I fulfilled my Sunday obligation and a New Year’s resolution for week #2 of 2024 by going to church on Sunday. While going to church is not something new or unusual per my New Year’s resolution, going to an Episcopal Church is. We had no idea what to expect other than it is located directly across the street from the Lutheran church we had recently abandoned because of the congregation’s homophobic harrassment of one of the one pastors who is openly gay. That pastor left the church and the area, but not before she pointed fingers on her way out. The church we left before that one had a homophobic pastor. Did we make progress going from a church with a homophobic pastor to one with a homophobic congregation?
The Flanigans don’t tolerate any mistreatment of others because of their race, creed, color, or sexual orientation. We do tolerate harmless jokes about the MAGA crowd, but that’s about it.
Q: Why did the MAGA crowd deny that German Christmas fruit bread is delicious?
A: Because Trump told them the bread is Stollen.
I literally just made up that joke, and I think that is painfully obvious. I’ll be workshopping that one for the next 11 months to get it ready for next Christmas.
Anyway, we checked on gaychurch.org (really!), and found an accepting Espiscopal church right across the street from our old church. The congregation was definitely welcoming, but seeing this as we slid into the pew was almost a deal-breaker for me.
I was thrilled to see as the service progressed that kneeling was optional, and the congregation kind of did their own thing between standing, sitting, and kneeling. I am pretty sure the kneeling is optional because of the age of the congregation and the number of knee replacements. I’m not saying the congregation is old, but they kept requesting to hear the Bible story about how long Methusaleh lived. I’m not saying the members are all older senior citizens, but they asked my wife and I if we would like to start a young adults group.
They even had vintage music.
I was careful leafing through the hymnal as I was afraid the pages may crumble due to age. I have to admit that for a small group of senior citizens, their choir was impressive.
Will we be back? Well, yes and no. No, not for church services. Yes, for this …
Apparently, it’s a drive-thru event. And 4PM is about the right time for dinner considering the age of the congregation.
We’ve got a couple more churches to explore in the area that we hope will meet our needs. We’ll be taking Hozier’s advice as he sings …
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 