RE: Have you ever felt you were missing out on the good things church has to offer?
September 28, 2013 at 7:33 pm
Some years ago Sam and I used to go from time to time to a local church-run free food bank, where we got on friendly terms with the volunteer workers. From my perspective though it was probably that they hardly ever mentioned anything to do with religion, other than the occasional obligatory "God bless you" boilerplate.
I did notice an increasing tendency towards stealth proselytising, however. When the scheme began, to redistribute date-expired supermarket food (Marks and Spencer as well; good stuff) before they got the idea to sell it reduced, everyone queued up outside and took their turns going in to collect their share. Then the weather dipped and we were allowed to sit in the church proper - it was a modernish building, more like a scout hall or community centre than an actual church. Then they started playing gospel-style Youtube videos on their pc projector to keep us entertained. I started walking out when they began showing clips of Left Behind.
One time (at band camp - no sorry, wrong train of thought) I learned that their first anniversary was coming up and I asked, converstaionally, if they were planning anything special for it. They hadn't thought about it until I gave them the idea. So on the day, we all went to this big celebration - involving gospel music, praying and lots of witnessing. Remember, this was nominally my idea. I got some stick for it later from family and friends.
Then there was the time they invited Sam and me to a Sunday lunch. We turned up, having already cancelled lunch at my parents' where we normally ate it, only to find we were early to the tune of a whole week. The church was in full flight and huge soppy grins urged us to join in. After declining, Sam and I took one look at each other, laughing as we realised the narrowness of our escape and just legged it down the street.
I did notice an increasing tendency towards stealth proselytising, however. When the scheme began, to redistribute date-expired supermarket food (Marks and Spencer as well; good stuff) before they got the idea to sell it reduced, everyone queued up outside and took their turns going in to collect their share. Then the weather dipped and we were allowed to sit in the church proper - it was a modernish building, more like a scout hall or community centre than an actual church. Then they started playing gospel-style Youtube videos on their pc projector to keep us entertained. I started walking out when they began showing clips of Left Behind.
One time (at band camp - no sorry, wrong train of thought) I learned that their first anniversary was coming up and I asked, converstaionally, if they were planning anything special for it. They hadn't thought about it until I gave them the idea. So on the day, we all went to this big celebration - involving gospel music, praying and lots of witnessing. Remember, this was nominally my idea. I got some stick for it later from family and friends.
Then there was the time they invited Sam and me to a Sunday lunch. We turned up, having already cancelled lunch at my parents' where we normally ate it, only to find we were early to the tune of a whole week. The church was in full flight and huge soppy grins urged us to join in. After declining, Sam and I took one look at each other, laughing as we realised the narrowness of our escape and just legged it down the street.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
