Tuesday Funny

I stumbled upon this and for some reason it tickled my funny bone. Just thinking of this first century Jew who spoke Aramaic somehow turning into this:

from http://photo.ringo.com/161/161348517O964703318.jpg

Real Live Preacher

Rather than write a slick post as to why I like www.reallivepreacher.com (which would involve further procrastination on the mind-numbingly slow paper I am writing), I thought I would just cut and paste the email I just sent to my mentor (who was my Christian youth minister back in the day) as a way to suggest this very nice blog I like.

To: Michael
From: Elizabeth
Re: a blog i think you will like

as you know, i can be somewhat christian-a-phobic with jesus this and jesus that. but this blog is a christian (gasp) that doesn’t leave me annoyed. i liked what he wrote on his jan 12 mustard seed post

Jesus once said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of seeds, but when it is planted, it grows into a large tree and the birds of the air nest in its branches.” So it is with goodness and with evil. Seeds are planted, either in selfishness or in goodness and service. What grows from those seeds is only known to those who are there. The ones who planted the seeds often never know what good or evil comes of their actions. Further, the idea of sin suggests that all of us have planted seeds of evil from time to time. I know that I have. Grace is being forgiven for the evil I have begun in this world. Redemption involves the changing of my heart and life, so that I can be a part of goodness.Pretty simple deal really. I don’t know why we Christians have made it so complex.

it may not be quite that simple, but i still really like this guy. i wish all christians could be so unannoying.

www.reallivepreacher.com

Santa On the Cross

I’m not really sure what to make of the situation of a someone who put Santa on a cross in his front yard in Washington State (see picture below) but I found it intriguing in the sense that I think it could be just an offensive thing (that would result in death threats, getting fired from your job, or worse if you did this where I grew up) or it could be a creative statement about what the Christmas season is about/could be about/should be about and so on. In the article, the person who put the display on his lawn

said the commercialization angle is the number one impetus for the display, but he’s also making a statement about political correctness. That he finds Santa on a cross a hilarious juxtaposition fits in the list of motives, too.

I don’t want to try to take it on here, but rather just point it out and invite reflection in the comments if you are so inclined. I think you could go in various directions with what is/could be meant by this. Via Surviving the Workday (and also touched on over at Boy in the Bands).

And if anyone was wondering about the sudden explosion of posts, you might remember that this often happens when I have a paper to write. All of a sudden I feel compelled to write a lot of blog posts. Instead of write a hard paper whose topic I can’t even settle on.

Maybe I am a charasmatic UU?

So the search for a home church is on. It is so much harder than I thought it would be and brings up all sorts of issues. One of the main ones is: I want to want to go to my church. I don’t want to go to church because I should join a church. I don’t need to be ultimately fulfilled each and every Sunday. Everything does not have to be perfect, but I need to find a church that I am excited to go to. And for this to work, I need to feel something during worship. And I need to feel welcome and not awkward. This has both to do with me and my mindset, as well as the way churches are. This brings me back to my megachurch days where there was a whole team of people trying to make church welcoming and enjoyable and they did a great job. I know that this can cross the line and turn into “church lite” or all warm fuzzy feelings without grappling with the hard challenges. But, for me, it didn’t. What it meant is that I could bring my coffee to worship with me, people were friendly and nice to me, I could sing along with the songs and feel them, and I could even get so excited about a song or about something that was being said that I could put my hand up in the air and say “amen!” All the prayers were not written out - they came from people’s hearts right then and there. And the sermons were not all written out - they were not polished or perfect, but they were more spontaneous. There was a sense that we didn’t have to control everything, or think everything out, and we could give some of ourselves, even recklessly give ourselves, over to some power that was awesome and overwhelming. I am not trying to hark back to the good old days of megachurch life - there were lots of problems with it too. But I guess what I am trying to express is a desire for something more charismatic. For something to get lost in and overwhelmed by. For something more welcoming and less stifled feeling. It sucks so much feeling like an outsider each Sunday. Is there a way to make visitors not feel like outsiders? Maybe it is impossible. I don’t know.

It is important for me to stress the balance here - this is not meant to be some sort of indictment of Unitarian Universalism. I feel like too often individuals’ struggles with an aspect of UUism turns into a “Gosh, UUism can’t get anything right.” So I don’t mean to imply that there is some sort of crisis and we need to rethink everything. I suppose I am reflecting on whether or not I am longing for something that we are not. For me, and others that want get overwhelmed by God and lost in the spirit and warmly welcomed by people who really seem to want us there, is this just something we need to find somewhere else? Or can this be us? Or is it asking us to be too many things to too many different people?

p.s. Afterthought: I wonder if this has more to do with being in New England than being in Unitarian Universalist churches? Or, if it has more to do with me feeling more at home in churches that are like the one I grew up with and it is really about me and not the churches I’m visiting? Probably all of this plays into it.

Meet Jesus: My running list of things that would somewhat traumatize my Baptist relatives

Of course as soon as a write that I will be posting less, I come up with two posts in one day. Isn’t that just how it goes.

Anyway, I just got a huge kick out of what is probably a great book. It is called Meet Jesus: The Life and Lessons of a Beloved Teacher and it is on the front page of the UUA bookstore website. It is so something I would get for my kids (if I had them) but I just envisioned my Baptist relatives and how dreadfully horrible this book would seem to them - you might as well give your kid a book called “How to Be Evil.” This goes in the same category with the tradition at my home UU church where everyone is invited to dress in costume the Sunday closest to Halloween and sing a song called “The Witch Song” with the following chorus:

Who were the witches, where did they come from?
Maybe your great great grandmother was one.
Witches were wise, wise women they say,
And there’s a little witch in every woman today.
There’s a little witch in every woman today.

Perhaps you have to come from a Southern Baptist charismatic background to appreciate the absolute horror that these two very nice UU innovations would invoke. Why makes me laugh, I don’t know. It just does. It would so not be funny if these ideas were even ever mentioned anywhere near my extended family. Or my hometown. So not funny.

An article on Ratzinger’s comments about how Christianity and European priests “purified” the indigenous people of what is today called South America

So I wrote a post a few days ago about how Ratzinger (known by some as Pope Benedict XVI) said that the indigenous people of what is today called South America were “silently longing” for Christianity and had welcomed the arrival of European priests who “purified” them. There is a good article here on CounterPunch about it - Ask Pope Benedict When Does Genocide Purify? by Adam Jones. (When you go to the link, scroll down a bit to see the article.)

Christian Blogs I Like (and other musings on Christianity)

Well, I was sitting here thinking about writing a post about how I still wish sometimes that I could find a way to make Christianity work for me. There is a long history to this, and I think it is mostly a longing for tradition, for familiarity, for a personal God that is right there with you, for well-defined framework. But, honestly, that is a long post that needs more thinking, so enough on that. It does bring to mind the recent post at Arbitrary Marks that resonated with me about Unitarian Universalism and why we don’t have widespread appeal:

We’re peeling back the curtain on a magic show, explaining the tricks, and then going on with the show, asking everyone to applaud when the rabbit is pulled from the hat.

I’m not saying I do (or don’t) agree with the whole post, but I think that there is something to that statement for me, in that when the tricks of Christianity were thought out, the curtain was pulled back, I couldn’t really deal with it anymore. It had to be real-er for me. So, that is why I like Unitarian Universalism, is because we have, in a sense, said “Okay, we’re not going to pretend like we have the number one best way of doing things. We’re open to lots of different ways.” So you can still talk about Jesus but you don’t have to only talk about Jesus (which drives me nuts a Christian churches - Jesus this, Jesus that - as you can see, there is a reason that this didn’t work for me). (Can I just say I know this is not completely articulate, but this isn’t a newspaper - it is a blog - and I sometimes use it to work out thoughts.)

So I think my basic point of the musings thus far is that it works for me to explain the tricks of religion (so-to-speak) and acknowledge we don’t really actually know how it works, and that there are lots of legit paths to trying to understand how the world works, none of which we can really say is right. Various possibilities for relating to the divine… or for praying… or for personifying God…. or ways of relating to the world in a spiritual yet non-theistic way…. you get the picture.

For me, sticking with Christianity you still have to talk about Jesus like he is somehow more important than other people, or that Biblical stories are somehow more powerful or meaningful than other stories. I don’t see anyway around it. You just can’t be Christian without somehow favoring the Christian narrative. And I just can’t bring myself to do that. Yet, I can really really understand why people prefer to have that sort of framework rather that the really broad possibilities that Unitarian Universalism presents. It is harder, I think. At least for me.

Now to the starting point of this post which are two Christian blogs that I like. I am always so happy to find Christian things that don’t turn me off or make me feel weird. There is a church here in Boston called Hope Church that is one of the few Christian churches like that for me - I can go and everyone feels pretty normal, non-dogmatic, and non-annoying. I hardly ever feel like rolling my eyes or ranting. These blogs seems similar:

Going Jesus which I saw linked on Ms. Kitty’s Saloon and Road Show Maybe it was the WTFWJD tee-shirt that made me feel like this was a blog that I could relate to. (Note that recently the blog has focused on her baby. But there is other content if you go further back.)

And Real Live Preacher which I’ve seen in a few other contexts, including mentioned on Going Jesus.

Ratzinger

Despite the fact that Joseph Ratzinger is now referred to as Pope Benedict XVI, around our house my German partner and I still call him Ratzinger. This is mostly because this is what we called him before he was the pope when he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. An important point, I think, is that before it was called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith it was called Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition. Inquisition. Remember that? Or rather those? Inquisitions. There was a string of them - Roman, Spanish and so on - where heretics were put to death and where people were forcibly converted to Catholicism. Luckily, the Catholic Church doesn’t burn people at the stake anymore, but Ratzinger’s former leadership of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I think, speaks to the sort of guy he is. He is about the purity of the faith. From his perspective. He’s hardcore about keeping things they way they are - no gays, no women, no birth control, abortion and none of that wishy-washing acceptance stuff.

And, I know this is not nice to say about someone, but gosh every time I look at him I imagine that to be what the devil were to look like. If such a person existed, which I don’t actually believe in. I stress, I am not suggesting that he is the devil, but just that he looks like what I would imagine such a nasty slimy character to look like. Maybe such feelings are encouraged by statements such as the one I am pointing out below - which just confirms what a huge disappointment and upsetting person I find him to be.

He apparently said in his final speech while visiting Brazil (and several places have reported this so it must be true…it is just hard for me to believe someone who is apparently smart and well-read could say something like this) that the indigenous people living in what is now South America were “silently longing” for Christianity and had welcomed the arrival of European priests who “purified” them.

Not to be dramatic about this, but I just want to make this clear. The pope of the Catholic Church said that the people who lived in South America before the Europeans arrived were “silently longing” for Christianity, welcomed the Europeans, and were “purified” by the priests who arrived. (If anyone can find the full text of the speech, I would appreciate it. I spent 10 minutes googling it with no luck.)

As with many things JR says, I am never sure to what extent he just says things and to what extent he really believes them. Not that it matters that much, but he is supposed to be a smart, well-read guy. I guess smart people can have terrible beliefs, but if you are well-read how can you say something like that?

As Debitage points out, the next line in many of the news reports on this is just about as absurd and dreadful: “Many indigenous rights groups see the conquest as ushering in a period of disease, mass murder, enslavement and the shattering of their cultures. ” (This particular version from Tracy Wilkinson of the LA Times.) The indigenous rights groups think this? Excuse me? Don’t you mean historians? Don’t you mean “Anyone, including historians, who has looked at the evidence realizes that contrary to the Pope’s characterization, the arrival of the Europeans and their priests resulted in rape, mass murder, pillage, and enslavement. This neither purified nor fulfilled a silent longing.”

Anyway. This the post is the start of what I hope to be at least three weekly posts. I have considered that it isn’t nice to be so critical of a person many people (my grandmother, in particular, may her soul rest in peace) really like and think you shouldn’t say anything bad about. Yet, I think when popes say things like this, any respect they should get by virtue of their title or role goes out the window. I hope that Ratzinger stops being the pope very soon and someone else is elected who is less racist, imperialist, and pompous, among other things.

Bibliography on Sexual Purity

I like to compile good bibliographies. I’ve posted one on democracy and one on queer theology. Clearly they are not in finished form. Now I add Sexual Purity (in a conservative Christian context).  Not everything in the bibliography is directly related to the sexual purity movement - some of it is tangentially related. And it is not annotated (yet).

“Pure Freedom Girls Retreat.” Pure Freedom, Inc. (State College, PA). http://purefreedom.org/retreatGirls.htm (accessed Jan 12, 2007).

“Purity Ball Planner (Educational Aids).” Abstinence Clearinghouse (Sioux Falls, SD). www.abstinence.net/store/00632.html?id=y2Gr9ceX (accessed Nov 5, 2006).

“How to Start Over if You’ve Lost Your Virginity.” Love Matters Website (Redondo Beach, CA) www.lovematters.com/startover.htm (accessed Jan 29, 2007).

“History and Rollout/Bus. Plan.” The Silver Ring Thing (Moon Twp., PA). www.silverringthing.com/about.html (accessed March 21, 2007).

“In Praise of Chastity, Purity Balls.” The Economist, November 18, 2006. (accessed March 1, 2007).

Abstinence Outlet, Wilding Industries, Inc. “Abstinence Rose Pin.” www.abstinenceoutlet.com/abropin.html (accessed February 27, 2007). (This rose pin, which you can pin on your clothes to remind you of the sentiment, reads: You are like a beautiful rose. Each time you engage in premarital sex, a precious petal is stripped away. Don’t leave your future husband holding a bare stem. Abstain.)

Arterburn, Stephen and Fred Stoeker. Every Man’s Battle: Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time (The Every Man Series). Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press, 2000.

Arterburn, Stephen, Fred Stoeker, Brenda Stoeker, with Mike Yorkey. Every Heart Restored: A Wife’s Guide to Healing in the Wake of a Husband’s Sexual Sin. Colorado Springs, CO: 2004.

Baldacci, Leslie. “No Sex, Thanks.” The Chicago Sun-Times, Jan 17, 2007, www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/213453,CST-FTR-celibacy17.article (accessed Jan 15, 2007).

Baumgardner, Jennifer. Would You Pledge Your Virginity to Your Father? Glamour, February 2007. www.glamour.com/news/articles/2007/01/purityballs07feb (accessed March 12, 2007).

Berkon, James. Made New. El Cajon, CA: Catholic Answers, forthcoming in April 2007.

———. “Made New.” www.secondaryvirginity.com (accessed Jan 21, 2007).

Bersamin, Melina and Samantha Walker. “Promising to Wait: Virginity Pledges and Adolescent Sexual Behavior.” Journal of Adolescent Health 36(5). May 2005: 428-436, http://resources.prev.org/documents/ViginityPledgeResearchReport.pdf.

Bishop, Jennie. Princess & the Kiss: A Story of God’s Gift of Purity. Anderson, IN: Warner Press, 2000.

Bishop, Jennie and Susan Henson. Life Lessons from the Princess and the Kiss. Niles, MI: Revive Our Hearts, 2004.

Briggs, David. “True to their Word; NE Ohio Youths Pledge Abstinence in National Faith-Based Movement.” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Feb 27, 2005.

Cee Cee Michaela Ministries. “The Purity Pajama Party.” GodzGirl Network (Atlanta, GA). www.ceeceemichaela.com/articles_view.asp?articleid=29002&columnid=3529 (March 10, 2007).

———. “The Purity Ring Party.” GodzGirl Network (Atlanta, GA). www.ceeceemichaela.com/articles_view.asp?articleid=29003&columnid=3529 (accessed March 10, 2008).

———. “Purity Princess Survivor Kit.” GodzGirl Network (Atlanta, GA). www.ceeceemichaela.com/store_items_view.asp?itemid=18272 (accessed Nov 5, 2006).

Clapp, Steve. The Gift of Sexuality: Empowerment for Religious Teens. Fort Wayne, IN: LifeQuest, 2006.

Cliffhanger Productions, Inc. “Online Video for CareNet Father-Daughter Purity Ball” (Port St. Lucie, Florida). http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9019249422941584807&q=abstinance (Accessed March 1, 2007).

Conaway, Dale. Sex is a Spiritual Act. Decatur, GA: Purity Press Publishers, 2004.

———. Sex: The Spiritual Laws. Decatur, GA: Purity Press Publishers, 2004.

Daniels, Robert. The War Within: Gaining Victory in the Battle for Sexual Purity. Revised & Expanded ed. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005.

Denizet-Lewis, Benoit. “Friends, Friends with Benefits, and the Benefits of the Local Mall.” The New York Times, May 30, 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/05/30/magazine/30NONDATING.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5007&en=b8ab7c02ae2d206b&ex=1401249600 (accessed Feb 1, 2007).

Diamond, Sara. Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States. New York, NY: The Guilford Press, 1995.

Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. New York, NY: Penguin, 1966.

Elliot, Elisabeth. Passion and Purity: Learning to Bring Your Love Life Under Christ’s Control. 2nd ed. Wheaton, IL: Revell, 2002.

Ellis, Bob. “Integrity Ball Encourages Young Men to Raise the Standard.” The Dakota Voice: A Christian Perspective, January 15, 2007, www.dakotavoice.com/200701/20070115_1.html (accessed February 24, 2007).

Erzen, Tanya. Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006.

Gresh, Dannah. And the Bride Wore White: Seven Secrets to Sexual Purity. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2004.

———. Seven Secrets to Sexual Purity Leaders Guide (Pure Freedom). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2003.

Gresh, Dannah and Bob. Who Moved the Goalpost?: 7 Winning Strategies in the Sexual Integrity Gameplan. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2001.

Griffith, Marie R. God’s Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1997.

———. “Marie Griffith’s Current Major Research Project.” Princeton University (Princeton, NJ). www.princeton.edu/~griffith/projects.html (accessed Feb 14, 2007).

Hacker, Hans. The Culture of Conservative Christian Litigation. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.

Harris, Joshua. I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Updated ed. Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2003.

———. Not Even a Hint: Guarding Your Heart Against Lust. Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2003.

———. Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2000.

Harris, Shannon, Joshua Harris, and Brian Smith. Sex is Not the Problem (Lust is): Sexual Purity in a Lust Saturated World [Not Even a Hint Study Guide for Women]. Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2005.

Johnson, Greg and Susie Shellenberger. What Hollywood Won’t Tell You about Sex, Love, and Dating. Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1994.

Keller, Wendy. The Cult of the Born-again Virgin: The New Sexual Revolution. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 1999.

Koehlinger, Jeff. Protecting His Workmanship: Teaching Your Child God’s Design for Sexual Purity. Midland, MI: Search for the Truth Ministries, 2004.

Lerner, Sharon. “An Orgy of Abstinence: Federal Funding Pushes No-Sex Education into the Mainstream.” The Village Voice, Aug 1-7, 2001, www.villagevoice.com/news/0131, lerner,26857,1.html (accessed Nov 9, 2006).

Levine, Judith. Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.

Mally, Sarah. Before You Meet Prince Charming: A Guide to Radiant Purity. Cedar Rapids, IA: Tomorrow’s Forefathers, Inc, 2006.

Napier, Kristine. The Power of Abstinence. New York, NY: Avon Books, 1996.

Noonan, Robert. The Three Weavers Plus Companion Guide: A Father’s Guide to Guarding His Daughter’s Purity. Humphrey, NE: Pumpkin Seed Press, 2004.

Orenstein, Peggy. “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” The New York Times Magazine, December 24, 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/magazine/24princess.t.html?ex=1324616400&en=8e5a1ac1332a802c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss (accessed March 2, 2007). (This relates to the purity movement in that the movement uses princess language, fairy-tale imagery, and what I call the princess-ization of girls as a key promotion strategy.)

Phillips, Richard and Sharon. Holding Hands, Holding Hearts: Recovering a Biblical View of Christian Dating. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2006.

Reagan, Teresa. “Teens Rally to be Forum for Virginity Commitment.” The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Jan 6, 2000.

Rosenbloom, Stephanie. “A Ring that Says No, Not Yet.” The New York Times, Dec 8, 2005, www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/fashion/thursdaystyles/08purity.html?ex=1291698000&en=955ec5aa5e5b3577&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss (accessed September 29, 2006).

Sampson, Ovetta. “Broadmoor Formal Aims to Reinforce Importance of Father-Daughter Bond.” The Gazette, 2001. http://generationsoflight.myicontrol.com/html/News.html (accessed March 16, 2007).

Sandler, Lauren. Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement. New York, NY: Viking Adult, 2006.

Shibley, Mark. Resurgent Evangelicalism in the United States: Mapping Cultural Change since 1970. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1996.

Speck, Greg. Sex: It’s Worth Waiting for. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1989.

Stenzel, Pam with Crystal Kirgiss. Sex has a Price Tag: Discussions about Sexuality, Spirituality, and Self-Respect. Grand Rapids, MI: Youth Specialties, 2003.

Stone, Gigi. “Teen Girls ‘Date’ Dad, Pledge Purity: Purity Balls Include Big Night Out with White Cake and Vows, But No Groom.” ABC News, March 12, 2007, http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2928607&page=1 (accessed March 29, 2007).

The Gravity Teen Website. “Virgin…Who Me? What is Secondary Virginity?” Vitae Caring Foundation (Jefferson City, MO). www.gravityteen.com/abstinence/virgin.cfm (accessed March 1, 2007).

True Love Waits. “TLW Overview.” LifeWay Christian Resources (Nashville, TN). www.lifeway.com/tlw/downloads/pdf_tlw_overview.pdf (accessed Dec 1, 2006).

———. “True Love Waits Commitment.” LifeWay Christian Resources (Nashville, TN). www.lifeway.com/tlw/ (accessed Dec 1, 2006).

Wilson, Lisa and Randy. “2006 Purity Ball Details.” Generations of Light (Colorado Springs, CO). http://generationsoflight.myicontrol.com/generationsoflight/index.cfm?ID=860F50F9-8F9F-438F-A992245B972F6D0A (accessed Nov 2, 2006).

———. “The Pledge: May I have this Dance.” Generations of Light (Colorado Springs, CO). www.generationsoflight.org/index.cfm?id=67C8F9DB-D1C8-4C6B-8562E3094336BBD0 (accessed Nov 2, 2006).

———. “Item Detail, Father Daughter Purity Ball Packet.” Generations of Light (Colorado Springs, CO). http://generationsoflight.myicontrol.com/products/FDPB02.html (accessed Nov 5, 2006).

Winner, Lauren. Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2005.

Yorkey, Mike. Every Young Man’s Battle Guide: Weapons for the War Against Sexual Temptation. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press, 2003.

Zablit, Jocelyne. “No Sex Please, We’re Daddy’s Little Girls.” Yahoo! News (Via Agence France-Presse), March 22, 2007, http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070322/lf_afp/afplifestyleussex chastity_070322082138 (accessed March 29, 2007).

Like Joys and Concerns… Amplified

Over at Trivium there is a great quote, I’m sure most appreciated by those of us having come from evangelical or charismatic backgrounds. The author writes:

One of the things we did at my church, many Charismatic churches do this, was to have a time to “Testify”. It was joys and concerns… amplified. There where the normal uplifting stories, the normal, yet utterly tragic, sorrows. A common phrase though, no matter what the person or family was going through, was something like “I just thank God to be with you here today”.

That’s such a great way to put it. I never thought of it like that… joys and concerns amplified. It is just so funny to think what the faces of the congregation might look like if you had a very subdue, low-key, nice joys and concerns in a charismatic church, or, on the other hand, a time to “testify” in a UU church. Makes me laugh just thinking about it. Reminds me of when I was trying to figure out how we could anoint people with oil at a healing service last year… somehow I just couldn’t come up with a way to do it that wouldn’t freak people out.