Today I chose to visit an Episcopal Church. I chose this church for two reasons. First, it was number one on Google maps. And second, I just happened to be stopped at the red light in front of it the other day and I took that as a sign.
The associate priest was very friendly upon entry, as were the greeters. Some people are under the assumption that all greeters are friendly but newsflash: people know when you're faking it! Anyway the church was beautiful inside. The stained glass windows were gorgeous as was the wood detail around the altar and the balcony of the church. The pews were consistent of any older church of the time period, having doors at the end of the pews.
They must take some serious pride in the music at this church because it was awesome. Not only was there a choir, there were people on the clarinet, flute and violin. Having played the violin throughout elementary school and high school, I had a great appreciation for that type of ensemble.
Things continued pretty much as I was used too with a little more ceremony thrown in. Since my dad's Fathers family is Catholic, I am very familiar with their traditions and the Episcopal service was very similar. Although singing of Psalms took a lot longer than I recalled.
To my surprise, the pastor giving the message was visiting us from Florida. I liked him instantaneously. The message was on gratitude and tithing. Usually I dislike listening to anything that mixes church and money, but this one I enjoyed. He told the story of when his mother-in-law liquidated some assets and gave each child $10,000. The first thing his wife said to him was, "Where should we give our 10 percent tithe?" His response was, "What? We already give every week!" It was actually nice to hear that even men of God get a lesson now and then.
A few days later, an earthquake hit Haiti and the pastor and his wife sent their tithe. They were able to buy shelter for many Haitians. In the past, I always looked at tithing in reference to paying church bills etc. Occasionally you would even hear of crooked leaders running off with boatloads of innocent church goer’s money. That didn't exactly entice me to open my already limited pocketbook.
In reality, however, tithing is about saying thank you for all that you are blessed with in life. For some reason, that realization made me feel much better. It’s not about putting money in the pastor’s pocket, it’s about giving back. I have been tithing all this time and didn’t even know it! Note: The offering is still important. Churches can't maintain themselves!
So in conclusion, I will attend the Episcopal Church again next Sunday for their Celtic service and will continue tryouts with a new church in the am.
After all, this week was a visiting pastor. I have to see how the real one measures up!
History Lesson: Personally, I find the history of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church (or Church of England) very interesting. The Anglican Church began from Henry VIII of England's desire to divorce his first wife to marry another. Since the Catholic religion did not believe in divorce, Henry started his own church. He changed little in terms of tradition and ritual, thus why the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches hold many similarities. After his death, many of King Henry's successors implemented more protestant reforms in the church. During the Revolutionary War, churches began adopting more American republican ideologies. Anglican churches in American soon became the American Episcopal Church.
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