receiving communion. When we chatted with the pastor afterwards, he was cold upon discovering we were Roman Catholic and poked a bit of fun at Pope Francis. All that aside, I could sense a true community within the church with shaking hands and recognition of special events in personal lives, and that was nice.

Methodist 
December 20, 2015
Altar-like worship area. Blue is for Advent.
We visited a local Methodist church with two of our best friends, who happen to be Methodist. We were a tad bit late so I can't speak for the whole service, but the sense of community was certainly strong. There were aspects I saw carried over from the Catholic church, such as the Our Father and a halo around the Blessed Mother, but the sermon was a bit confusing. While I certainly got a feel-good message about the movie It's A Wonderful Life, I walked away not actually positive what the focus of the sermon was or what the Scriptural basis was.

Latter-day Saints (Mormon) 
December 12, 2015 (no service)
Selfie.
Unfortunately we were not able to attend a service for the Church of Latter-Day Saints (yet, but if anyone is a Mormon we would love to tag along!) but we were able to sneak in on a Saturday when two organists were practicing. The space appeared much plainer to me than my normal worship surroundings and we weren't necessarily welcomed in with open arms or conversation, but I was struck by how fondly the parishoners spoke to one another. They used "brother" and "sister" to refer to one another, something I related to in the depths of my memory. The lack of cross and general Jesus-related paraphanalia was interesting, to say the least, and I would absolutely love to learn more about the church's beliefs considering my biggest exposure is The Book of Mormon and South Park.

Unitarian Universalists 
December 12, 2015 (no service)
Again, we did not attend a service so I cannot speak to the liturgical content. We saw a poster detailing the beliefs of the congregation with some striking similarities to the Catholic church; I must admit I still know very little of this denomination. The sanctuary reminded me of some old-school revivals, and the stage was admittedly barren. I am curious as to if they have worship, and if so, what songs?

The picture is of a table outside the sanctuary. I see that there is some celebration of a winter holiday, but as there was no mention of God, Jesus, or Mary, I don't know what holiday this is referencing. It was a lovely set-up though and I do admire that wreath.

Orthodox (Greek) 
August 15, 2015 (no service)
Iconostasis and main painted dome.
Simply gorgeous. If you thought Roman Catholic churches were ornate... my golly! I had no words upon entering. What a beautiful reminder of God's majesty and the stories that form our faith's foundation. Since they are in communion with us and also believe in Real Presence, I am glad that my veil was with me! You may notice they have an iconostasis, or separation between the nave (layfolk) and the sanctuary (God and priests as permitted); this harkens back to the Old Testament and the temple as an ancient tradition. We reflect this belief of respecting the presence of God through our small tabernacles in adoration chapels and on altars. The Mister says that standing the entire service is common; I would absolutely love to attend a divine liturgy some day.

Orthodox (Russian) 
December 12, 2015 (vespers)
Panorama of the space including iconostasis.
We did not attend a service, but rather evening prayers (vespers). The Mister speaks Russian; I do not beyond a few words and sentences. The space was small, inside a house with limited parking, but beautiful and clearly adhering to guidelines. The artwork was absolutely magnificent and the folks seemed friendly, though only three small families attended. The iconostasis separating the nave from the sanctuary was occassionally open and shut, the priest changed clothes, almost everything was in Russian, I was more than a little lost, and I ended up spending the time in quiet reflection and prayer. Not a bad way to spend an evening. I would love to learn more about this little branch of Orthodoxy. It would be lazy of me to note that while we consider them in full communion with us, they do not have the same beliefs and we would not be welcome to receive Eucharist at their church. Though the priest was friendly even after discovering we were Roman Catholic... not all clergy are, sadly.

Eastern Catholic (Maronite) 
October 11, 2015
The veiled altar.
The Maronite church is simply a different rite within the Roman Catholic church, using a liturgical language of Syriac (Christian Aramaic, basically the language used by Christ) instead of Latin and having a slightly different order of business. The church we visited was small and stunningly beautiful. In an interesting turn of events, they used a veil that was drawn back to denote a separation between nave and sanctuary, not unlike a semi-permanent iconostasis. This was easily the friendliest church we have visited; the Mister and I were welcomed whole-heartedly as a cousin would be into a family reunion and placed to sit with an established couple that guided us quietly through the ceremony.

Non-denominational Protestant  
December 24, 2015
The main focus of the space. It felt more like a concert.
This was the hardest section to write about. I grew up non-denominational and was incredibly involved, but always felt like something was lacking. Returning to a nondenom for a Christmas service following nearly a year of pursuing my faith in the Catholic church, I was finally able to pinpoint why. The main reason could be summed up in this sentence: the cross was replaced by a projection screen. The sermon was short, but theologically unsound, changed the meaning of Scripture, and so non-offensive that there was no message at all. There was nothing inside or outside the church to suggest it was a church, and the crowd was antsy and uninterested. While I certainly appreciate the giving efforts of the church as a whole, I found myself unsettled by a philosophy that seemed to end right before true humility before a mighty and powerful Creator began. I am sure this is not the experience of all non-denom. churches, but it was overwhelmingly my experience with one.

Salvation Army 
December 22, 2015 (no service)
The altar says: "MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THEE"
Yes, this is actually a church, and a massive one at that. We visited the local citadel, located inside an adult male rehabilitation center, and were given a tour by the chaplain. The Lt. Seg. (chaplain) had essentially the role of a deacon and was incredibly friendly, but made some nasty cracks at the Catholic church that were not appreciated. We were able to meet the Major and his wife and tour some of the facility. While we heard quite a bit about the impressive social mission of the Army, we got nothing about their actual beliefs save a passing remark of their similarity to the Church of the Nazarenes. The chapel was small and simple, with some familiar material--i.e., an altar and Advent wreath.

Hinduism 
December 22, 2015 (observed part of darshan)
The back!
While killing time before Star Wars and in search of a gift for a dear Hindu friend, we stumbled across a beautiful temple. While Catholics certainly have beautiful insides, the outside and inside of this temple were breathtakingly stunning. We wandered in at the end of darshan, a time similar to Adoration, and had some time to explore the grounds before the sun set. There were an insane amount of similiarities between Hinduism and Catholicism: mandalas/labyrinths for prayer, dharma/adoration, grottos... the list goes on.

Buddhism 
August 15, 2015 (no service)
The entrance; no interior photos allowed.
Right down the road from us, a temple is nestled into the hill country. It was certainly peaceful and beautiful; we were not able to get many photos. The folks we talked to were friendly and from the time I visited before, the food at the restaurant was deliciously vegetarian. Overall, a nice change in scenery.

Places Left in the BLoF
  • Lutheran (ECLA)
  • Lutheran (LCMS)
  • Lutheran (WELS)
  • Presbyterian (PCUSA)
  • Baptist(non-SBC)
  • Baptist (SBC)
  • Church of Christ
  • Orthodox (Antiochian)
  • American Catholic Church
  • African Methodist Episcopal
  • Pentecostal (Assemblies of God)
  • Disciples of Christ
  • Nazarene
  • Seventh-day Adventist
  • Quakers
  • Christian Scientists
  • Judaism (Reform)
  • Judaism (Conservative)
  • Islam
  • Sikhism
  • Baha’i
Thank you all for reading and keeping up on our journey so far! If you have ever undertaken a journey like this, we would love to know where you ended up!

Much love,
Maria

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