“Our bread was given, not earned. We had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do but sit there together, saying sonorous words in unison, listening to language we did not hear anywhere else in our lives. Take heart. Go in peace. Bear fruit. Although we could have sat quietly with Bibles on our laps and read these things to ourselves, we took turns reading them out loud to each other instead. The words sounded different when Kline read them than they did when Kathy read them. They sounded different from the mouth of a young mother than they did from the mouth of a widow. This was because the words did not come straight off the page. They percolated up through the silt and gravel of real people's lives so that the meaning in them was fluid, not fixed. Listening to one another read Holy Scripture, some of us learned what is meant by 'the living word of God.' We also sang things we could more easily have said. The Lord be with you. And also with you. None of us would have dreamed of doing this in the grocery store, but by doing it in church we remembered that there was another way to address one another. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up unto the Lord. Where else did any of us sing anymore, especially with other people? Where else could someone pick up the alto line on the second verse of 'Amazing Grace' and give five other people the courage to sing in harmony? Sometimes, when we were through, we would all just stand there listening until the last note turned entirely to air. We could even be quiet together, which was something else that did not happen many other places in our lives. Silence was so countercultural for most of us that it took a lot of practice before we could do it together.” CommunityChurchSilenceSingingCongregationSpoken Word Book:Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith Source: Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
“It can be difficult to be an introvert in church, especially if you happen to be the pastor. Liking to be alone can be interpreted as a judgment on other people's company. Liking to be quiet can be construed as aloofness. There is so much emphasis on community in most congregations that anyone who does not participate risks being labeled a loner.” PeopleIfsDoeHappensPastDifficultCommunityChurchCompanyRiskQuietJudgmentIntrovertPastorEmphasisLonerCongregationAloofness Book:An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith Source: An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith
“The church grew, and I gained a reputation for preaching, and people came, and it was a wonderful community. But we had a building that seated 82 people, and with a congregation then approaching 400 we were up to four services on Sunday, and everyone was tired.” PeopleCommunityChurchFourWonderfulBuildingGrewTiredReputationSundayPreachingCongregation Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“You can create an intimate community of about 20 or 25 people, and beyond that you're into a different kind of relationship.” PeopleKindDifferentCommunityIntimateDifferent Kinds Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“The tradition piece is so embedded in me I don't know that I can see it any more, but the community piece is one I've been in danger of losing.” KnowsI CanCommunityPiecesDangerLosingTraditionEmbedded Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“To be in the mainline is to have a history and not simply to be an amalgam, a community church of who knows what that came from who knows where.” KnowsCommunityChurch Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“I'm in a mainline church, I'm very aware, especially as I move through community churches and new-start churches that are making real efforts not to associate themselves with traditional denominations - very often they have no history. They have no institutional memory.” RealMovingCommunityChurchMemoriesEffortTraditionalAssociatesDenominationsNew Start Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“I have learned to prize holy ignorance more highly than religious certainty and to seek companions who have arrived at the same place. We are a motley crew, distinguished not only by our inability to explain ourselves to those who are more certain of their beliefs than we are but in many cases by our distance from the centers of our faith communities as well.” WellsCertainBeliefCommunityReligiousCasesIgnoranceHolyDistanceCertaintyPrizeCompanionI Have LearnedCrewInabilityDistinguishedFaith Community Book:Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith Source: Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
