Religious Tour Part 3

Maumee Valley Church

I had the patience to experience a church today, but for the most part it left me highly confused all day.

This was my experience with a non-denominational Christian church, which that alone is confusing to me.  Christian is a denomination, but I suppose it means it does not subscribe to any existing church organizations.  So it would be fairly modern. Thankfully it is also right down the road; I was running a bit late this morning.  It was set in the countryside, so it had points for that.  It is obviously a modern church, and they were all very friendly.  Not quite creepy friendly, but borderline.  Their only real points came from them being so friendly.

I walked in and the pastor caught me immediately and introduced himself.  I know that I generally look like a deer in headlights on most days, but I felt a little like he was a hawk.  It really means that it is a small church and he personally knows everyone, that was quite clear.  He stopped me, invited me in and all that sort of stuff.  Two other guys, which I think are his supporters or something similar also said hi.  The pastor's wife said hi....there were a lot of introductions.  This was very different than the Catholic church, where I was invisible. 

So I sat down in a random chair, alone in the middle of the room feeling significantly awkward.  THEN the youth director had to say hi, and at that point I just wanted this to start.  I am not good at small talk, and even when I can muster small talk, I can't do it repeatedly.  A few agonizing awkward moments passed and their band started playing.  Band, like drum set and guitars band.  They all sang three or four songs, putting the lyrics on the powerpoint so everyone could sing along.  I tried to listen, but the only thing that ran through my head was the Christian Rock Hard episode of South Park.  It certainly was different than any church I've ever known of.
That wasn't too bad, had potential in my head for working for me.  They finished and all the young kids dashed out of the room and the pastor played this video.  Oh my dear gods....it made me extraordinarily uncomfortable and upset.  It was apparently based on a true story of some Japanese POW camp where they crucified this guy....and I don't even know.  I refused to watch it...I looked at the floor.  I couldn't do it.  The pastor said it tied into what they were discussing today, but to me it was just shock value.

They were talking about being a good christian, I think.  About doing things because you want to, not because you should.  Going to church because you feel that religious energy and want to honor it, not because good people go to church.  Okay, fine message...what the hell was the shock video for?

Honestly, the whole thing just confused me.  I can't even repeat what was said, because I understood so little of it.  The Catholic church was just ritual, that was easy to get....I got nothing from this pass.  Upon leaving I decided it was a rational idea to tell the pastor that.  He asked how I like it and if I had any questions.  Basically, I'm so confused I can't formulate a single question.  I got the basic idea, but the details elude me.  I told the Pastor that I had never been to church; recently, I've enjoyed saying that to people.  It's like a test.  The Pastor seemed a bit shocked and asked me the same old question "really?  never once?"  It seemed like he didn't know what to do with that and said "oh that's cool."  Imagine my perplexity at that statement...

So yeah.....I don't know what happened today.  I was just scared and confused....

The Tour:
St. Joseph's Catholic Church - Feb 6, 2011
Pagan Coven - Feb 9, 2011
Maumee Valley Church - Feb 20, 2011
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
First Unitarian Universalist Church
Toledo Zen Center
Harmony in Life Center