Week 5ish: The Community of Christ (RLDS)

This past Sunday I attended the Cedar Rapids Community of Christ congregation. The Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) has its roots in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith Jr. in 1830. I've long had an interest in the Latter Day Saint movement, and have been looking forward to attending a Community of Christ service.

A (Very) Brief History of the Community of Christ

In 1827, Joseph Smith Jr began translating a set of golden plates he claimed he retrieved from Hill Cumorah in New York after the angel Moroni revealed their location to him. These plates, which he said were written in "Reformed Egyptian," purportedly contained writings of ancient Jewish peoples who traveled from Jerusalem to the Americas and the societies that resulted from them. It also contains an account of Jesus visiting the Americas sometime after his ascension and sharing many of the same teachings their that he did in the New Testament.

In 1830 Smith formally organized the "Church of Christ." This church went through several name changes during Smith's life, eventually becoming The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Smith claimed that this church was a restoration of the early Christian church, which had apostatized. He was held to be a "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator" by his followers, and church theology grew more sophisticated, complicated, and controversial throughout the remainder of his life. In 1844, Joseph Smith Jr. and his brother Hyrum were murdered by a mob while they were being held in jail in Carthage, Illinois. 

Succession Crisis

Smith's death resulted in a crisis as to who should take his place as President/Prophet of the church. The majority of Latter Day Saints accepted Brigham Young as Smith's rightful successor, eventually moving west to what would become Utah and becoming the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Other prominent members claimed they were the rightful successor and had their own smaller followings. 

Many people rejected all of these claims and opted to stay in the Midwest. Among them were Joseph Smith Jr's widow (and first wife) Emma Hale Smith, as well as their children. Eventually these groups asked Joseph Smith Jr's oldest son, Joseph Smith III, to be their leader. He at first declined, before accepting in 1860. The church viewed the time between 1844 and 1860 as a period of "disorganization" for the church, and eventually added "Reorganized" to their church name to reflect this.

Until 1996 all of the Presidents of the RLDS church were descendants of Joseph Smith Jr. and in 2000 the name of the church was changed to the Community of Christ.

Beliefs

It's important to understand that many of the beliefs of the Community of Christ are similar or identical to those of mainstream Christianity. For example, they believe in both the divinity of Christ and the Trinity. The beliefs below are only some of the things that distinguish them from mainstream Christianity and the ones that I find most interesting..

My copies of some
Community of Christ
scripture

• Scripture: Three books of scripture are accepted - The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants. Belief in the Book of Mormon is not necessary for membership in the church, and as far as I can tell the church as a whole seems to be de-emphasizing it. Doctrine and Covenants mostly contains revelations given to Joseph Smith Jr., Joseph Smith III, and subsequent presidents of the church and is added to regularly. They also make use of the "Inspired Version" of the Bible, also called the Joseph Smith Translation. 
• Continuing Revelation: The current president of the church is also regarded as a prophet. Because of this, they have an "open-canon" of scripture which can be added to.
• Priesthood: There are two priesthoods-The  Melchisedec Priesthood and Aaronic Priesthood. Within each priesthood are specific offices. The Aaronic Priesthood contains the offices of Deacon, Teacher, and Priest. The  Melchisedec Priesthood contains the offices and specialized offices of Elder, Seventy, High Priest, Evangelist (formerly called "Patriarch"), Bishop, Apostle, and President. According to wikipedia, 10% of Community of Christ members are ordained.
• Sacraments: The church practices 8 sacraments
• Baptism is by immersion and can be performed by those who are 8 years old or older. They recently began accepting baptisms from other Christian denominations, so if someone converts they do not need to be rebaptized. I am not sure if this includes people who were baptized younger than age 8, however.
• Confirmation 
• Lord's Supper/Communion is practiced once a month using bread and grape juice.
• Blessing of Children gives children under the age of 8 the opportunity to be brought before the community and blessed.
• Ordination is offered to men or women who have been properly called.
• Marriage, including same-sex marriage in some areas
• Administration to the Sick with oil
• Evangelist's Blessing, formerly called a "Patriarchal Blessing." Individuals can request this blessing at important moments in their lives, and it can be received more than once. Families and congregations may request the blessing as well.
• The modern church places a huge emphasis on peace and justice. There is a daily prayer for peace in their Independence Temple, focusing on a different country each day. 
• Speaking of the temple- Both the temple in Independence and the temple in Kirtland are open to everyone. 

Cedar Rapids Community of Christ

*Note* They live stream their services. If you're interested in seeing the service I was at, click here.

The church itself is small. Even though there are are two large doors facing the street, the entrance being used was around back in the parking lot. The door had one of those numbered locks on the handle which made it look kind of weird. If I hadn't been following someone else in I wouldn't have thought that was the entrance.

The sanctuary area was simple. The podium was centrally placed and there was a really neat looking large cross that looked like it was inlaid with several smaller pieces of wood. On the upper-center of the wall was a projector screen that was displaying announcements. I counted around 50 people there altogether. Being Memorial Day weekend probably hurt the numbers, and looking back at past live streams it does look like there are normally many more people. Also, from past live streams, it looks like the section below the screen comes out and becomes a window to the baptismal font, which is neat. 

The Service

Before the service officially began the pastor came up to give announcements. One of them was inviting a woman to speak who was again organizing the congregation serving meals at a trailer park over the summer. When she asked if there was anyone who would like to help this year about a third of the congregation raised their hands, which was impressive. My experience with church volunteering has always felt like people were begging for people to step up to help. For so many people to be willing to help was astounding. 

The service itself began with the pastor reading from Isaiah, before the congregation sang "I, the Lord of Sea and Sky." I'm not really a fan of that hymn, but it was nice to sing something familiar after so many weeks of unfamiliar music. I was impressed by how well the congregation sang. I don't necessarily mean the quality, although it was good, but that you could actually hear people singing. My experience in congregations without a choir has been that people barely whisper the words to themselves. Not the case here.

There were a few prayers followed by another song, based off of the prayer for peace attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.

Following that was a testimony given by a young man (also an ordained elder) who was probably close to my age. I'm not sure if the pastor knew what he was going to say beforehand or not, but he spoke about his doubts and struggles with his faith and asked everyone to pray for him. Certainly not a testimony in the traditional sense, but I made sure to thank him afterwards. Having doubts and struggling with faith can be a lonely experience that people are afraid to talk about. Hopefully his openness inspired people who may be struggling themselves.

Following that a woman played "On Eagle's Wings" on her guitar. Once again, I was happy to hear a familiar song. 

Before the offering a woman gave a short talk. She talked about how it feels like people are always asking for more and more, and we only have so much to give that it can be annoying and overwhelming. But then she remembered all of the things she took for granted in life, like nice bed sheets, and that encouraged her in her giving. When the deacons came forward she offered a prayer and they passed the plate. This reflection on giving seems like a weekly occurrence. It puzzled me at first, but upon further reflection I think it's a nice addition to the service. Collection plates are so often passed around that it becomes mechanical. Having a reflection each week gives people the opportunity to look at their giving in a fresh way and reminds people about why it's important. 

Another woman gave her testimony about how God has been with her in her life. It was a very sweet testimony of her experiences with medical problems and how she knew God was with her. There was yet another song after this.

The pastor then shared a "spiritual practice" with us that she encouraged us to use, the Examen developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The program didn't put the "St." in front of his name, and no mention was given of him being the founder of the Jesuits. It felt odd. I feel like if you introduce a spiritual practice you shouldn't divorce it from the spiritual tradition from whence it comes. 

The service was over after one more song and prayer.

After the Service

Several people introduced themselves to me and said hi after the service. The pastor introduced herself and when I said I had questions introduced me to a man to help answer them. He told me he was an evangelist and that many people in the congregation were ordained to one office or another. We talked a bit about the Book of Mormon. He explained that its purpose was to bring people closer to Jesus, but because for some people it might actually be a stumbling block the church didn't require anyone to have any specific belief about it. It definitely raises some interesting questions about Christianity in general.

I did try to ask if he felt like the Book of Mormon was literally (historically) true. I was trying to ask it delicately and am not sure if I got my point across, but he seemed to say he thought it was. 

I asked him a couple of questions about being an evangelist. He mentioned that the name was changed when women were admitted to the priesthood, as "Patriarch" doesn't quite work for them. He also said that in addition to having open communion, evangelists's blessings were open to non-members. Definitely different from the Utah-based LDS church. He did mention that they were "bi-vocational," and as I was talking with him the pastor zoomed by saying she had to get to work. I don't believe ministers are normally paid at the local level. 

This was the first time I've felt free to ask questions with someone at a church I've attended, and it was nice to be able to have such a discussion.

Final Thoughts

I honestly had a great time going to this congregation. The people were incredibly nice and welcoming, without being overbearing. It's great to meet people who genuinely want to live out a mission of promoting peace and justice in the world. The service itself seemed kind of choppy. It felt like there were a bunch of different things just thrown in there, with music breaking everything up. It felt like it lacked a "flow." I think most of their services have a sermon by an ordained member, so it could have just been the unique nature of this week's service that made it feel that way.

Week Four: Lighthouse Church of the Nazarene

This past weekend I visited my mother for Mother's Day, which meant finding a church to go to out of the Cedar Rapids area. I like to sleep, so I decided to go to Lighthouse Church of the Nazarene in Moravia because they have a 6pm service.

The Church of the Nazarene describes itself as a "Wesleyan-Holiness" denomination. The denomination is the product of multiple mergers of smaller denominations that were part of the Methodist and Holiness movements.

Some positions and beliefs of the denomination include-

• Belief in the Trinity
• Use of the Protestant Bible 
• An emphasis on grace, holiness, and Entire Sanctification/Christian Perfection
• Baptism by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling
• Communion with bread and grape juice
• Total abstinence from alcohol and tobacco

Lighthouse Church of the Nazarene

The Church

I wasn't able to get a look at most of the building. The sanctuary/worship almost gave off a town hall vibe. The seats looked like auditorium or movie theater seats. In the front was a raised area with a projector screen and podium, and several seats facing the congregation (none of which were sat in when I was there).

The Service

The service began at 6pm with a hymn that was projected onto the screen. Only the piano was used, and it felt somehow out of place to sing such a traditional hymn in such a modern and secular looking place. I'm not sure if they always sing traditional hymns during the evening service or if it varies.

The church was maybe 10% full. The congregation has both a morning and evening service on Sunday, and I believe they are both different. so someone can go to both services if they choose. I would assume that the Sunday morning service usually has more people, as that is the service that has children's church running at the same time. It was also both Mother's Day and graduation weekend. In a small town that affects a good chunk of the congregation.

An offering was taken up for anyone who hadn't given in the morning, followed by another hymn. After that a mother came to the front with her three little girls to sing, "He's Still Working on Me." It was pretty adorable and definitely the highlight of the service.

The Sermon

This was definitely one of the more...interesting sermons I've heard. The pastor went off on a lot of tangents and it was difficult to keep up with him. The main message seemed to be:

• The prophecies concerning the Messiah in the Old Testament are clearly fulfilled in Jesus. The Old Testament prophets didn't know exactly what the Messiah would be like or how the prophecies would be fulfilled, but we have the gift of hindsight.
• The New Testament writers could see how the Old Testament prophecies show Jesus to be the Messiah, but couldn't see how their own writings would reveal a bigger picture for future generations.
• We have the benefit of seeing how everything in the Bible fits together, but we don't know how exactly how or when the events concerning the 2nd Coming of Jesus will come to pass.

Now for a few of those tangents I mentioned-

• After mentioning a specific prophecy in the Old Testament and commenting on how Jesus clearly fulfilled them, he would mention how he just couldn't believe that people didn't believe that people didn't believe in and accept Jesus as the Christ when he so clearly was. This happened multiple times. Either he was playing this up for dramatic effect or he genuinely doesn't understand why people may have trouble believing Biblical narratives.
• He mentioned how bizarre it was that there were still Jewish people today who were waiting on the Messiah when it is clear that Jesus was the Messiah. He said these people were called "Messianic Jews." Couple of notes about that-
• Messianic Jews are actually Christians who do believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
• The New Testament uses quotes from the Old to prove that Jesus was fulfilling ancient prophecies. It can be easily argued that they are simply proof-texts.  When looking at the sources of the quotes and their contexts, it's not always clear how they're supposed to refer to a future Messiah. So it's actually pretty easy to see why someone wouldn't just accept Jesus as the Messiah.
• The US embassy in Israel being moved to Jerusalem is Biblically significant...somehow. He mentioned how interesting (he started to say fun but corrected himself) it was that we could see the events predicted in here (pointing to the Bible) play out over there (the Middle East). No mention of the fact that people are dying, or anything that could be done to alleviate it. Just how interesting it is. 
• After reminding people that people have been guessing at who the antichrist would be and have never been right, he gave the following examples he remembers hearing-
• Osama bin Ladin (who he also referred to as Osama bin Hidin' and Osama bin Swimmin'), because he was shot in the head and thrown into the ocean.
• Mikhail Gorbachev, because of his birthmark.
• Anwar Sadat for reasons I can't remember.

Add all of this to the fact that the congregation would verbally express their agreement with the things he was saying...it was just a very bizarre experience.

Final Thoughts

After the service I talked a bit with an elderly woman who noticed I was visiting. She let me pick a couple of visitor gifts out of a basket, which was very kind of her. Other than that and the kids singing, this wasn't a particularly positive experience. The sermon pretty much ruined it for me.

Week Three: First Church of Christ, Scientist

Christian Science

Yesterday I attended a service at the local Christian Science church in town. Christian Science teaches that the material world is an illusion. God, being spirit, only created spiritual things. Because God is good, all of God's creation is therefore good. Negative things, such as illness, are therefore illusions. When we fix our thinking these illusions can be overcome and we can be healed. This has obviously caused problems. Christian Science followers may choose not use medical treatment, for themselves or their children. People (including children) have died from preventable causes because medical treatment wasn't sought.

Christian Science was founded by Mary Baker Eddy in the 19th century. Her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is considered central to the faith. Both the Bible and Science and Health are considered to be the Pastor of the modern church. Because of this, sermons are simply passages read straight from both books.

A few other interesting beliefs and practices of Christian Science that I've been able to find-

• Neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit are considered to be God.
• There are no paid clergy, at least at the local level. Two readers are elected from the congregation who read the passages from scripture and Science and Health.
• There are no rituals, ordinances, or sacraments practiced. The words baptism and communion are used in a spiritual sense, and don't correspond to physical rituals.
• The church is the publisher of the well-known Christian Science Moniter. I remember that newspaper being in our high school library.
• Christian Science members can take classes to be certified as a "Christian Science Practitioner." For a small fee they "provide spiritual help that results in healing of all types of difficulties—physical, emotional, relationship, financial." (Source)

The Church (First Church of Christ, Scientist, Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

*Note: I was one of only 13 people at the church service. I chose not to take pictures because I already stood out like a sore thumb. I didn't take notes for the same reason*

The church building itself is adorable. After going to large, auditorium like services the past two weeks, it was nice to be in a church that actually looked like a church.  The sanctuary had about five rows of padded pews in three sections around a raised platform. The platform had two chairs and two podiums on it, one each for the First and Second readers.

When I entered the church an elderly gentleman greeted me and handed me a booklet with the "Bible Lesson" in it. The Bible lesson was basically an outline of most of what was read at the service.

The Service

The service began with a song. Something I found odd was that before each song was sung, the First Reader would read the entire first verse to the congregation. I can't think of a reason for doing this. There was an organist and a lead singer/cantor, which I thought was impressive for such a small congregation. 

Except for more hymns and a collection, the majority of the service was dedicated to the Bible lesson/sermon. Like I said above, these passages are considered to be the sermon itself, so there was no one to explain or give meaning to them. The week's lesson was on "Everlasting Punishment." The Second Reader would read different verses of the Bible, and the First reader would follow with verses read from Science and Health. This was repeated five times with different verses. I had a bit of a hard time following along. It was a lot of information to retain without being able to read along with them. I remember some of the following from the passages read from Science and Health. There was mention of God creating only spiritual things, because God is Spirit. God, being good, wouldn't create anything like hell. The effects of sin on a person are the punishment of sin. There was more, some of which I didn't feel had much to do with the subject at all. Without a subscription to the Bible lesson I don't have a way to refresh my memory.

We also said a version of the Lord's Prayer written by Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health. The congregation would read the prayer itself, and the first reader would interject with the words written in italics.

"Our Father which art in heaven,

Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,

Hallowed be Thy name.

Adorable One

Thy kingdom come.

Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Enable us to know, — as in heaven, so on earth, —

God is omnipotent, supreme

Give us this day our daily bread;

Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And Love is reflected in love

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;

And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth 

us from sin, disease, and death.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.

For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love,

over all, and All." (Source)

After the service, I went with the First Reader to the "Reading Room." I think each Christian Science church is expected to have a Reading Room associated with it. It included copies of books for sale or to borrow, and some past-dated issues of magazines that people were welcome to take. The church has a lot of regular publications. Besides the Christian Science Monitor and the Bible Lesson, they publish a weekly Christian Science Sentinal and monthly Christian Science Journal. I was able to pick up a couple of back-issues. 

I was able talk with some of the members after the service. One woman asked me if I had been "practicing Science long." It was such an odd phrase that it threw me off-guard. After looking it up it seems to be a common phrase used by people who follow the religion. One woman mentioned that their congregation used to be much larger, but the younger generation simply didn't gravitate towards it as much. 

Final Thoughts

The local congregation was very kind and welcoming. The service was...odd, but I did appreciate the silence and emphasis placed on listening and quiet as opposed loudness of the previous weeks. The religion as a whole I find to be dangerous. It's one thing to use spiritual practices in addition to medical care. It's another thing entirely to encourage people to avoid medical care altogether. It's not really surprising to me that this religion flourished when modern medical care was in its infancy.  It appears to be experiencing a pretty steep decline, both here in Cedar Rapids and worldwide.