Sacraments

Yesterday I wrote about Evangelical churches and those groups who, to me, appear to set up their own religions and who want to 'play at churches'.

For a while I attended an Evangelical church but I will not bore you with how this came to pass. I was surprised that I enjoyed the services once I got used to having no music to look at and not knowing the hymn tunes. [ASIDE: I picked up some useful repertoire which I then introduced at school and which has been useful in the years since, such as "In Christ alone"]

The reason I left this church was because, after several weeks (months?) they wanted me to become a full member and the only way to do that was to be baptised into their church. Woah! Baptised for a second time? My friends were horrified and I too thought this was a bit 'rum'. I had been taught that baptism is a once-only sacrament. (A priest had once told me that when he was newly ordained he baptised twin boys and swapped their names by accident: it could not be undone. How the family resolved the issue I am not sure.)

Many people only go to church to be Hatched, Matched or Dispatched. Of these the first and last can only occur once! It is a fact that the C of E used not to allow divorced people to remarry in church but I believe the hard line has softened (it could be up to the local vicar these days): it is certainly possible to get a church blessing on a 2nd, 3rd or 4th marriage. I know a lady who remarried in Coventry Cathedral.

My point is that at least the C of E has regulations (even if they have relaxed somewhat in the case of marriage) and it is very wrong of Evangelical churches to make new rules and demand obedience to them. At the time I joined I was in a bad place so I was vulnerable. Luckily I was not in such a bad place that I had lost my wits. I realised something stank and I left soon afterwards.

At the time I was attending this church it was very clear that they abhorred homosexuals but it seems they have now changed this to hating the acts which might occur in such a relationship whilst supporting LGBTQ people in their flock.

The trouble with churches is that they are attended by people and people - humans - have so many different ways of behaving that one size does not fit all. When I was a child in the 1960s I was made to believe that one size did fit all ("At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow" and all that).

Ah, the church: changing to adapt to popular trends so as to keep bums on seats?