Size: Middling, about 100 capacity. This Sunday, about 75 attending.
Architecture: Worthy of note. Built in 1879, this is an old stone structure with a working bell-tower. The stained glass is beautiful, taking advantage of the rising sun to illuminate Christ's blazing white robe in the largest window.
Amen factor: 0. The congregation is aging, with most at least 65+ years old. I was the youngest person there. Scary.
Diversity: Sub-zero
Music: Traditional choir, which enters the chapel in a processional that starts the service.
The choir remains seated behind the altar throughout, and features a good soloist just before the sermon. The music in the hymnal was mostly written at least 75 and as many as 300 years ago, with lyrics composed in the last 20 years. Lyrics tended to focus on issues of equality, social, and economic justice.
Service: Dignified, following a precise order laid out in the flyer distributed beforehand.
Odd notes: During the offering the pastor said, "Our guests (presumably meaning me and any other non-members) can excuse us during the offertory." Should I leave? Not contribute? Nah, just throw some bucks in and look inconspicuous, as if that were possible. Also, communion took place in the pews. Wonder why? There's something, I don't know, special about coming forward to the altar railing.
Personal notes:
Overslept and missed the early service where the Rev. Ron Post, founder of NW Medical Teams, gave the sermon. Very sorry to have missed it, no excuse for it. This guy started with nothing, and, inspired by the teaching in Matthew 25, 'What you do to the least of these you have done to me', built a worldwide organization that does great stuff. The late morning service features the VP of the Worldwide Council of Churches (I think), formerly pastor of this church, telling of his visits to various missions in SE Asia. Some God-awful stories of N. Korean prisons, where women prisoners must take their children with them to serve their sentences. My sexist heart recoils at the thought of women prisoners in these cesspools, much less their children. Stories of churches in China where people must wait in the street during services, so much is the demand and so little the supply of space. The speaker notes dryly that it would be nice to see that happen in this country. He tells of complaining about a torturous jeep ride into the mountains of Burma, then being shamed by poor people who warmly greeted him after walking 10 hours to attend a service. Shame, indeed, and in moments like this I wonder how I can sit on my butt one moment longer enjoying the good life. Time to get moving.
And, speaking of shame or at least embarrassment, the speaker remarks that Ash Wednesday is coming up and I don't have even a faint memory of what it is..........