Weird, Beautiful Church

Some of my absolute favorite memories from childhood and adolescence come from my time at church. From dismantling a toilet for a VERY competitive scavenger hunt, to sleeping in the pews during a lock-in, to impersonating the priest during our parish retreat talent show, we had some great times. So great, in fact, that I was certain church had peaked. There was no way any other church was going to match the joy and energy of growing up at Holy Trinity. And for a while, it didn’t. It was lovely and wonderful and brought me closer to God. But it was never quite as much FUN. That is, until I came to St. Matt’s.

I told Rob just this week that I almost didn’t come to the interview. I had watched a couple of services online and while I enjoyed most of it, I couldn’t get over the fact that (at least at the time), they weren’t even wearing robes. And, am I hearing this right? Did that priest just MAKE UP the Eucharistic Prayer?!? I was so deep in my own little world of seminary and classes and doing things the “right” way that I forgot church could should be fun. St. Matthew’s, all of you, reminded me of that. You reawakened the joy that lives in me that I have for God and all of God’s people.

During that interview, Rob took me to a cat café. I think it was to see if I could be trusted (as it turns out, Rob and I are both unabashed cat people), but also to let me know that this is what I was getting into—weird, beautiful church. Since then, I have gotten to blow up pumpkins with the youth, enjoy endlessly delicious food at seemingly every occasion, and celebrate communion on the (very steep) roof. Will church ever be this fun again? St. Matthew’s has taught me that the answer is: YES. It can be, if you make it happen.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for keeping church weird, beautiful, and such great big fun. Keep it up.

Rev. Mary Margaret