St. Mark's in Shelby

I am not asking this in a theological sense. Our Presbyterian friends across the street might refer to the Westminster Shorter Catechism and say, “Question: What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” An excellent answer, and one that I thoroughly believe. Instead, in this little article, I want to write about why I am HERE in Shelby at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. At my age, nearly 80 years old, I have knocked around a lot, both geographically and ecclesiastically. About six and a half years ago, after a particularly nasty encounter, I was counting myself as Christian but unchurched, and Daniel Orr called me up. He simply asked, “Are you OK?” He wasn’t trying to recruit me or anything like that—he simply wanted to know if I was surviving and if he could do anything to help. That personal touch really meant a lot, so I decided to give St. Mark’s ...

I am writing this very personal, very informal blog mainly for people who are not yet part of our parish. Current members and friends get a weekly email with pictures and news about what people are doing—births, travels, and so forth. (If you want to get on the list, just ask.) This one is for everyone else. It is, as I said, very personal, very unofficial, very informal. I have enabled comments so you can talk back and ask questions. (The comments are moderated, so your writing will not appear immediately—you would be amazed at some of the inappropriate stuff a blog collects!) Any time a person thinks of visiting a new church, there is a lot of stage fright. Will I know what to do? Will everyone stare at me? Am I wearing the right clothes? And to be honest, an Episcopal church makes it worse. If you have ever seen a YouTube video of a worship service at Washington National Cathedral (yes, that’s ours), it’s overwhelming. Ceremonial robes, pipe organ mus...