Sunday, October 26, 2008

The downside of being a member of a church as awesome as St. Withburga's?  Trying to find anything 1/10th as awesome once you move to another state.  I sure miss them.  

I've tried a few Episcopal churches here in Chicago, and recently found one I liked quite a bit.  It's kind of far away, out in the suburbs, but seems to be worth the trip.  But today I hung out with my parents in the morning and couldn't make it out there, so I went to the church down the street that has an evening service.  It's a huge, beautiful, old church with, among other things, lots of young-adult activities, a Taize service, a strong music program, and even - this is so awesome - a knitting circle, all of which reminded me of St. Withburga's.  One very small problem: it's totally not an Episcopal church.

I wondered if this was going to cause some inner conflict.  But after the service, I didn't feel conflicted at all, because it confirmed for me exactly how Episcopalian I am.  I need our liturgy - it's that simple.  I also need the procession and the collects and the incense and the Anglican chant and the whole works, not to mention other Episcopalians.  This place really does seem fabulous, and I hope they don't mind if I drop in on their knitting circle once in a while, but I guess I'm a one-denomination kind of girl.  And I'm grateful to be reminded of that.

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