Since I've been in Sonora, I've had the opportunity to visit three different churches. It's been quite an adventure.
First I visited St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Sonora (pictured) which is a tiny little church and an historic sight. It's one of Sonora's famous landmarks. I attended this church alone and it was a really good experience. It was the first time I had been to an Episcopal church. The service was very dynamic. I felt a little awkward, because I wasn't familiar with their liturgy, so I did a lot of watching people to make sure I was doing everything right. But that's just it-- everyone participates; there's no pew-warming here. Though I did get the feeling that these people did this every week and that the forms had lost some of their meaning. It's a shame because the service is so well-crafted and very worshipful. But the people were very warm and welcoming to me. Good times.
The following week Andy was in town with me and we wanted to try out the local Presbytarian church. Andy's parents go to a Presbytarian church and we've always liked it. This place was also kind of small (bigger still than St. James) and the pastor was kind of boring. That is, until he totally started preaching politics from the pulpit! The theme of the morning was the persecuted church-- a topic near and dear to our hearts (mostly because Andy's mom) and he somehow saw that as a fitting opportunity to bring to the table his views on the war in Iraq. We literally almost walked out. We felt it was a slap in the face to every Christian around the globe that is suffering because of their faith. Not going back there!
This past Sunday we finally gave in and visited what seemed to be the trendiest church in town, Sierra Bible Church. They have three services and my host says that a lot of people attend there. Oh boy. Okay, as offended as we were last week, this place was just down right creepy. The good news is that the 8 am service was pretty full. The sanctuary apparently doubles as a carpeted gymnasium and they springboarded off that fact to create their theme: God's Gym. And, yes, they decorated their whole platform accordingly, complete with weightlifting equipment, a punching bag, fresh towels and the platform doors had curtains hung in front of them with signs reading "men's locker room" and "women's locker room." The words "God's Gym" were painted on the wall, the strategic lighting pointing out the fact. This would have been bad enough, but everyone who participated in the service continued this metaphor into their own language, which we both found to be rather repugnant and ingenuine, to say the least. The sermon was okay, but again, rather boring. I don't think I remember what it was about.
Andy says this is the model that our church is going for. He says appeals to the widest audience. He calls it McChurch. =) I find it to be cheap church, watered down, lacking substance. Maybe I'll call it Walmart Church.
