Week 16 - Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

beautifulsaviorlutheran.com

This week found us back in the Lutheran tradition again. Loren has visited Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church a couple of times, many years ago, for Scout Sunday with a Cub Scout Pack our boys were in. It was nice to enjoy a service not having to keep an eye on a group of squirmy 1st-5th grade boys. Loren's parents were in town and, being the adventurous souls they are, joined us in our little project.

BSLC is a modest sized congregation that holds two Sunday morning services. The auditorium seats about 200 and this week, at the later service, there was a sizable group with all ages in attendance. Plenty of natural lighting made for a well-lit, comfortable, setting with lots of natural wood tones. No visual aids were used during the service but a printed order of service was provided to each congregant to follow along with. 

Just prior to the service beginning the Cantor came out and prepped us for some new songs that we would be singing during the service. Throughout the service music was lead by the Cantor accompanied by an organ. As we have come to expect the congregation is actively involved in nearly all aspects of the service; through responsive readings, responsive prayers, and song. As we have experienced elsewhere, BSLC practices an open communion so we of course took advantage of the whole experience. This time Laurie was prepared for real wine.

This week's service was focused on "Jesus as the Good Shepherd." In keeping with what we have come to expect there was  a short children's sermon first and about 20 children came to the front to sit with the pastor. One member brought in an Australian Shepherd dog as an object lesson of how the shepherd takes care of the sheep. 

The pastor's messages was taken primarily from Psalm 23, the classic passage often referred to as "the Shepherd's Psalm," and known by many whether they attend church regularly or not. The pastor lead us in a thoughtful look at why sheep need a shepherd and how this relates to Christ's role as the Good Shepherd. One thing that becomes apparent is that sheep are not terribly bright and without the watchful care of the shepherd they are prone to trouble. Not exactly a complementary image for us as the sheep if you think about it. We were admonished to be wary of those the pastor called "wolves in shepherd's clothing," or "false shepherds."

We did experience a first for us this week however. We both come from fairly conservative Baptist traditions and so the idea of women leading the service is not part of our experience. BSLC's pastor is a woman and this week Pastor Christie Manisto was assisted primarily by women throughout the service. One thing was abundantly clear, BSLC is all about serving each other and the community. From numerous community service activities, to the very warm welcomes we received from many, to Pastor Chris greeting, and hugging, each congregant on their way out. As guests we received what Pastor Chris calls "a hug and a mug" for visiting.

All and all an uplifting and encouraging time.

New addition to Loren's ever growing mug collection.

Week 10 - St. Andrew Lutheran Church

www.salcvan.org

This week took us back to the "High Church" side of Christian tradition. Lest one thinks this is a pejorative be at ease, it is simply a term that identifies a church or denomination that follows and practices a liturgical and ritualized form of worship. 

Like our previous Lutheran visit St. Andrew Lutheran Church follows the same structure in their service. This was nice because we had a better idea of what to expect and, hopefully, consequently had less of a bewildered look about us. We are quick learners but it did help that St. Andrew's provided a detailed guide to the morning's liturgy, including all songs, responsive readings, and instructions for communion. Speaking of communion, they practice an open communion so we were able to partake this time. 

We entered through a spacious, well-lit, lobby into the main meeting room. Plenty of natural light is available from the lobby and a large skylight located above the altar-area in the front. This Sunday the lobby was set up to display hand-crafted items that were being silent auctioned off to support the St. Andrew Preschool. The auditorium itself is a unique modern design that accentuates the beautiful pipe organ set off to one side. This might be blasphemous but, in Loren's opinion, a pipe organ beats a six piece band on any given Sunday. The use of technology was limited but provided an alternative to following along in the printed booklet. One little criticism has to do with the sound system. There were times when the ambient noise in the room made it difficult to hear the speaker even though they were mic'd. That being said the acoustics of the room allowed for the voices of congregants to be easily heard, raised in unison during the singing of hymns. 

The theme of the message was "For the sake of witness." Drawing from scripture passages in the liturgy we looked at the call of Jeremiah and the story of the prodigal son to see how when we put aside our fears we open up opportunity for being a witness. Jeremiah put aside his fear of rejection by the people and the prodigal son put aside his of rejection by the father. In doing so they demonstrated a great witness of God's loving and gracious nature. The pastor's message was short and to the point. He didn't delve much into the scriptural basis of the message but rather offered clear, everyday, examples of how it might look to put aside fear like the two biblical examples. 

Starting on this project we knew that we would encounter things that contrasted with our conservative Evangelical church upbringing. This week was probably the biggest contrast to date. St. Andrew's has an Associate Pastor and Assistant Minister, both of whom are women. Now if you're a life-long Evangelical you probably felt a shiver go down your spine right about now. We call women "Director of ..." all the time, but "Pastor," not on your life. Of course for many in the Protestant tradition women pastors are nothing new. The reality is that in the Evangelical tradition women have functioned in pastoral roles for decades we just don't acknowledge it as such.

One thing was abundantly clear about St. Andrew's; they are a vibrant community that cares about "the least of these."

Week 2 - Peace Lutheran Church

www.peacelutheranvancouverwa.com/

This week was a bit of a throw-back for the two of us. In our childhoods each of our families attended churches that practiced more formal service styles. In a time when tradition is often treated as something to be spurned it was nice to participate in a service that is steeped in centuries of Christian heritage. 

One thing that stood out in particular was the congregation's involvement, common with a liturgical practice. Throughout the service the congregation participated in either responsive readings or songs. If you are unfamiliar with this, it is when the pastor (in this case) reads a passage and the audience responds by reading the next passage or singing a short stanza. The parts to be read or sung are provided in a book available at the seats. For the uninitiated, like us, it took a bit to catch the flow and rhythm so at times felt awkward. But this is true with any new experience. Even with a more formal approach we both were surprised at how quickly the time flew. We covered a lot of ground in a short time.

This week was to begin Epiphany but due to snow last week's service was canceled so we did catch up and finished the Christmas season. Leading up to the teaching portion of the service the Pastor lead us through several scripture readings from Genesis, Psalm, Galatians and Luke. Each passage laying the foundation for his message about the gift of God's son, with a great tie in to the tradition of gift giving at Christmas time. The message was to the point with an easily relatable application focusing on Zechariah's (father of John the Baptist) joyful response at the birth of his son [Luke 1:68-75]. Not your typical Christmas message but offered a new way of understanding an event often glossed over in the story of Jesus arrival. The pastor's thoughtful insights, sprinkled with humor, added to his message's application.

Peace Lutheran has a comfortable meeting room, seating probably less than 200. As last week there was no use of technology in performing the service. Songs and scripture passages are provided either in the weekly program or books at the seats. The organ is located in a balcony behind the seating below, its music filling the room without need for amplification. Well lit with both natural and artificial light the environment is warm and welcoming. 

We were warmly greeted by a few people and were not made to feel like our visit was an unusual occurrence. To be fair we didn't stay around after the service so we didn't provide opportunity for people to reach out to us further as visitors. We did notice that among the membership there is public recognition of both the joys and trials of life. After the service two women, ages 80 & 85, were celebrated with a cake for each. Granted one celebration was delayed due to snow the week before. Prayer was offered specifically for those who had recently been touched by death or sickness in the family. A small community, Peace Lutheran has members representing young children to elderly, giving the sense that people might be more aware of what each is experiencing.

It has been many years (decades?) since we experienced this form of meeting with God and yet there was something refreshing and authentic about our time at Peace Lutheran Church.