Talkin’ to the Pastor

Today I sent Pastor M an email.  As promised here is the email.

 

Dear Pastor M,

After church on Sunday, you invited me to email you with questions and I am taking you up on that offer.

Here is our long story short:  My husband and I both grew up in non-instrumental, conservative churches of Christ.  We both went to a church of Christ university and then left organized religion completely for a few years.  Once we decided it was time to have children, we went back to the conservative church of Christ where my husband grew up.  We attended there faithfully for about 7 years.  Unfortunately, over the years, our beliefs and the doctrine of the church of Christ have grown further and further apart until we feel that we can no longer in good conscience stay in the church of Christ.  Now we are on a journey to find a church that is right for us.  We have no desire to be “church hoppers.”  We are looking for a church that will be our home for many, many years; a church where we will raise our children.  Consequently we are moving very slowly and carefully through this process.

I do have questions about two specific issues.  They may sound silly but they are both important issues to us and I ask your patience.

First question:  What does your church teach on the consumption of alcohol?  Obviously this issue is on a continuum.  I think we both could agree that a man who abuses alcohol to the point where he endangers his family is committing a sin and needs help.  But is having a glass of wine with dinner a sin as well?   Is one glass of wine the first step on a slippery slope or is the line somewhere in the middle?

Second question:  The same with modesty.  Obviously a woman who came to church in a bikini would be disruptive and would either be asked to leave or given other clothes to put on.  But is it a sin to go to a public beach or swimming pool in a bikini?  What about a one piece bathing suit?   Is it a sin to exercise in shorts in a public place like a gym?  Is it a sin for a man to swim without his shirt?  Where is the line?

I have done quite a bit of research on the Disciples of Christ and know that the Disciples value their freedom in Christ.  I know that opinions vary widely and many issues like these are left up to the individual congregations.  If you could just give me a general idea of how your congregation views these two issues I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance for your time and understanding.

 

 

The DoC is also having a 40 day “Children’s Lent” not sure what this is or why we are doing it but my children love it.  They gave us a list of “suggested prayers.”  The last thing we do before we leave the house in the morning is light two candles and say the suggested prayer.  Then the kids blow out their candles.  It is a beautiful way to start the morning.  If I forget, my daughter always reminds me.  I love things like this but I don’t understand them.  I know some understanding will only come with time but I am hoping the Intro to the DoC class will answer some of these questions.  I look forward to taking the class.

 

Wow that was quick!  About 3 hours after I emailed Pastor M, I got a response.  I love full time ministers!  Here is his response:

Hi,

First, it has been great to have you all in church and I hope you have found a warm welcome among the people of our church.  I appreciate that you are taking your time to find the place of worship and ministry that is best for your family.  As you probably are aware the Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ have a common history in that we both trace our roots back to the Stone-Campbell Movement, also known as the Restoration Movement.

In answer to your questions.  I do not think having an alcoholic drink is wrong.  I will have a glass of wine with my dinner on occasion and have been offered a drink in some church member’s home.  You would not find that a matter in our congregation.  We aren’t big partiers at all, but do think there are much more important matters for the church to be concerned with.  Modesty is a culture phenomenon in many ways, what is modest in one culture is not in another.  I work out at the Y on a regular basis, and a number of us in the church, male and female, ride bicycles together.  There are shorts and tank tops that are worn, but we are all adults who respect each other as friends and we are out exercising – so we wear what is comfortable.  (I do like that the school systems have put some more emphasis on appropriate dress for a learning environment.)

With both matters that you raise, you probably wouldn’t encounter much time spent with them at our church.  Though sin is a reality, we seek to focus more on the fact that in Christ we have been redeemed and are called to live a life full of love,  grace, and good works that glorify God and helps others to experience God’s love.  This is why our church mission statement is that we are a congregation “that seeks to thoughtfully and faithfully follow Jesus.”

I hope that helps to answer your questions.  I look forward to seeing you whenever you and your family are with us.

Pastor M

Want to know the first thing I thought? —– Well he didn’t say it wasn’t a sin to swim.  Now that I have brought this issue up, I wonder if he will preach a sermon on the sin of swimming?!  Thank you screwed up church of Christ thinking!

All in all, it was a great respectful letter.  Perfect I would say.  I am glad I emailed him.  I think I got a more concise answer over email.

Now the last “must agree” issue I have is Halloween.  Ideally, they would have a Halloween outreach, like a trunk or treat or safe trick or treating, second choice would be that they are open to me starting something like that , third choice would be they don’t do anything but they don’t condemn Halloween.  The thing I could not tolerate is them condemning Halloween as a sin.  I don’t think that will happen but I have lived in this town long enough to know that anything is possible.

The church where my son goes to preschool had a Halloween party last year.  This year a new person took over and said Halloween parties are sinful.  So no Halloween party for my son’s class, SUCK!!  When did we decide a little kid dressing up in a costume was a sin?  Sometime I worry about this culture.  Rush Limbaugh calling a speaker before congress a slut is ok but a little boy in a batman costume is an affront to our religion!  REALLY!  I don’t know why this issue is such a big deal to me but it is equally as important as drinking and modesty.  I really want to email the pastor back and ask him about Halloween but I think that is too much craziness for any pastor to handle in one day.    I think that the Halloween question might be a great one to save for the parents at the Little Disciples meeting.   Wish me luck.

~ by guideguardanddirectus on February 8, 2013.