I was reading a post this morning on facebook from a new friend Su Campbell and I was moved to write this morning about my experiences with some of "God's churches".
Many years ago I was in a large church in a small community visiting, I had hunted it down because years earlier when I lived nearby I had attended that church and even taught in the Sunday School, sang in the choir and been heavily involved in the church as a young single person. I knew the pastor was different and probably most of the people were different but as I looked for a sign to say what time the church service started I did not find it so assumed a 11 am start and showed up at the door, I saw all these 'godly" old men at the door and requested seating for one. They half way looked at me and said I could go to the balcony, waving toward the stairs. I even recognized some of the Ushers but felt really let down by their attitude. I went to the balcony and found a seat, climbing over many others. The couple who came in behind me were escorted to a seat near the front of the church. The bulletin listed a number for the hymn and I looked for a hymnal, none there because everyone around me had gotten one. I did know all the hymns and could sing, I do have a very loud good singing voice and some people did stare at me for singing loudly, one man even said I had a great voice. No one introduced themselves and no one else spoke to me. The sermon was very good: "being kind to your fellow man" and at the end of the service I deliberately weaved my way through the whole congregation and not once was greeted. I was angry and when I got back to the house I was staying in, I wrote a long letter to the pastor and copied the church board, the letter included these thoughts: I was just an old widow with no real problems but what if I were a lady who was in real emotional trauma, or a person contemplating blowing up a building, or a person who was dying from a disease. Would I feel good after being in their church? I told them that I was certain that God cried when he looked down upon them. I'm sure it did not make an impression on them but I felt better after writing the letter.
I was visiting my sister's church one Sunday and the pastor who I knew announced that they needed couples to volunteer for a project. As I exited the door I told him that as I looked amoung his congregation, he had excluded over half of his congregation when he wanted only couples for a project. He did apologize and said he did not think of what he said at all and would never do it again. In my own church many years ago, I was almost a charter member of a church and as it grew, a questionnaire was passed out for people to volunteer for jobs in the church, as I was a Sunday School Teacher and had been for many years and am a very friendly person, I ask to become a greeter, I was told by a very 'godly' man that since I did not have a husband I could not be a greeter. I let him and the pastor know how I felt, being excluded because I was a widow. The pastor who was a personal friend did apologize and said I could greet if I wanted. I refused, of course. It is a real problem in, what we call God's Church, how people have made it their church and not let it be God's church. That is one of the reasons we have such problems in the world.