Why Go to Church?

If there were a church in Millinocket that I felt comfortable attending, I'd be in church every Sunday and Wednesday night. Although I believe that doing Bible study, devotionals, and worship at home, as a couple or as a family, would be acceptable to God, being part of a congregation makes you accountable, and I think we all need that from time to time.

I don't demand demand perfection from a congregation and I don't have any trouble being a member of a church whose theology I disagree with, in part, as long as the disagreements aren't what I would consider to be salvational.

I was a member of the Millinocket Baptist Church. I was a deacon. Then when we were involved in an unrelated political campaign here in Millinocket about fifteen years ago, the church president's husband, who wasn't even a member of the church, was on the other side of it. I opened the church one Sunday morning to find a table full of propaganda from the group that we were fighting and, as this was a political issue and not a religious issue, I threw it all in the trash. I would not have placed any of our propaganda on a table in the church lobby, since this stuff had no business in the church. I spoke to the pastor about it and found that he had given them permission, and he felt their agenda was good for the community, and so on. My wife and I quit attending and not one person so much as called to inquire.

There is one other Baptist church in town that I have attended from time to time, but not recently. It seems a little too dressy to me, and I don't know if I could feel as comfortable there as I have in other churches. There is a small church up north, near our camp, that we attend sometimes but it's a very small church. The pastor is sick now, and in Michigan with his son, and I don't know if anyone will be reopening that church.

The problem with home devotions, for us, is that there are too many things that get in the way. We do Bible studies here, and we have tried using recorded sermons from an Anabaptist church whose theology agree with me more than Baptist theology, but sometimes we forget and, at other times, there are phone calls that Michelle feels compelled to answer, or people coming over, and so on.

 

In my area there are Sunday morning services from a few local churches that are broadcast on local TV stations. There are a couple I really like more than the services I currently attend in person...they are more educational than strictly procedural (as Methodism tends to be), if that makes any sense. In fact, one of those churches (Baptist) is about an hour up the road in Richmond VA. I really need to go attend at least one Sunday, once COVID subsides.

A friend gave me a Quest Bible some years ago, with the admonishment that getting into scripture was our individual responsibility, and church being "dessert," as she put it. I've read the Bible all the way through probably half a dozen times in my life, sometimes straight through, sometimes using study guides that take you from Old Testament prophecy to the New Testament fulfillment, or guides that follow other study paths. But that's mostly head knowledge, and not necessarily spirituality. As I said, I'd like to find a good Bible study group. Traditional services are not focused.

I'm currently going to a church that's part of a 3 church "charge." They are individually too small to afford their own pastor, so pool resources and share one. Years ago the pastor rotated Sundays around the churches, with services being lay-led the other Sundays. These days the guy is a circuit rider, doing 3 services every Sunday. We are as one congregation that meets in different churches, but always help in each other's events.

The Methodist Church leadership tried to shut down two of them to consolidate resources (part of a nationwide thing at the time), but that went over like a lead balloon. But the church I initially attended only had 5 of us on any given Sunday: a husband & wife, their teenage daughter, me, and and an elderly member. Others might drop in every once in a while, but we 5 were the core congregation. I initially liked the intimacy, but there were not enough of us to really do anything of substance. I've since moved on to another one of the better-attended churches, the elderly member has health issues, and the daughter is away at college. So a typical Sunday these days has the husband and wife attending...that's it. They are attached enough to it that they will fund it all by themselves. Each of the other 2 churches has individuals there who would do the exact same thing, if it came to that.

It's really sad to see the small church dwindle, but this area is littered with such skeletons. That congregation was started in the 1700s. The founder's direct descendants still used to attend Homecoming. Francis Asbury (one of the first 2 UMC bishops in the states) delivered a sermon to the early congregation. The founder's license to perform marriages was signed by Patrick Henry. While not the original building, the current one is a fascinating building-in-a-building brick structure and is full of history. The old side entrance for slaves that led up to the balcony is still there, but blocked off by a "new" internal staircase. There's a Union soldier and a Confederate soldier buried side-by-side in the tiny cemetery. I've done my share of work on that old church, mindful of the long list of people who have likely done the same thing before me.