I worshiped the past two weeks at Mother Bethel A.M.E. church in Philadelphia, pictured here. What follows below is my reflection for rotation group about this experience. What a good, relaxing time worshiping God. I felt right at home, though I wouldn't have thought it before. As I get ready to write my ecumenism paper later this week, I think about how much the theological differences at the A.M.E. church didn't bother me because the people were so ready to welcome and embrace me, so exuberant to worship together. Maybe if we all were a little more unafraid and welcoming, ecumenism wouldn't seem such a laborious task.
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Mother Bethel is the second church we have attended so far on rotation which I would like to go back to this summer. I did not expect to think this before worshiping at Mother Bethel. It is so far from my typical “comfort zone.” I had never worshiped where I was one of only three white persons (the other two were my classmates), worshiping in/with a denomination not my own and which I knew little about, in a place so viscerally tied to a culture not at all my own. But it was just what I needed. Especially the first Sunday I attended, I felt that this congregation was more welcoming than almost any I had attended this year. Even though I was a visitor, I felt completely relaxed in the sanctuary.
I could pick up on some differences in theology that were present in the sermons that I heard at Mother Bethel, but, these were not even such huge things that most lifetime Lutherans might not pick up on them. There was definitely some theology of glory and decision theology preached and prayed for, but I have heard those ideas preached at ELCA churches more than a few times also. I suppose I felt a balance still because the grace came to me in the words of the hymns sung (all ones that I have sung out of Lutheran hymnals in Lutheran churches). Grace and God's mercy was in a community that welcomes everyone with hugs and handshakes, in the faith shared, the choir's notes hit, words of God's love in the sermon, and the way that people in worship can be moved to clap, say “amen,” stand up, and each a little differently. It is times like that, worshiping in a place I never would have before, that I am really thankful for the rotation program.
The history of Mother Bethel impacted me more than I thought it would, being the daughter who sometimes feels burnt out from her dad taking her to every local Civil War battlefield, historic home, et cetera. It was a blessing to be at Mother Bethel the first week, as they celebrated in grand style their Founder's day. That church was the first A.M.E. congregation, a site of famous abolitionist speeches, a stop and coordinator of the Underground Railroad, and the oldest piece of land in America continually owned by black people. These A.M.E. traditions founded on that site is a powerful, meaningful, and deserved part of this congregation's pride. The worship celebrating this, with the bishop preaching, the cathedral choir, and a lot of explanations and background, was the perfect Sunday to be a guest and get a sense of their identity at its fullest. It was probably also the first time I had been to a worship service that was over two hours and it didn't feel very long and I didn't find myself fidgeting to feel comfortable.
Today I chose to worship at the early (8:00) service, and saw a contrast, but not a break from the identity or feeling I had the first week. The early service I went to had maybe 1/3 of the people from the late service the previous week, no choir, much shorter service overall (about 1:15). Their head pastor preached and the (female!) associate pastor read and did prayers. The preaching was exuberant, highly relatable, and climactic as I have seen before with preachers in the black style. Yet the way that the pastor kept his rhetoric very much parallel with the biblical story, highlighting and explaining all the way to a central point/piece of grace, was unlike preaching in a similar style I have heard this year. The way the congregation responds to the preaching, and worship in general, as mentioned above, made me feel like this was a vibrant, faithful place. Honestly, a year ago I'm not sure I would've been as comfortable (and even joined in with the “amen”s and clapping) as response to worship, because I had never experienced worship in a culture that does so, or at least not enough to feel comfortable and not distracted.
As I've been reading for liturgy and confessions a lot this weekend, some other things have been coming to me as I think about Mother Bethel. I wish that I could've spoken with the pastors to hear their thoughts on these things, but I have been reading about the denomination's beliefs from their website. There was no communion in the order of service for either week we were there, either service, and no mention of it in preaching or symbols or table/altar made clear to me where it would be laid. But the denomination's website says that communion is a sacrament, it should be taken in both kinds, they do not believe in transubstantiation, and that “The body of Christ is given, taken and eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner. And the means whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper, is faith.” (http://www.ame-church.com/about-us/beliefs.php) This website with the “articles of our faith” read a whole lot to me, at least in form and structure, like the Augsburg Confessions and the Small/Large Catechisms as I have been reading. I would like to hear what the pastors would have to say about the altar call that is done at the end. People who we saw go up were doing so to officially declare their intent to become members of Mother Bethel. They were asked if they “proclaim the Lord as their Savior” and if they have been baptized (all were adults). So I am left wondering what would happen if someone who wasn't baptized or hadn't ever before proclaimed Christ as their Savior went up. Furthermore, it is how an A.M.E. Pastor would explain the altar call, what it means to them theologically and practically in the congregation, that I'm interested in. The good thing is, hopefully I will continue to learn about all of these different ways to worship, denominations, beliefs, and languages of faith we speak that I am experiencing this year and that this is just the beginning.
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