The Frozen Chosen and the AME Church

Last updated on: May 26, 2017 at 10:47 am By Christy Thomas

Trinity Presbyterian Church, 2200 N. Bell Ave, Denton, shuttered its doors on Sunday, September 21, 2014. Anyone seeking to worship there would have found an empty parking lot, no greeters, no worship about to begin. Instead, the members and choir of this Anglo “frozen chosen” Presbyterian Church headed over to the Saint James African Methodist Episcopal Church, 107 East Oak Street. The previous Friday, the members of the two churches had gathered for a potluck dinner and a viewing “When... Read more

Denton Bible Church: The Subtle Seduction

Last updated on: May 26, 2017 at 11:07 am By Christy Thomas

I felt the subtle seduction of this perfect and orderly world of Denton Bible Church pulling at me the whole time I was there. In fact, I was very nearly hypnotized by it. A lovely woman greeted me and my friend after the 9 am worship service at Denton Bible Church, located on University Drive east of TWU. She eagerly asked, “What did you think about it?” I hesitated for a moment, looking for the right words to express my... Read more

Denton Mystery Worship One: The Sound of Children

Last updated on: September 16, 2014 at 1:01 pm By Christy Thomas

After attending multiple worship services this summer where children were excluded, it was a refreshing delight for me to be in one where children were obviously welcome and heard. A friend of mine, his two pre-teen sons, and I attended the 8:00 am Mass at Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Denton. The sounds of babies and small children in worship, along with the youth serving in leadership roles as acolytes, open the door to worship as a community act.... Read more

California Mystery Worship Six: The Roundtable Church

Last updated on: September 10, 2014 at 9:20 am By Christy Thomas

It didn’t exactly set out to be a time of worship. It was simply a social evening where I joined a friend, my friend’s daughter, her husband, and their two children for a cookout. We sat at a large, round table, enjoying the lovely Southern California evening. The children–a daughter, 14, and a son, 11, and I had met before. For some reason, teenagers like me, possibly because I genuinely like them, and they readily entered into the relaxed conversational... Read more

Shall We Just Call Them Mistakes?

Last updated on: June 28, 2016 at 2:27 pm By Christy Thomas

The world is ever so much easier to deal with when everything divides into two neat categories. This is good, that is bad. This is heaven, this is hell. This is day, this is night. This is right, this is wrong. This is a wave; that is a particle, except we know matter can be both waves and particles! This is what much of the “holiness code” found in the Hebrew Scriptures is about: categorizing as much of the world... Read more

Let's Talk About Sex #UMC

Last updated on: September 2, 2014 at 3:17 pm By Christy Thomas

An article in the New York Times recently caught my eye. Titled, “Let’s Not Talk About Sex,” it is written by Paul A. Offit, a professor of pediatrics and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He writes despairingly of the very low compliance levels for the HPV vaccine. He wrote: About 79 million people in the United States have been infected with HPV, and 14 million new infections occur every year. As a consequence,... Read more

California Mystery Worship Five: Church Reservations Needed

Last updated on: September 1, 2014 at 3:33 pm By Christy Thomas

My first hint that this might be a radically different place to go to church was the fact that I had to make a reservation to attend. And radically different it was–full of life, music, great greetings, welcomed earplugs, and the challenge to live without fear fearlessly given. On the recommendation of a Denton-area friend who follows their music, I drove to Los Angeles for one final Sunday to attend worship at Fearless LA, a one-year old church plant. It... Read more

California Mystery Worship Four: Back in the Saddle Again

Last updated on: August 19, 2014 at 1:35 pm By Christy Thomas

As always, I arrived early. A friend and I had driven 40 miles to the center of Hollywood to attend the 9:00 am service of Saddleback Church, Hollywood site, located at the Palladium Theater. Clearly the set-up crew had already been working for several hours. Saddleback banners flanked the building, making it easy to find from its entrance on Sunset Blvd, just off Vine Street. A sign pointed us to the parking lot, already coned off and ready for visitors.... Read more

Spiritual but not Religious: the Church of Whale and Redwood

Last updated on: August 15, 2014 at 3:52 pm By Christy Thomas

We listened to the preliminaries while still outside the sacred space, the sanctuary. About 35 people had shown up ranging in age from eight to mid-70’s. Groups of two to four had slowly gathered, but did not enter into conversation with others. After an introduction, we were given a quick briefing of behavioral expectations, including an admonition to respect what I termed “the three-point doctrinal stance,” as this would provide for us needed stability in the mysterious time to come.... Read more

California Mystery Worship Three: Matter is Mortal Error

Last updated on: August 6, 2014 at 12:55 pm By Christy Thomas

“Matter is mortal error.” I’m seeking to understand this phrase after attending worship at First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Thousand Oaks, CA. I arrived early, accompanying the friend of a friend who serves as summer vocalist. I had the opportunity to observe the two lay readers, the organist and the vocalist, all female, put final touches on the 10 am service. I sat in the small, unadorned worship center, which would seat 100 comfortably, and thumbed through the hymnal,... Read more