April 14, 2014

What I Miss Most About the Church I Left

There's one week out of the year that I really, really miss the tradition of the United Methodist Church.

For 26 years, I was a member of the U.M.C. I was on track to be an ordained elder. I had a unique view of the church's inner workings growing up as a P.K. of a United Methodist pastor.

In the Bible Belt, that's a "Preacher's Kid" the only abbreviated label given to the offspring of a certain profession. Think about that for a second. No one calls a doctor's kid "D.K." or a teacher's kid "T.K." Heck, U.S. Presidents' children haven't earned an abbreviation. No, only to the preachers' kids goes the abbreviated labeled. Yeah, we're kind of a big deal.

There are a lot of things I remember about growing up in the church. Most of those memories end with me either being spanked or my mouth being washed out with soap. (That was my spiritual gift. Getting my dad to remove his armor of God and use the belt of truth on my derrière.)

The services that resonated with me the most were found during Holy Week.

We celebrated Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. It was a time of celebration, but it was also a sacred time of reflection of what Christ endured for us.

The liturgy is simply beautiful throughout the week. (Liturgy is the rituals of the church: hymns, prayers, scripture reading, communion, and so on.)

It was the same every year, but that only made the words more powerful. Not only did it unite us with believers across the world, but also with those who were before and those who come after.    

It was a week centering on Christ's humanity and his divinity.

Holy Week is what I miss most about the church I left.

My family left a church (and a denomination) filled with beautiful people that we love five years ago. We left feeling God calling us to something different. Something that we still feel strongly about, but there's something about the services and liturgy found during Holy Week that runs deep inside my bones.

I don't know what kind of church you go to or if you go to church at all. But this week, I want to do something different in preparation for Easter. 

I'm going to veer from my normal Bible reading plan and follow the Common Lectionary to intentionally reflect on what Jesus did for me. I am going to post them daily, if you would like to prepare your heart for this coming Sunday.

Today's reading:
  • Isaiah 42:1-9,
  • Psalm 36:5-11,
  • Hebrews 9:11-15,
  • and John 12:1-11.
What do you do in preparation for Easter? Have you ever been a part of a liturgical church? How do you feel about it?      

No comments: