Today, I saw a stark and somewhat frightening example of our divided country. I am no stranger to organized religion but have not been actively involved for almost 20 years. I attended a local United Methodist Church in my conservative rural community today as part of a musical commitment. Perhaps I was meant to be there as I needed to see what was happening in church on this Sunday.
I was shocked and then angered as the minister–new to the congregation but on the verge of retiring–lauded Charlie Kirk both at the beginning of the service and during his rambling sermon, a sermon that began with a reminder that the United Methodist Church is an inclusive organization. Ironically, there was no mention of Kirk’s opposition to inclusion or that Turning Point USA is linked to Christian nationalism and white supremacism, very non inclusive movements.
While I was reminding myself to breathe and trying not to mutter under my breath, I had a sickening realization that this minister, who not only followed Kirk but seemed enamored of him and his following, agreed with his beliefs. I mean, if you didn’t, wouldn’t you mention that just to make sure you were being transparent about the complexity of Kirk’s tangled theology? Many of the people in the pews, who probably hadn’t known who Kirk was, left with the notion that a faithful Christian family man was assassinated for sharing his beliefs.
There was also a very odd part of the sermon where the minister talked about how happy he was and how he just didn’t deal with drama. He didn’t ever feel sorry for himself, and he did not tolerate it in others. Since he is new, I wondered who had approached him this week with a personal concern? Don’t worry, pastor. I will not be coming to you when I have a crisis.
He also doesn’t allow the congregation to call out prayer requests as it just got ridiculous in his past congregations, and he didn’t have time for all that. Sometimes, it took 20 minutes! Oh dear, not people sharing their concerns and lives with their spiritual community?
After a primal scream in the car and a long dog walk where I did much more than mutter to myself, I checked out the recording of the service at the United Methodist church my sister attends in Annapolis, Maryland. The minister, a woman probably about the same age as my local one, did not mention Kirk at all. She talked about the challenging week and reminded the congregation that the sanctuary was available for prayer even outside office hours. They just had to give her a call.
At the beginning of her sermon, she spoke about Jesus’s love for all of us and our role in spreading that love and mercy to others. It was lovely and comforting, the way church, in my humble opinion, should be. She is planning to hold monthly healing services on Sunday evenings to help the congregation navigate these often frightening times.
These two churches are in the same denomination, supposedly sharing the same theological beliefs. Both have chosen to stay within the United Methodist church even as other congregations have disaffiliated, mostly over issues related to LGBTQ+ policies, but also because the UMC had gotten too liberal for them. Certainly, individual ministers make a difference so I am hoping more of them chose to take the nonpolitical path of love and mercy as they addressed the violence of the past week. But I worry that isn’t the case, and my experience demonstrates the great divide in which we are living, a divide that, as it is now playing out in people’s most fundamental beliefs, may be impossible to cross.
Big sigh.
I did have a little giggle as I thought about the minister’s admonition that he did not deal with drama or victims. I leave you with Sister Michael from The Derry Girls:
