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Sanctuary, All Saints Episcopal ChurchCorpus Christi, TX
I am grateful that I rejoined the Episcopal Church some years ago; though I didn't really "rejoin" because I "re-activated" my membership. The Methodist Church was a good beginning for my faith renewal in the 1990's; it is also where I learned what a community meant. It was the first place I knew people prayed for me and wanted me around.
However, yesterday I attended a funeral there for an elderly lady (Annelle) in the Conley-Wesley class, which no longer exists. The Conley-Wesley class started out in the early 20th Century as a large group (100+) of women. By the time I started teaching Sunday School classes there in the mid-90's, there could be 20 older women attending. As time went on ladies died, moved away, or were too ill to come. When the class closed about seven years ago, there were only two elderly women left, one of whom died this past week. I still taught every two months of each year until the demise of the class, which occurred about a year before I moved back to the Episcopal Church.
After the funeral, someone asked me if I was still going to "that" Episcopal Church. When I affirmed that, telling her that three of our four children had been baptized there in the 1980's, she then asked disapprovingly, "Isn't that church liberal?" Yes, it is!
I am grateful for the accepting, open-minded, and friendly people at All Saints Episcopal Church. The choir and liturgy on Sundays create a holy atmosphere. Today we are having one service, followed by a pot-luck. There is macaroni and cheese baking in my oven as I write this. (I wonder if people will like homemade macaroni and cheese, instead of the boxed variety.) Just as I once found a home at First United Methodist Church, I am grateful to be in the All Saints family now.
However, yesterday I attended a funeral there for an elderly lady (Annelle) in the Conley-Wesley class, which no longer exists. The Conley-Wesley class started out in the early 20th Century as a large group (100+) of women. By the time I started teaching Sunday School classes there in the mid-90's, there could be 20 older women attending. As time went on ladies died, moved away, or were too ill to come. When the class closed about seven years ago, there were only two elderly women left, one of whom died this past week. I still taught every two months of each year until the demise of the class, which occurred about a year before I moved back to the Episcopal Church.
After the funeral, someone asked me if I was still going to "that" Episcopal Church. When I affirmed that, telling her that three of our four children had been baptized there in the 1980's, she then asked disapprovingly, "Isn't that church liberal?" Yes, it is!
I am grateful for the accepting, open-minded, and friendly people at All Saints Episcopal Church. The choir and liturgy on Sundays create a holy atmosphere. Today we are having one service, followed by a pot-luck. There is macaroni and cheese baking in my oven as I write this. (I wonder if people will like homemade macaroni and cheese, instead of the boxed variety.) Just as I once found a home at First United Methodist Church, I am grateful to be in the All Saints family now.
3 comments:
There is something so "right" when you feel a fit at the congregation where you worship.
Feeling at home is such an important part of feeling connected to one's faith, I think. Glad you are feeling at home and going the extra mile to make real mac 'n' chesse!
Feeling at home in a church is amazing, but it's also interesting to me how in different seasons we have different needs and senses of home.
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