We joined a United Methodist Church today. For us it was a huge deal to finally join a church. But for those who accepted us into the church, no big deal. The minister was in a rush to get it over with and we were the only people who joined.
We hadn’t really intended on joining today. But the church was offering something called “No Stress Sunday”. You just walk into the chapel, transfer your membership, and you’re in! No stress. And it was completely unceremonious which was incredibly anti-climatic given the fact that it was such a big deal for us to be rejoining the church after having been away from it for so long. Plus, the entire focus of the service we had just participated in was about ceremony and celebrating.
I suppose there usually isn’t a lot of ceremony that accompanies transferring a membership from one church to another. But the last two times I became a part of a church community, a lot of ceremony accompanied my joining. For Catholicism, I had gone through years of preparation and participated in a long 3 hour ceremonial service. Those of us who were joining the church were dressed in robes and were the focal point of the entire ceremony. Friends and family were there to share in the event. But I was being confirmed into the Catholic Church. I suppose, if you transfer churches within Catholicism, it’s completely non-ceremonious. Probably even less ceremonious than joining the Methodist Church. Although I’m quite certain the Catholic Church requires those who have not been members of a church for quite some time go back through the confirmation process. Re-entry functions more like an initial entry so would be ceremonial.
When we left the Catholic Church and joined the Methodist Church many moons ago, I suppose it wouldn’t have been a big deal except there was a sort of protocol that everyone had to follow to join the church. You couldn’t just walk up to the front on any given Sunday and say you wanted to become members. You had to attend several short classes and attend a group session in the minister’s home. At periodic intervals throughout the year, there was a welcoming ceremony in place of the typical service and a decent sized group of people were initiated into the church in front of the congregation. When my husband and I joined, a huge group of people went out for lunch afterward, including the minister and associate minister. It was very ceremonious. But it was also a much smaller church.
The church we just joined almost seems to encourage anonymity and perhaps that’s a good thing for us right now. Neither of us wanted to make a big splash, or anything. But I guess I expected something more. Nothing big and ceremonious – just the possibility that one person might recognize and appreciate the journey I had made and what a big event it was for me to be re-entering the church. I thought we’d have more chance to talk with a minister by attending “No Stress Sunday” because it seemed much more intimate than simply transferring membership during the church service. But the minister barely gave us 5 minutes (if that) and let us know she was having to rush off to some other event. We signed papers by a sign that said, “No Stress Sunday”. And I suppose that’s the way it goes in a big church and maybe as it should be.
But why is it I feel so dirty and guilty? Try as I might, I can’t shake the feeling.