Different Worship

This weekend I spent the weekend in Charlotte, NC to visit with family.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship and reconnecting (and determining that Bruce and I are indeed Dolley Madison’s first cousins, six times removed; thank you Bruce!).  On Sunday, I went to church with Bruce and Paula at their church, Myers Park UMC.

And what a Sunday it was!  The church more resembles a cathedral to me, with the Gothic architecture and Norman tower.  The interior is absolutely stunning, and the service fed my high-church heart to overflowing.  How have I lived my entire life without knowing that Methodists do “smells and bells” too?  Since it was All Saints’ Day, they had pulled out all the stops.

The music and the worship were truly divine, and the sermon began with the phrase “I love Jesus for….” As I was looking at the surroundings and the congregation, who were clearly the upper echelon of Charlotte, I felt certain that this was an image of how the Church of England had to be when its mission work was in its heyday.  Though the esthetics were phenomenal, what truly made the church beautiful was the love for Jesus, expressed in the ornate stained glass windows, the exquisite music, the orthodox preaching, and the warmth of the congregation.  Their love for Jesus is palatable, and is seen in their outreach.

As I was thinking of this, I thought of a church in Kampala I’ve visited several times while supervising a student.  Though it’s not in a slum, it’s quite close to one.  The church is a Compassion site, and it is teeming with children.  The church is humble, as are the overwhelming majority of the members. I have wondered why the song leader is the one with the microphone; surely someone else in the choir can stay in key better…

But once I get past my judgment, the worship in that church is just as exquisite as the worship at Myers Park, because it is fueled by an intense love for Jesus.  Though the differences between the churches are many, what unites them is of the utmost importance.  Whether the worship is led with a pipe organ and a brass band or a synthesizer and a drum kit, it is offered with a pure heart.  That purity and single-minded devotion ushers us right to the throne room of God.  And both are exquisitely beautiful.