I spent a good bit of the past three days (Thursday-Saturday) at a large, nondenominational church in a town in the foothills half-way between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. I was asked to come and teach the Lay Counseling Training Seminar that I do for other churches closer to my home.
I knew very little about this church, except that it was large church (ASA of about 2500). The woman in charge of this area of ministry in their church contacted me after being given my name by two different churches. I hadn't met her or any of the staff before I went up the hill on Thursday to start teaching. I was a little nervous about the job, not knowing them or the expectations they had for the training. And, come to find out, last week they got really nervous about me, realizing that they had hired me "blind", without the benefit of an audio tape or even seeing my written materials!
I met C. (the lady who hired me) at the church, even though the training was taking place at a different venue. I was introduced to some of the staff, one of whom was the senior pastor, though you would never have know it by his youthful appearance and casual dress. As I met more of the staff I was struck both with how friendly and how "at home" most of these people seemed to be in their own skin. There were very genuine and I found myself drawn to them.
It was rather unusual for me to feel such a kindred spirit with people whom I hardly new. Part of the reason was the setting. I am not drawn to the "mega church" structure or mentality. Their worship center is a large auditorium with orange plastic chairs and a large stage, complete with drums and large speakers and more electronic equipment that I could name. As a liturgical Christian who loves to worship in my old, stained-glass filled church with an organ and choral music and weekly Eucharist, I thought,"I could attend a concert here, but I would find it difficult to worship here."
However, as I got to know the people over the course of the three days I found myself truly awe-struck by the ways in which these people lived the gospel. I taught a group of about 40 people, most of whom were leaders of some sort in the church (elders, pastors, and lay leaders). They seemed not at all interested in how to grow their church numbers, but, they were VERY interested in how to meet the real physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people in their surrounding community!
Most of their "programming" was geared toward helping others. They had over 20 ministries devoted to meeting the needs of hurting people, most of whom were not church going folk! I was blown away by the number of ministries they had and the way in which they appeared to integrate with ease people from any walk of life into their community. They seemed to incarnate the saying of St. Francis, "
Preach the gospel at all time, if necessary, use words."
Before I left on Saturday, one of the ladies stood up and asked if the group could pray for me and for my church (the larger Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion). All 40 people in the room stood up and gathered around me to pray. I was literally brought to tears as these people prayed for me, for my parish back in the Central Valley, and for the issues of the larger Episcopal church. They prayed for unity, for repentance, and for healing in a denomination with which most of them were unfamiliar. It didn't matter. What mattered to them was that I (and the Episcopal church) was part of the body of Christ and we were hurting.
I met Jesus anew as I taught these people. I was both blessed and changed as a result of encountering them. May God bless this church and its people!
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