Went to the church I grew up in to worship today, Centralia First Church of the Nazarene. It was fun to meet our new pastor, Rick Ryding and see some old friends, including 88-yr old Ed Haldy who was the one man you could always rely on for a “Hallelujah!” or “AMEN!” during the service. I’m glad I went.
Wasn’t as excited about the “Celebrate the Family” bulletin insert…here is the text from the bulletin:
CELEBRATE THE FAMILY: July 25, 6pm: Tiger Stadium
Authentic marriage is under a great attack in America today. We are convinced that the church must respond with knowledge, passion, and conviction. This event has been planned to fuel those things.
It is a special evening which has been designated by the Centralia/Chehalis Ministerial Association as a time to “Celebrate the Family!” Come and join hundreds of other people who have a conviction about the family and its importance. Join with other Families for this historic event for Lewis County!.
Was talking with a friend a few nights ago about this evening. Typically, it is a huge combined worship service, but they’re using recent political events concerning homosexual marriage as a springboard to bring the community together to celebrate the true family, apparently. I’m sure this will help our witness and our relationships with the GLBT community in Lewis County; most definitely. And this group of ministers believe the church should respond to this great attack with knowledge, passion and conviction…frankly, that scares me. I don’t really want to see what those three look like without grace, humility and compassion. I really don’t. I wonder…really, what’s the point? Do they think that by standing up for what they deem to be the “true” family, they’re going to convince homosexuals of the ‘evils’ of their ways? Do they believe that it’s simply their duty to make this public declaration of…well, hatred/intolerance/rejection? Will the Christian community ever fully welcome the GLBT community with open arms, as Christ would? Part of me is interested in going to this event just to see what it would be like…to go, and to try to imagine what an event like this would feel like if I were a homosexual Christian, or at least someone open to the possibility that God was out there, and maybe cared for me. Would I walk away from this evening feeling God’s love? Acceptance? Warmth of God’s embrace?