Wow. Talk about checking every single box from my What I’m Looking for in a Christian Church list. With gusto.
This week, Marie and I went to the contemporary service at East Lansing’s All Saints Episcopal Church. This church made the list when they held a diversity and inclusion celebration as an alternative to the visit of an alt-right speaker to MSU’s campus. UU Lansing encouraged us to attend this alternative to protesting at MSU and while I didn’t make it to the celebration, I heard about how successful the event was that night on the local news and from my friend Dragon. I looked them up on the web, liked what I read, and Marie and I decided to make them our first stop.
We were greeted warmly in the foyer and I picked up some literature and a program for the days service. Right at the top, in bold, they welcomed all comers, regardless of sexuality orientation or gender identity. Fantastic.
While the outside of the building was not unique, the sanctuary itself was traditional and beautiful, with soaring architecture and royal purple linens. The choir and the minister, Kit Carlson, were in white vestments. The curved, oak pews included benches for kneeling. Some congregants genuflected before taking their seats. Others prayed quietly before the service started. A few people wore jeans, most were a little dressier.
The service itself was full of ritual, with lots of clearly spelled out call and response. And lots of prayer. Lots of it. Good, old-fashioned, traditional worship of God. I can’t say I felt at home because it was unfamiliar, but it was beautiful and I found myself wishing I could follow along without reading from a script. I know that being a part of that kind of ritual would be very satisfying for me.
Reverend Carlson was engaging, joyful, progressive, and passionate. Her sermon was contemporary and easy to access.
The only thing that had me a bit uncertain was Jesus. He was a constant presence in every aspect of the service and as I’m still coming to terms with Jesus I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
Oh, and did someone mention “service?” because this church has it DOWN. There were multiple opportunities for service, both ongoing and one-time, from the very small to the very large. I won’t mention all of them because I’m pretty sure there’s a word limit to the Internet so I’ll just talk about a few.
We were reminded never to come to church without toilet paper! And deodorant, toothpaste, and other personal care items. The printed program reminded us that the Bridge card (food stamps) don’t cover these necessities and there’s an opportunity for people in need to pick up these items at the church once a month.
Don’t forget the church’s ministry to Haiti! Another missionary trip is happening shortly and we were provided with a list of needed OTC medications and children’s products, such as powdered baby formula, that are being collected.
Prefer to share your time? No problem! All Saints has multiple, cross-denominational efforts that are looking for volunteers for activities as diverse as serving meals at homeless shelters, to supervising an after school drop-in center for teens, work in our own garden that raises fresh food for area food banks, Habitat for Humanity and more. Reverend Carlson made a special call for families that would be willing to host refugee children who are in the country without parents.
Over-all, All Saints was a very enjoyable experience. It fulfilled everything I wanted in a church and I wasn’t sure at all that I would find that. Where it excelled was in worship and service and that’s a mighty powerful combination.
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