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 music, people saying and doing things that are totally unfamiliar and very formal—it’s a lot to process. And it’s pretty much the opposite of St. Mark’s in Shelby. There are about two dozen of us. People show up in shorts and T-shirts. We sing songs you probably learned in summer camp. Last Sunday was punctuated by a toddler zooming down the aisle, followed by his mother, who wanted to keep him from getting lost in the back part of the building. The sermon was sort of a question-and-answer format. After the official part of the morning was done, we all gathered in the back room for coffee and cookies. The “stage fright” level is very low here.
We would love for you to visit.
—Curt
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