Church Family

If someone were to tell me 10 years ago that I would be attending church again, I’d have laughed at the idea, the pure absurdity of it even being mentioned. But, as fate would have it, August of 2004 put a stop to that notion.

To start with, the churches I had attended growing up and through high school were all big to mega-church sized. The ones where you were just one of thousands of blank-faced people and nobody knew who you were. Perfect for a person who wanted to pretend to have a relationship with God, without having to have that Community of Christ feeling that had names and faces attached.

So, to get back to that August Sunday morning in 2004 when we were invited to church by a friend who held a lot of the same views about the church that my partner and I held (basically, just a lot of phonies,) we decided to check it out. And we’ve never regretted this. We were immediately greeted with a warmth and sincerity I had never experienced in my life. It was not what I was at all accustomed to in a church, as it was smaller, around 120 regular attendees, and the people seemed to genuinely care about one another. Fellowship is a word that gets carelessly tossed about in the Christian faith, but at this church actually means something. And it was this fellowship that made us feel at home that summer morning, even though we were easily the youngest adults there.

Since then, we have made some incredible friendships I can’t imagine not having in my life. So many people we have come to know and love. A few have gone on. And a few have passed away. We’ve lost a pastor to retirement, had an incredible interim pastor to really shake things up, and have a new pastor who has helped our little church grow with more young families than I ever thought possible.

My partner sings in the church choir and is part of the Education Committee. I am not in the choir, which is certainly a blessing as I cannot sing or hold a tune to save my life, but am an usher, on the Parish Life Committee, and also the head of our church’s current Capital Campaign Committee to help raise money to fix our roof and signature skylight cathedral glass. I help teach Sunday School a few times a year, basically whenever there is an art project or baking involved. I also tend to be the person our pastor grabs to do last minute announcements or skits or one time, to help with the sermon right before church started. I have become much more comfortable speaking in front of a crowd, something that kept me from being in drama as a high school student, and something I always regretted not doing. But now have found that I enjoy the stage and acting and hope to continue doing this, even if only in our little church for fundraisers or skits. I wouldn’t have ever felt comfortable doing this without having a supportive church family.

Our church means so much more to me than the physical place services are held. It is the community of people who make up our church, the people who, when they ask how you are, actually want to know and are not just making small talk. It is this community of people that keeps us coming back. And it is this community of people that I am so incredibly blessed to have in my life.