One Sunday, Three Churches

This morning I went to church with Mary to the Presbyterian church she loves and has been begging me to try. Since there are at least 2 churches in every holler, you're hard pressed to find any congregation larger than about 12, and that's exactly the attendance of Pineville Pres on a given Sunday. I was at my home church last weekend and I have to say I'm feeling blessed to have grown up in such a large community of Christians. Mary loves the small feel and how everyone knows each other, but I had to laugh when the offering plates had made their way around the entire chapel within 45 seconds. They alternate between two lay pastors since there is not currently an ordained minister employed there but it was an endearing service and everyone seemed genuinely thrilled to have me there.

Pineville Presbyterian Church

After the church service we went down to the state park for lunch, picked up some Christmas presents at the lodge and then went hiking on a new trail. We didn't get to see the waterfalls but it was a breathtaking hike--in the literal and poetic sense since it was basically straight uphill for the first 1/2 mile. Once we were at the top, we found an incredible spot overlooking the trees. Oh, by the way, it was 70 degrees today, did I mention that? We sat in silence and enjoyed our second church of the day, made especially for us by God. After awhile we had a really great conversation about how we know God exists because trees exist...sounds crazy, I know, but what have we really done to deserve this kind of beauty in our lives? Here was our chapel:

On our way back from the park we stopped at the Rite-Aid to get some things for our Advent Calendar and ran into a woman from church this morning. She was headed to the church next door for their "Streets of Bethlehem" event. We had no idea what it was, but we followed her anxiously. We signed in and received an advent devotional, a Christmas ornament and a fake coin that we were told we would give to the tax collectors inside. Once inside the church, we realized the incredible thing we had stumbled upon--they had changed their whole church to look just like the ancient street would have looked when Mary and Joseph were arriving. There were carpenters, bakers (we got gingerbread!) rug and tent makers, spice and herb sellers, even beggars asking for our coins. All the vendors signs were written in Hebrew and the people wore the simple robes of the time. There was also a little boy running around asking if anyone had seen his lamb. It was so magical. We then got ushered into a room where a Rabbi was talking about God and expressing his confusion about the Messiah he had heard of, then he read Psalm 121 all in Hebrew. Next we were asked to go downstairs where a real live sheep, goat, and donkey were waiting next to an empty stable. The play began and we watched a beautifully performed Nativity scene. At one point the sheep and goat actually curled up next to each other and just stared at Mary and baby Jesus. Then the narrator explained that the most joyful part about the beginning of this story is actually the ending when Jesus saves humanity. All in all, it was a really inspiring event that must have taken so much work and dedication. I just love how open people are about their faith around here and how in one day we had found three radically different ways to worship.

Part of the nativity play

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..." James 4:8