Today I went to a new (to me) church on Arcola Ave in Wheaton. I think it will also be my last time there. It was Silver Spring Christian Reformed Church. Sounds innocuous, right? I thought it would be generic Christian, no problem. Research shows that it has roots in the 1850s in Michigan and Holland.
Service started at 11 with a few nice hymns (there were a lot of hymns at this service), readings, prayers, and then the sermon. It was "Little Christ's" - starting with a reference to Lewis Carroll's book on religion, which was nice. Then he said we are all Little Christ's, which sounded good. Reminded me of in Buddhism how we all have a Buddha Nature that we need to connect with and dwell in to live happy fulfilling lives. From there it all went off track badly, according to me. I try to separate politics from religion, and keep my spiritual life apart and more holy than my everyday beliefs. The pastor today was a guest preacher from Vienna, VA. Early in the sermon he mentioned that Jan 22 was the 40th anniversary of Roe vs Wade (a celebration I hadn't noticed passing). That was his excuse for anti-choice rhetoric at a couple of different points in the sermon. The first time was relatively short so I gave him the benefit of the doubt and kept paying attention respectfully. The second time was longer and totally put me off.
I have a problem with older men and other people who will never be in the shoes of a distraught woman considering a pregnancy passing judgement on them. What happened to freedom for all? How can they pretend to know what is best for people whose shoes they've never walked in? This was the first time I've ever heard a preacher talk about this issue directly from the pulpit. Shocking for me.
When I first arrived I talked briefly to the woman that I sat next to. She was also in her 30s and we seemed to have a lot in common, so i thought that was a good sign. She must have also been visiting because after the sermon she totally got up and walked out. I considered following her, but thought I may as well stay till the end since it was nearly over anyways. Neither one of us donated when they passed around the offering request after the sermon. Every other time I've gone to church service I have dropped money in, but this time it felt wrong to donate even a little bit of money to this church since it might use it in ways that are wrong to me.
I've been exploring a different Wheaton area church each Sunday, so stay tuned for other reviews! I have two others that I've visited and not yet written about -- will add them soon in new posts!
Service started at 11 with a few nice hymns (there were a lot of hymns at this service), readings, prayers, and then the sermon. It was "Little Christ's" - starting with a reference to Lewis Carroll's book on religion, which was nice. Then he said we are all Little Christ's, which sounded good. Reminded me of in Buddhism how we all have a Buddha Nature that we need to connect with and dwell in to live happy fulfilling lives. From there it all went off track badly, according to me. I try to separate politics from religion, and keep my spiritual life apart and more holy than my everyday beliefs. The pastor today was a guest preacher from Vienna, VA. Early in the sermon he mentioned that Jan 22 was the 40th anniversary of Roe vs Wade (a celebration I hadn't noticed passing). That was his excuse for anti-choice rhetoric at a couple of different points in the sermon. The first time was relatively short so I gave him the benefit of the doubt and kept paying attention respectfully. The second time was longer and totally put me off.
I have a problem with older men and other people who will never be in the shoes of a distraught woman considering a pregnancy passing judgement on them. What happened to freedom for all? How can they pretend to know what is best for people whose shoes they've never walked in? This was the first time I've ever heard a preacher talk about this issue directly from the pulpit. Shocking for me.
When I first arrived I talked briefly to the woman that I sat next to. She was also in her 30s and we seemed to have a lot in common, so i thought that was a good sign. She must have also been visiting because after the sermon she totally got up and walked out. I considered following her, but thought I may as well stay till the end since it was nearly over anyways. Neither one of us donated when they passed around the offering request after the sermon. Every other time I've gone to church service I have dropped money in, but this time it felt wrong to donate even a little bit of money to this church since it might use it in ways that are wrong to me.
I've been exploring a different Wheaton area church each Sunday, so stay tuned for other reviews! I have two others that I've visited and not yet written about -- will add them soon in new posts!
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