This is a looooong over due review on the Lutheran Church I attended last Sunday with my Friend Chad (see his blog here). Work has been picking up this week so I hadn't had the time to sit down and blog. With that said, I will have to condense the background and review into one entry and i will do my best to keep it short and sweet.
Being that it was a Lutheran church it is a Christian denomination stemming from the Protestant family and follows ideologies of Martin Luther. If you are interested in knowing more about their church and their message you can check out their website (in case there is anything you want to know that I didn't cover): http://stpaulutah.org/
There is also an adjoining elementary school, which I never noticed all the times I have driven by so that was an interesting discovery.
It was a lovely adorned with Christmas decorations (Yes this late in January!). It was still appropriate, as this Church celebrates high church holidays. The twelve days of Christmas run from December 25th to January 5th this night is called, I believe, the Twelfth Night. The following night is the Feast of Epiphany which celebrates the visiting of the wise men to cute little baby Jesus. The Sunday thereafter is known as Epiphany Sunday. That is my limited understanding of it anyway... on to reveiw!
Review is broken down into categories of Atmosphere, Message, Community &Hospitality, Service/Activity, and Overall. Scale is 1-10 candles with 10 being the highest.ATMOSPHERE: 8/10 candles
I found the atmosphere warm and inviting. The walls were plain and
whitewashed, occasionally adorned with a portrait of Martin Luther or a
festive Christmas ribbon or trinket. Inside was an East-facing chapel
with ornate stained glass windows, and simple, traditional altar. Very beautiful, and there was a feeling of peace, I felt very comfortable.
In addition to the windows there was a beautiful pipe organ located to the rear of the chapel near the entrance. The music during the sermon sounded cheap and digitized. Probably my least favorite thing about the sermon, though there wasn't much I could pick at it was a lovely sermon (See Service/Activity)
MESSAGE: 6/10 candles
The topic today was water. I enjoyed the fact that the Reverend could egin the service with a personal story and it was an entertaining yarn about a stormy day he had witnessed near one of the Great Lakes in Wisconsin. The message was that water can be dangerous or it can save you, this transitioned into a sermon on baptism and the destructive forces of water in the bible like the parting of the red sea story and the story of Noah. Here is where I was kinda taken aback,what I gathered from the sermon was basically a guilt trip and threats of watery wrath if you don't follow God's word. The worst of it was when the Reverend was appealing to archeological evidence of the flood and the parting of the red sea, none of which has been substantiated by credible science. He made claims that archeologists found Egyptian chariots and the remains of Egyptian soldiers on the sea floor, furthermore there is no evidence outside the Bible of a mass exodus out of Egypt. So due to these bold exclamations of unsubstantiated archeological findings I would have to dock points in this area. However there was a sincere prayer in the sermon for safety for people in all situations, I felt it was sincere and in my opinion, concern for others is a message that would benefit everyone so kudos for that. The celebration of mass genocide of the entire human race via global flood, however is not a good message to send children.
COMMUNITY: 8/10 candles
The moment Chad and I stepped in the doors we were approached by a friendly lady who welcomed us warmly and asked if it was our first time visiting. She was helpful in offering to answer any questions we might have had. The rest of the congregation didn't really approach us but I sensed no tension but could feel the understandable curious glance but no sign of animosity. We shook hands with the Rev after the service and he was very friendly. No one questioned who we were or why we came.
SERVICE: 7/10
They were able to hold my attention and it was a short and sweet service with plenty of community announcements and boards and potluck dates. This is a busy group of people who are dedicated to their community and their church. The music was probably the only thing that didn't wow me, but that what can be expected from traditional church hymns? It was a very new experience for me and according to my friend, Chad, it was very similar to a Catholic mass minus the emphasis on ceremony.
OVERALL: 7/10 candles
A new experience and I got to see traditional greetings and learned much about Christian holidays and what goes on behind the doors of that little church with the colorful windows I drive by on a daily basis. Guess I had my own epiphany on this holiday I never heard of before visiting the St. Paul Lutheran Church.
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