That is how Brian described the Sunday service at Neu Chapel. I have come to love that philosophy, uncomfortable though it may be at times. The problem is, I don't know what service will be like this coming year with Brian gone. I'm sure they will be just fine. Maybe even better (hard to believe, but possible). Even if that's the case, though, I will leave UE and Neu Chapel for good at the end of next year, so I need to find a church back home to call my own. I really want another High Curch in Blue Jeans. I'm starting to feel like this may be too much to ask.
Since most of you have no idea what I mean, and my use of the phrase may be different than the way Brian intended it, I'll explain what I mean by High Church in Blue Jeans. I am looking for a church that values ritual- not just ritual for the sake of ritual, but for the meaning behind it. Most importantly, I want a church that celebrates communion regularly and follows the lectionary. Communion is important to me because it was one of Jesus' last instructions to us, because it is a way to remember Him, and because it is a way to connect with our Christian brothers and sisters. We are all welcome at the table, and it is such an important and powerful symbol and action for me. The lectionary is important to me for a few reasons. For one, it is simply what I am comfortable with, having grown up attending Catholic church. More importantly, I think it is something we need. Brian puts it much better than I do, but the lectionary forces us to wrestle with parts of the bible that are uncomfortable, and to look at all the different parts of the Word. Not that sermon series are bad - there are some I've heard that are great and wrestled with tough ideas - but in the end I think it's important to visit all the books of the bible and not just pick and choose verses. I also think there is something powerful about following the same cycle of readings that Christians have been following since the early days of the church. So that's the High Church part of it. The other part that I am looking for that is just as important to me is a church that is open minded, inclusive, and concerned with social justice. I truly believe that the most important commandment for all Christians is to love one another, and that means everyone. The only way to do that is to be open minded and inclusive. You can't love everyone if you are excluding certain people or condemning certain people or hating certain people. I also think it's important for a church to be involved with social justice - justice is something Jesus talked about so much, we can't just ignore the people in need in our community. We need to help them, and we need to do everything in our power to change the systems that are in place to bring them justice. That's the Blue Jeans part.
I know that all of that is a lot to ask of one church. And I know that every church has its flaws and its shadows. I know that no church is perfect, I'm not that naive. I don't expect to find a church that carries out everything I just talked about one hundred percent of the time. I just want to find a church that shares the same general philosophy. Surely Brian is not the only pastor with the idea of High Church in Blue Jeans. I just need to find one of them. There has to be some way to be part of a church like that without moving to Alabama - although I am super curious about what Brian's church is/will be like. A visit, at some point, will be in order!
