The Sixth Baptist Church was just down the road from where I was staying. So I went and checked it out...
I totally have not got the start times of church sussed out yet - this one started at 9.30 so I missed the singing - I showed up at 10. The sermon was very entertaining... it was for girls aged 8 - 21 and was about how they are worth something. There was stuff in there about not getting their identity wrapped up in guys, finishing high school and becoming independent financially from their parents so that they had options and opportunities. The preacher was halarious and entertaining - it is a story telling kind of style that I find really refreshing! And honest. Oh my goodness. There were things said in that 'house of god' that were never said in mine growing up!! And men not afraid of being men - being honest (and funny) about the nature of attraction and how it affects them... I really appreciated that. I think the NZ church goes overboard trying not to be offensive that it turns out a little bit neutral sometimes on a subject that totally isn't!!! (I think it causes problems for both men and women- for themselves and for each other... anyways, my views on 'asexual men and women in the NZ church' is not worth talking about in great detail here, but if you're interested, ask me!!...)
Anyways. The way this subject matter talked about the value of women made me realise that I was in a different community than I was used to. Talking about finishing high school - any expectaion that we wouldn't is not my experience at all.
To be honest, the most I can say about this experience was that I found this church entertaining. It was genuinely fun, frank and halrious. I liked it. Unfortunately, no-one really talked to me (including the pastor), except another woman who used to go to this church, but now lives in North Carolina. It was a bit awkward, and I felt really shy. I was the only white person there. I also didn't take my bible to this church - EVERYBODY had one, and I felt like a total tourist. Which I kind of was I guess. But anyway. The major thing I took from this church was that it was really telling about the area I was in. The area had been re-built after the hurricane, so all the houses were new. Everyone seems to drive a flash car. It was really hard to tell exactly what kind of area I was in. The sermon helped.
There was a youth choir at the end that sang a song that I knew. At that point though, everyone on the side (where I was sitting) walked towards the back of the church, then I got ushered down the middle of the church, up the front and then up the other side of the church. I still don't really know what that was for. Perhaps I was supposed to put some money in the bucket at the front for a tithe? Otherwise I figured I could have left out the backdoor like half the locals did to skip the notices. Oh well, in my new spot I was closer to the choir.
No regrets ; )
I totally have not got the start times of church sussed out yet - this one started at 9.30 so I missed the singing - I showed up at 10. The sermon was very entertaining... it was for girls aged 8 - 21 and was about how they are worth something. There was stuff in there about not getting their identity wrapped up in guys, finishing high school and becoming independent financially from their parents so that they had options and opportunities. The preacher was halarious and entertaining - it is a story telling kind of style that I find really refreshing! And honest. Oh my goodness. There were things said in that 'house of god' that were never said in mine growing up!! And men not afraid of being men - being honest (and funny) about the nature of attraction and how it affects them... I really appreciated that. I think the NZ church goes overboard trying not to be offensive that it turns out a little bit neutral sometimes on a subject that totally isn't!!! (I think it causes problems for both men and women- for themselves and for each other... anyways, my views on 'asexual men and women in the NZ church' is not worth talking about in great detail here, but if you're interested, ask me!!...)
Anyways. The way this subject matter talked about the value of women made me realise that I was in a different community than I was used to. Talking about finishing high school - any expectaion that we wouldn't is not my experience at all.
To be honest, the most I can say about this experience was that I found this church entertaining. It was genuinely fun, frank and halrious. I liked it. Unfortunately, no-one really talked to me (including the pastor), except another woman who used to go to this church, but now lives in North Carolina. It was a bit awkward, and I felt really shy. I was the only white person there. I also didn't take my bible to this church - EVERYBODY had one, and I felt like a total tourist. Which I kind of was I guess. But anyway. The major thing I took from this church was that it was really telling about the area I was in. The area had been re-built after the hurricane, so all the houses were new. Everyone seems to drive a flash car. It was really hard to tell exactly what kind of area I was in. The sermon helped.
There was a youth choir at the end that sang a song that I knew. At that point though, everyone on the side (where I was sitting) walked towards the back of the church, then I got ushered down the middle of the church, up the front and then up the other side of the church. I still don't really know what that was for. Perhaps I was supposed to put some money in the bucket at the front for a tithe? Otherwise I figured I could have left out the backdoor like half the locals did to skip the notices. Oh well, in my new spot I was closer to the choir.
No regrets ; )
