The quest for worship.
Since it's been on my mind, I decided to dedicate a blog post to my quest for a faith community here in NOLA. I knew in returning back home at the beginning of 2013 that I would not simply be re-attending/joining the church I grew up going to for multiple reasons...perhaps too many to go into right now. I was fortunate that a few months prior to leaving St. Louis, I had found a community I felt a connection to - a young, Methodist church where a buddy of mine served as the pastor. While I had not been drawn to the Methodist faith in previous years, something about The Gathering really spoke to me. Perhaps it was the worship music that reminded me of my high school years in youth group. Or maybe the number of young people and LGB individuals and couples who attended each week and felt welcomed including two close friends who I often sat with. Or it could have simply been that I knew the pastor and found the message each week thoughtful, reflective, and inspiring. Although I'm not certain that I ever grew used to seeing people sitting with coffee in church! I was lucky to have found The Gathering and in making the decision to move back home, I knew I had high expectations for what I was looking for as a replacement to The Gathering.
In my almost 10 months here, I don't feel that I've found that perfect fit just yet. But I've definitely been trying. So where has my quest taken me?
It started with the Big Easy Metropolitan Community Church, a church I found through the power of Google in seeking out a gay friendly church here in the city. This worship community rents a space from another local church in the city and has 1 service each week. I didn't know what to expect when I first showed up and while I appreciated that the service was gay friendly, it was also too focused on sexual orientation. Everything from the music to the readings to the sermon focused on this topic. Plus there was A LOT of hugging and I got a cook book for showing up. It was all just too much for me. So long BEMCC!
My next visit was to a more traditional church, one a friend recommended as she had heard a lot of young people attended. It was a Presbyterian Church called Redeemer not far from my house uptown. While I did appreciate that the service was more traditional, I realized I just don't connect with the Presbyterian style of worship. It didn't do it for me. Adios Redeemer.
Several weeks? months? went by before I visited Rayne Memorial Methodist Church. I was excited to check out this community as a friend of mine always raved about it and said it was incredibly supportive of the gay community. Score! Plus my boyfriend was starting to go there and also having really positive praise for the community. But sadly, I didn't connect as fully with this community as they seemed to. I struggled to fully identify and resonate with the preacher and message. I've been twice and while I'm not ruling out ever going back (and know I more than likely will from time to time), I know it won't be my permanent worship community.
I then dipped my toes back into Catholic waters scoping out three Catholic churches uptown. The one I liked the best? The Jesuit church on Loyola's campus. It reminded me of attending Mass up in St. Louis and felt the most comfortable to me of any of the churches I'd previously visited. But I don't fully love the priest. I've gone to Mass twice at Holy Name of Jesus (at Loyola) and of the bunch, it's the front runner at the moment. Mainly because of the music.
Finally, last week I checked out the Episcopal Cathedral on St. Charles. I know the Episcopal service most closely resembles Catholic Mass and while I haven't really ever attended many Episcopal services, I figured I should give it a shot. Sadly, I was disappointed at how much older the worship community was there and how stagnant it seemed. Definitely not for me! But my mom recommended another Episcopal church near me so I may give it a try as well.
So there you have it. In my 10 months here, I've explored 7 different faith communities. And while I cannot say that I've found the right one just yet for me, I am excited to continue the quest and keep challenging myself to lean into the discomfort as I put myself out there.
Stay tuned!
Cheers.
In my almost 10 months here, I don't feel that I've found that perfect fit just yet. But I've definitely been trying. So where has my quest taken me?
It started with the Big Easy Metropolitan Community Church, a church I found through the power of Google in seeking out a gay friendly church here in the city. This worship community rents a space from another local church in the city and has 1 service each week. I didn't know what to expect when I first showed up and while I appreciated that the service was gay friendly, it was also too focused on sexual orientation. Everything from the music to the readings to the sermon focused on this topic. Plus there was A LOT of hugging and I got a cook book for showing up. It was all just too much for me. So long BEMCC!
My next visit was to a more traditional church, one a friend recommended as she had heard a lot of young people attended. It was a Presbyterian Church called Redeemer not far from my house uptown. While I did appreciate that the service was more traditional, I realized I just don't connect with the Presbyterian style of worship. It didn't do it for me. Adios Redeemer.
Several weeks? months? went by before I visited Rayne Memorial Methodist Church. I was excited to check out this community as a friend of mine always raved about it and said it was incredibly supportive of the gay community. Score! Plus my boyfriend was starting to go there and also having really positive praise for the community. But sadly, I didn't connect as fully with this community as they seemed to. I struggled to fully identify and resonate with the preacher and message. I've been twice and while I'm not ruling out ever going back (and know I more than likely will from time to time), I know it won't be my permanent worship community.
I then dipped my toes back into Catholic waters scoping out three Catholic churches uptown. The one I liked the best? The Jesuit church on Loyola's campus. It reminded me of attending Mass up in St. Louis and felt the most comfortable to me of any of the churches I'd previously visited. But I don't fully love the priest. I've gone to Mass twice at Holy Name of Jesus (at Loyola) and of the bunch, it's the front runner at the moment. Mainly because of the music.
Finally, last week I checked out the Episcopal Cathedral on St. Charles. I know the Episcopal service most closely resembles Catholic Mass and while I haven't really ever attended many Episcopal services, I figured I should give it a shot. Sadly, I was disappointed at how much older the worship community was there and how stagnant it seemed. Definitely not for me! But my mom recommended another Episcopal church near me so I may give it a try as well.
So there you have it. In my 10 months here, I've explored 7 different faith communities. And while I cannot say that I've found the right one just yet for me, I am excited to continue the quest and keep challenging myself to lean into the discomfort as I put myself out there.
Stay tuned!
Cheers.
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