Home Sweet Home

We've been in KC almost a year and a half, and I'm FINALLY so happy to say we've found a church home. I went to Church of the Resurrection Downtown last week and fell in love. Ross went with me this week and loved it as well. We avoided visiting this "branch" of Church of the Resurrection-- a megachurch South of us-- for so long for two reasons:

1.) The other downtown chruches we tried were too "cool" for us if that makes sense. We were a little too preppy amongst the tattoos and piercings and we felt like people were there to be seen. I know that's a terrible generalizaztion, but it's important to fit in when it comes to a church home.

2.) It's a Methodist church. Ross is Baptist, I'm Catholic. We found common ground with a non-denominational Christian church in Ft. Worth-- do we really need to add another denomination to this confusion? But when I was there last Sunday, the pastor made an aside comment in his sermon to the extent of: when a Christian's faith is based on the cross and resurrection, do petty denominational differences really matter? I couldn't agree more. (Disclaimer: I know there are some not-so-subtle differences between some denominations, but I don't want to get into an argument about it-- I had enough of those when I was planning a Catholic wedding to my Baptist fiance, thankyouverymuch).  In the end, if a denominational difference is leading us away from God, we're focusing on the wrong things.

C.S. Lewis speaks of the Church "spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners" as opposed to the "half-finished Gothic erection on the new building estate." Inasmuch as a denomination of Christianity focuses on a church as the "body of Christ" and believes in the resurrection, we are all worshiping the same God, right?

This church has quite a few perks which may seem superficial, but really made us feel at home immediately:

-Last Sunday I signed up as a guest and by Wednesday, we had a packet in the mail with a hand-written card from the pastor. The papers explained more about the church and listed ways to get involved in small groups, church life, and outreach. That may seem overambitious to some, but after feeling invisible at a lot of the churches we visited, this was impressive.

-It's in an old church downtown and it looks like a church. Again, I know this sounds superficial, and I know worship is valid and possible in any environment, but some of the churches we visited seemed based around the stage for the band and I like a more traditional altar.

-It's a small church, but it's still part of a larger church. This means we get the perks of a big church (retreats, service opportunities, etc) but also the perks of a small church (close-knit community, recognizing the same people ever week).

-A couple came up to us after service on Sunday, introduced themselves, and asked if we wanted to be a part of their newly married small group! We really hope to join this summer when Ross doesn't have night class on Thursdays.

AND I somehow don't work a single Sunday during Lent so we can attend weekly for a while (sadly, I do work Easter weekend, though). What a wonderful gift in my Lenten journey! THANK YOU to our parents and friends who have been praying that we would find a church here-- better late than never!