Friday, February 02, 2007
churches and Church
Every few months i go on the web and look for churches in Tokyo. Its always discouraging. Its like the homeshopping network. Youve got your old stodgy "if you're looking for more than entertainment" churches. Its like they are saying " the rest of those churches aren't serious about God but we certainly are" Next is your new fangled if your under 25 "worship you can dance to (even if you don't know the words) life experience related sermons" churches. A little scary and you walk in wondering "what do they want from me" and "your being too nice, i'm suspicious" and lots of " I am a pastor from Hawaii and we have a Hula team" churches (you would be surprised). We sometimes go to a church who's pastor is from Hawaii- no hula. Of course if you are just from Hawaii you are and thats that. Its well the.... if i have to explain it .... Then there is the "we are raising money to build a new church" (small c). Which i believe the 80's "missing the point" church.There are also lots of dead Japanese churches that look exactly like a western church inside and out. They are often hard to distinguish from the "wedding chapels" that are only used for ... weddings. We have a Korean church in our neighborhood. I have never been. No offense to Koreans but in my personal experience and anyone else i know who isn't Korean, the Korean churchs are just that,all Korean. Fine if you live in Korea but if you are a missions church in Japan? Makes sense somewhat. There is another church close enough to walk to. That church forces you to sign in if you are not a member. I liked the people i met there but it's rediculous to be tracked week to week and called out in service. Its like they want to say "hey this guy is new and he has come the last 3 weeks maybe he will join us" in a creepy way. Most likely it is an awkward attempt to welcome people and make sure people don't fall through the cracks.
All the churches i have been to have the "Hand of The Pastor" in everything/zenbu! Its not healthy. Everyone says how they want the community to be involved but the practical method is "as long as you run it buy the pastor". The only other people heavily involved are those with gifts of public speaking or who are out going or maybe looking for a fulltime job.
this is my blog and i like to be a little toungue in cheek. It helps me keep a sense of humor when i see so many things that are wrong with todays Church. Of course that is my opinion. Most people choose churches based on past affiliations, country of origin, or how the service "feels". Makes sense,you don't want to go to places where people are not like you or you leave feeling just crappy. Unless that is your past experience you had growing up and you think "I should feel crappy after church".
I want to get together with Christians and non-christians who are genuinly interested in learning about who Jesus was and is and how to make sense of that in our daily lives. But i want that place to be free, no i don't mean hippy free i mean no paid pastor for simply putting a message together and no cost for the building.
And i want everyone to bring songs, thoughts, prayers, readings etc and all feel free
(maybe here is where we insert the hippy par or fureta) to contribute. I also want it to be in walking distance so that the people i get together with will be the same people i see on the way to the grocery store. It would be an environment that is not controlling and wouldn't be fearful of different ideas. If you want to join my cult i mean church you can email me.
I am a little discouraged about church- why does it have to be so difficult? there seems to be so much fear and manipulation in churches. I beleive people are well meaning and thats what they were taught. What are we mentoring people to do? the system is just driving itself and it is no longer a community. It has become a church not Church
disclaimer: I have been to many of the types of churches mentioned in this blog. If you are a pastor of one of these architype churches this is not a personal afront on any individual but merely a direction of the church that i disagree with personally and believe we all need to discuss these issues publically and with a sense of humor.
All the churches i have been to have the "Hand of The Pastor" in everything/zenbu! Its not healthy. Everyone says how they want the community to be involved but the practical method is "as long as you run it buy the pastor". The only other people heavily involved are those with gifts of public speaking or who are out going or maybe looking for a fulltime job.
this is my blog and i like to be a little toungue in cheek. It helps me keep a sense of humor when i see so many things that are wrong with todays Church. Of course that is my opinion. Most people choose churches based on past affiliations, country of origin, or how the service "feels". Makes sense,you don't want to go to places where people are not like you or you leave feeling just crappy. Unless that is your past experience you had growing up and you think "I should feel crappy after church".
I want to get together with Christians and non-christians who are genuinly interested in learning about who Jesus was and is and how to make sense of that in our daily lives. But i want that place to be free, no i don't mean hippy free i mean no paid pastor for simply putting a message together and no cost for the building.
And i want everyone to bring songs, thoughts, prayers, readings etc and all feel free
(maybe here is where we insert the hippy par or fureta) to contribute. I also want it to be in walking distance so that the people i get together with will be the same people i see on the way to the grocery store. It would be an environment that is not controlling and wouldn't be fearful of different ideas. If you want to join my cult i mean church you can email me.
I am a little discouraged about church- why does it have to be so difficult? there seems to be so much fear and manipulation in churches. I beleive people are well meaning and thats what they were taught. What are we mentoring people to do? the system is just driving itself and it is no longer a community. It has become a church not Church
disclaimer: I have been to many of the types of churches mentioned in this blog. If you are a pastor of one of these architype churches this is not a personal afront on any individual but merely a direction of the church that i disagree with personally and believe we all need to discuss these issues publically and with a sense of humor.
