Church Woes

The pastor at the church we attend lost his call several months ago. The church has had a number of pastors filling in on Sunday mornings for the worship service and the district pastor has been teaching a mid-week Bible class and confirmation class each week. We have been blessed to have these wonderful men help our congregation during this time and it is such a blessing to hear God's Word each week.

Last Saturday, the former pastor had a letter printed in the local paper. He said that he resigned from our church (which doesn't bother me), but then went on to talk about a new mission congregation that he has started in another city. The church's mission is that it is an outreach for Christian cannabis users. There will be a doctor available to get people medical marijuana cards, a parish nurse to teach people how to grow cannabis, prepare it for smoking, and how to cook it. The church will also be teaching people how to market and sell the cannabis, even sponsoring an organic marijuana booth at the local farmer's market. According to this article, the LCMS supports this new mission.

It turns my stomach. While I don't personally support medical marijuana, it is a legal substance. My problem with legalized marijuana is that it will be misused and there will be other societal problems due to misuse. My concern with this letter is two-fold: First, it makes the church I attend appear to support this new mission. Secondly, the article makes an impression of shadiness. Does the doctor providing this medical marijuana permission card have an office on the premises? Does he/she do research into the individual's medical past? Will there be the appropriate tests and x-rays done verify the medical condition? It could be my bias when reading the article, but knowing the background of the individuals involved, I don't think so.

The church's mission is to preach God's Word and offer the sacraments. I have never heard of a church designed for one group of people specifically to further a political cause. I have participated with the prison ministry, which instructs prisoners in God's Word. Prisoners are unable to attend a church or Bible study due to their incarceration. The prison ministry is not a particular church, but a group of people from various churches mailing information and letters to inmates.

Christians who use medical marijuana should be welcomed in churches, just as all people are welcome. They should receive support and prayers from the members of their church, as should all the other members. What is the need for a specific church for a select group of people? Will non-cannabis users be unwelcome?

This article has left me feeling concerned and disturbed. There are so many questions that need answers. We had been planning on joining the church we attend in a few weeks. Does the LCMS truly sanction this new mission? Do I want to be in fellowship with something that gives the impression of a shady organization? The poor district pastor will be answering a lot of questions on Thursday, after Madelyn's confirmation class.

**************UPDATE*********************
3/7/2012
I learned tonight that the article has many misrepresentations. The new mission is NOT sanctioned by the LCMS, nor affiliated with it in any manner.

Churches

My two youngest daughters cried this morning when I explained that we would not be going to church today. This is the 3rd week that we have missed church. A few months ago, we began to visit a WELS church in a town about 30 miles to our east. The worship service was excellent and the members welcoming. So far, we haven't found any objections to the service. The problem is the distance and the price of gas. It costs about $20 to drive one round trip. Mike works on Sundays, but in the opposite direction of the church. So he needs to leave the service early to get to work on time. We can't afford to take two vehicles to church.

On Tuesday, Mike ran into the pastor from the Missouri synod church in our town. We had liked the church, but there were some things that bothered me. I feel that it is the pastor's calling to read scripture to the members. This church has older women read the scripture readings. There are a few other more minor things that bothered me, but it was a matter of my personal preference. Then the church, at the pastor's insistence, began to hold a contemporary service on Saturday (with a praise band and leader) and a folk service on Saturday morning. The traditional service was pushed to the earlier time of 8:30.

I've already discussed my concerns about the new types of worship that the church was offering and my increasing level of discomfort. The last time we attended was the Sunday that the pastor used the folk service instead of the traditional service with no prior notice.

During Mike's conversation with the pastor on Tuesday, we learned that the other services have been discontinued. The pastor stated that the members were not ready for alternative styles of worship. But, now I'm in a quandary. Do we return to attending the Missouri synod church because we can attend services each week and be involved in choir, youth group, and confirmation. A church where attendance isn't a financial burden? Or do we consider joining the church 30 minutes away, recognizing that we won't be able to attend each week and will not be able to participate in anything except worship service? I miss attending church each week. My soul yearns for communion on a regular basis.

Mike doesn't care what we do, but doesn't want us to join a church where I have reservations and am waiting for the next problem to appear. Why is finding a church home so difficult?

Advent

My family has missed advent services for the last few years. The drive to our previous church was too far for us to attend evening services. As I was getting ready to head over to out current church for choir practice, yesterday I remembered that choir was early due to the evening Advent service. We could go to Advent services this year!!

I yelled up the stairs for everyone to grab a quick supper and get dressed in matching, clean clothes while I was at choir. I told the children that I would race home after choir and pick them up for church. My youngest two girls were so excited to be able to go to church twice this week. Mike called me just before I walked out the door. He was coming home from work early, so we were able to go to church as a family. What a blessing to live close enough to church to attend evening services again!

Ups and Downs

My family had a great time today, just not with each other. Sometimes it's good to spend time with friends. We tend to spend so much time with each other, that fresh faces, personalities, and ideas are greatly appreciated.

Kate, Steve, and Joe spent the afternoon bowling with the robotics team. They were able to meet the new members and hang out with dear friends. It should be a great year!

While the older kids were bowling, I met a dear friend from the town where we used to live. We met in a town about half way between where we each live. She has the letterboxing bug too, so we spent the time looking for letterboxes. We managed to snag several boxes. It was so much fun to visit and laugh with her again.

We saw two deer in a nature preserve. One was huge and ran away as soon as it heard us on the hiking trail. The small, fairly young deer stood and watched us as we approached. I think we walked with 10 feet of where it was standing. Beautiful creatures!

Madelyn, Allie, and Paige spent the afternoon playing with neighborhood friends. They haven't had a lot of time to play lately, so it was a great afternoon for them as well.

Unfortunately, Mike was ill today, so he spent most of the day sleeping. At least with everyone out of the house, it was quiet enough for him to get a good rest.

At church today, I learned that the pastor wants to move the traditional worship service to early in the morning. He plans to have a folksong service at 10:30 and a contemporary service with a praise band Sunday evening. We are very disheartened. One of the reasons we visited this church was the traditional Lutheran service. I'm not sure if we will be joining this church after all. It was such a difficult decision to make to leave WELS and join a different denomination. We will be continuing to pray about our church dilemma.

Singing

Singing has always been something that I love to do. When I was still in school, I sang in the various choirs. As an adult, I sang in the church choir for many years. Since Paige and Allie joined our family, it was necessary to give up my choir participation. There was too much that needed to be done at home and the older children we busy and couldn't keep an eye on the younger children. The drive to church was another deterrent.

After deciding to join the church in our town, Amy and I joined the choir. There have been 3 practices since we joined. I had forgotten how much I enjoy harmonizing with other singers. Everyone has been quite welcoming. Amy feels really out of place because I am the next youngest choir member. She feels like we have joined the "white hair brigade."

Amy and I return to our pew after the choir sings and sit with the rest of our family. We cram in next too each other and end up sharing a hymnal. Amy and I have a similar singing-range. Katie has sung in choirs for years, but sings 1st soprano. The rest of my children either sing very quietly or are tone deaf. It makes a huge difference to sit next to someone who sings loudly and in the same part.

I'll miss Amy for many reasons when she finds employment and moves away from home permanently, especially when we're singing hymns in church.
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Catching Up

We got off to a good start this school year, but had some problems by day 2. Would you believe that two expensive school books are missing already? Steve's chemistry book and Madelyn's math book cannot be found anywhere! We tore the house up on Thursday without any success. I was so frustrated that we blew off school and went letter boxing all day. I know that I should have persevered, but the sun was shining, the wind was softly blowing through the open windows, and Mike had the day off from work. What's a frustrated mom to do? Everyone was much happier searching for letterboxes. We did go on a nice walk in the woods, so we accomplished nature study and all got a little exercise.

Friday, I forced everyone to complete their assignments in between loads of laundry. Everything got finished except for Madelyn's math and Steve's chemistry. We still haven't found the books. Mike was out of work early and got the pool taken down and packed up for the winter. After Mike finished with the pool, we headed to our nearby large town to purchase Amy's birthday gifts and look at clothes dryers. Our dryer broke 3 weeks ago and I've been hanging out all our clothes on clothes-lines in the backyard. The laundry smells fantastic, but all of the people with allergies are miserable. We should get the dryer early next week.

We reached a decision about our church situation. After our move in February, we began to visit a local Missouri synod Lutheran church, but hadn't formally joined the church. We belonged to the WELS church about 1.25 hours from our house. The drive is simply too much for us to attend each week and getting everyone dressed and out of the house by 7:30am is a huge problem. Mike spoke with the WELS pastor and explained that we would be joining the Missouri synod Lutheran church.

It was a difficult decision to make for our family. I have been a WELS member since birth; Mike has been a member for 23 years. The WELS church that I grew up in has changed and some of the churches no longer conduct services or practice the traditions of WELS. We don't agree with all of the practices of the Missouri synod either. I prefer that the pastor do the Bible readings, instead of a layman. I believe that my husband should have a voice in the church and do not wish to vote on decisions. The church that we have been visiting is much closer to the WELS church of my youth than the church we are leaving.

Update

Things are beginning to look like home around here. We've been able to enjoy family dinners around the dining room table again. Most of the children are adapting to the new house. Allie surprised me on Saturday. She came downstairs crying. When asked what was wrong, she stated that she wanted to go "home". I explained that this is our new home. She replied, "It would have been easier to paint our old bedroom pink."

I have some pictures to post, but haven't located the camera cable that connects to the computer. Hopefully, it will turn up soon. There aren't that many boxes left to empty before we return to the old house to get the last couple of loads of stuff.

Today, we all went to church in our new town. The service was uplifting, contained a "meat and potatoes" sermon, and remained reverent. The liturgy used was the one from my childhood. The sermon contained law and gospel. It was like coming home. I'm looking forward to visiting again next week.

The church was very welcoming. When we arrived (the size of our family always draws notice) several members greeted us and welcomed us to church. After the service several other members talked to our family. We were invited to join then for fellowship/coffee, and the member who sat in front of me said that I should join their choir. I explained to one woman that we would not be going to fellowship/coffee time because Mike had to go to work. She walked away and returned a short time later with cupcakes for our family to take home to enjoy later.

There were only a few children (other than mine) at church. The temperature was very cold this morning, so I'm hoping there are normally more children in the congregation.

Church Woes

Sunday, we overslept and missed church. Our church has changed a lot since the new pastor arrived 2 years ago. I struggle to make myself attend. We joined the church under the previous pastor and knew about the church because Amy had attended k-2 grades at the church's elementary school. After the previous pastor took a different call, the church service began to use much less of the litergy. The new pastor has introduced a lot of mega-church ideas to grow the congregation. (Last week a large retractable screen was installed above the cross.) Instead of the church growing, many families have left our congregation and now drive 30-60 minutes to attend more traditional churches with more substance. I'm really uncomfortable with the changes that have been made. The biggest change to me has been the loss of law and gospel in the sermons. The sermons contains some gospel, many humorous references to secular life and little substance.

The WELS churches in our area have always been more conservative and scripture based then the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod churches. Unfortunately, the WELS churches are now being pressured to use other more liberal churches' approaches to outreach. I don't believe that advertising pony rides for VBS to draw in non-members is the way to "grow a church." God's Word being taught in it's truth and purity is more important than projection screens. That being said, Lutherans tend to be quiet people. Our German heritage makes us uncomfortable greeting strangers. We need to work at being more open and friendly to visitors. Visitors should be made welcome by people other than the minister. But, making our church look like a happy-clappy church is wrong.

The house that we are moving to does not have any WELS churches within a 20 mile radius. There is a Missouri Synod church 1/2 a mile down the road. A friend mentioned that the church is very confessional and that the service is litergical. We'll probably visit them. It's getting harder and harder to find a church that doesn't make me cringe.