I'm about to head out to hear my preacher, Brad, preach at the local Unitarian Universalist Church.I asked him, "How in the world did that happen?"
He said, "Every year they ask people from different faiths to come and preach. The usual Baptist couldn't make it so they asked me."
I said, "Do they have any idea what they're in for?"
He said, "No, I don't think so. I'm preaching on 'What Christmas means to Christians' and the need for a Savior."
He won't be mean, but he'll tell the truth. Should be interesting. What's really interesting is that Brad's house flooded because of a broken pipe this week. He's going to show up with a week's growth of facial hair on his face and wearing the same cargo pants for three days. He'll probably remind me of a shepherd from the nativity.
Pray for him, please.
(I'm wearing a suit to upstage him . . . :-)
Arthur, have you ever been to a Universalist/Unitarian church? Get ready to be impressed. If you go looking for love there, you'll find it. It's stunning. Rather blew me away. If you go not looking for doctrinal differences and instead look at the people and the obvious love they share, it is such a different experience than any i have ever had in an evangelical church. I know there are exceptions but on the whole there is a lot of love and a lot of acceptance and warmth. Enjoy yourself!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteWe may have been to a different type of Universalist/Unitarian church. They had three different speakers tonight. I don't want to judge them all by our experience tonight, by any means.
A man from a Unity church spoke first for a few minutes about metaphysics. Then a Buddhist woman spoke for about twenty. They were received very well.
Then my friend spoke about the need for a savior and sin in the world. The program director gave him the "cut it off" sign after about three minutes. He kept going anyway. He wasn't overbearing by any means but very compassionate. He preached straight judgment for sins.
I stayed after for a bit and had a lovely conversation with the Buddhist speaker's husband who played in the band - they played some Beatles' tunes at the end. And I had a nice convo with several church members. They were all very kind to me and warm.
It was a nice atmosphere, even though I don't agree with their theology. But like I tell people, even though I don't agree with everyone's theology, I do respect their journey. And I'm always happy to discuss and share with anyone.
I was very thankful they gave him an opportunity to speak.
Thanks for the comment, Cheryl!
Arthur