Cross that one off my list, at last

[avanta7]

I thought I'd give First UMC in Marysville another shot before giving up on the local Methodist congregations entirely, so I attended services this morning. And the service was nice, if nothing special: we sang some hymns I really like; we had the usual congregational prayers; we had a good attempt at a student trumpet solo for special music; and then the minister began his sermon. Our biblical texts were the story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11; and Elijah's whirlwind ride to heaven in 2 Kings 2. How these texts ended up being the basis for a sermon on how the studies of science and sociology lead people away from God I'm not quite sure, especially since today is the birthday of Charles Darwin, and several hundred churches across the U.S. are commemorating that fact with messages on the compatibility of faith and science. What I am quite sure of is I won't be going back.

And is it really so much to ask that the organist/keyboard player actually know how to play well?

Here comes the tough part: Do I abandon the Methodist church altogether because there isn't a compatible congregation in my immediate area? Not that there's anything wrong with switching to Lutheran, Presbyterian or Episcopal, but I love the Methodist church. Or do I stick with the denomination I love and travel an hour or so a couple of times a week to a congregation in Sacramento?

I guess I can't really answer that question until I attend Presbyterian, Lutheran and Episcopal services here.