Letter Home

"Dear Mom and Dad:

"I got your letter this week and want to try to calm your fears about my recent decision to
attend church at another place.

"I know that you have been worried about me but I want to tell you that I'm doing fine. I'm making lots of new friends and am really enjoying hanging out with them.

"I know that you have a lot of questions. You worked really hard for your faith and you wanted so badly for me to have your faith, too.

"Problem is, I can't have your faith. I have to have my own. And that's what I'm trying to do.

"You asked me about the type of service, the classes, and a host of other things. Let me try to answer you the best way I can.

"Truth be told, the service is not that great. I mean, the bass player only knows a few chords and stuff, so we pretty much stick to a few songs that we all know. Even though we do have a worship order, it's not published anywhere and we really don't know what song might be coming next, which I know would drive Dad crazy. Maybe you, too.

"Sometimes the music is too loud for me, because we never had instruments at church when I went with you. I guess what really matter to me, though, is not so much for the form of the music but the soul of it.

"You asked me about the preacher and the preaching. Well, honestly, the preaching isn't as good as what I'm used to. Mainly because a lot of people who aren't "preachers" share their thoughts and their ideas, so since they aren't really "professionals" it is really informal and sometimes spontaneous. I guess what I like about this is that it seems real and authentic to me, more like a discussion in which I'm a part, involving me, talking to me and me with it.

"You also wanted to know about small groups and stuff like that. I know you'll be disappointed to know that we don't have those really. But when I went through a tough time with my job I had several friends come by and try to cheer me up. We talked about things and they told me that they were "there" for me. They didn't have to do that, though, because I knew that already just because they came to see me.

"Finally, you asked me about what kind of building we have. Again, you'll be disappointed in me when I tell you we don't have a building. We meet in a movie theater along with the leftover coke cups and candy wrappers. And, we aren't really thinking about a building because there are lots of people in our community in need and we want to be able to give to them when we can. We don't have a lot of "staff" (by now, you're probably really worried!) so our money can be used for things like the tsunamai victims and other global neighbors.

"Mom, Dad, I know that you are probably really disappointed in all this. You raised me to go to church three times a week and there were rules and a "way to do things". I guess though the thing that is most important to me is that when I hurt, people are there for me and when I celebrate people are there, too. And I get to be a part of their good and bad times too. I think that is what community is, doing "life" with people and letting them do "life" with you. I'm just not as good as you guys are at pretending and I really want just to be myself and have others just be OK with that.

"You've asked me in your letter about what I think God would think of my choice. I've thought about that question a lot. As I've thought about my new community of faith I see a lot of things that could be different. What I hope is that God sees that we really care about each other and hopefully, others who come into our midst can see that too. I think, Mom and Dad, that when I try to think about what God would want, from what I understand, is that God wants to see us love and accept each other in spite of stupid stuff that we sometimes do. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that is more important than how good a sermon might be or how many classes we have.

"So thanks for writing. I know it's hard to see your kid make different decisions than you might make for him. Love, Your Son"