In Place of Church

[Mariah]

I'm interested to know what some of you do in place of church.

That's not to imply we "need" religious services, but I know that most of us have need of ritual and community and while many people attend organized religious services to get it, there are so many wonderful ways those of us who are not religious or not conventionally religious practice all the time. For some people going fishing fulfills the same connection with Nature, or with "that which is impenetrable to us" as Einstein put it, whatever you choose to call it, and maybe fishing with the buddies fulfills the community aspect. This has always fascinated me, and I look forward to hearing what many of you have to say about it.

[Z]

I have six kids to look after. So any time frivolously wasted has to be done at home, usually.

I post on JREF and play City of Heroes. I occasionally play Civilization III or The Sims 2. Wallowing in the scientific genius and creative inventiveness of mankind gives me much the same feeling, I imagine, as 'going to church' does for Xians.

[Mariah]

You are executive director of a Wiccan temple? I'd like to know about that. Thanks.

[Z]

Yes I am... a very small temple. Six members locally and a dozen or so scattered about, plus a shrine in Northern Ohio (we're in Cincinnati) which, ironically, is larger than we are. My wife is the Priestess of the Temple, which essentially makes it her temple. I run the bare-bones, nitty-gritty bits, like managing donations and securing grants, coordinating activities, verifying legal stuff, etc. I also am (slowly) constructing the Temple website (http://crystallinestar.org) and I design many of the graphics, including our temple icon, the Seven Pointed Crystalline Star.

Our Temple is a member of the Correllian Nativist Church, which is a family tradition now open to the public, which also runs one of the more successful Wiccan education centers, Witchschool (http://witchschool.com).

However, it's not very time-consuming. As I said, we have a small temple which meets once or twice a month and on special occasions, and runs in a very informal setting. It's as much a chance for socialization and mutual community support as it is a religious endeavor. We take food donations for our local food banks, emergency supplies donations for emergency relief groups, and take part in various fundraiser events to support things like the American Diabetics Association, etc. We've also talked about the Adopt-A-Block program for about a year now, but so far everyone is terribly reluctant to give up time for maintaining a section of Cincinnati roadways.

For me, it's functionally volunteer work. I give to the community, and I help others out in a sort of folk-psychiatry capacity. It does only a small part to satisfy my spiritual needs; the world itself manages to satisfy me more than any church ever could. My wife, on the other hand, is much more deeply invested in religion, and for her it's a safe and relaxing means of satisfying her need for spirituality.

And on Hallowe'en night, we all climb to the rooftops with our brooms and fly.

;)

[Mariah]

Thanks. I went to a Wiccan event Oct 31 last year and many of the participants hastened to tell me they were in no way interested in divination of any kind. I understand the core of paganism quite well and am proud to say I don't have any great misunderstandings of it. I don't think so, anyway. I live near Asheville, NC which tells you something. I also go to a Unitarian Church, but probably won't be for long. Although I can easily see how you can be a Wiccan and a skeptic (assuming you are a skeptic?) I'm interested, and I'm sure others are interested, in how you reconcile the two.

I lived outside of Cinci for about a year, just east of Anderson in Claremont County. Great city, Cinci.

[Kopji]

Gardening.

We are members of the zoo, museum, and arboretum. They have activities going most of the time, especially during the warm months. Most of the activities are center around science or conservation. The museum especially, focuses on archeology & anthropology which are fun interests.

Nature Conservancy has bird and nature walks every Sunday morning during the summer.

There is charity work to be done with the Red Cross and Cancer society. (Blood donations and walks).

Sunday is a good day to do quiet things like study or read.

I don't miss the church socializing all that much. Too busy.

[Mariah]

Thanks, Kopji. That's just the kind of thing I'm leaning toward. I have found, as I see you have, that we have to be organized about it and do it regularly. I appreciate this. I'm curious to know if you have ever been a church-goer, if you care to answer.

[c4ts]

If I've got my work out of the way, and I haven't put off any errands, I can afford to sleep in. Then I hang out with friends (yeah, they don't go to church either), read a book, work out at the gym (although I usually do that on weekdays), play video games, etc...

Although one time I did organize a "Church of Halo" where we had Sunday Morning Halo tournaments on a giant projector screen, but someone complained it was an abuse of club privelages (I can't imagine why, nobody else was using the auditorium on Sunday). This year I'll try to be even more blasphemous- A Church of Texas Hold 'Em!

[Hardenbergh]

I haven't attended a church service for many years. I like to listen to the programming available on INSP and TBN. I enjoy listening to segments of "Morning at Worship" on Sunday mornings occasionally, hosted by Andrea Hall. They have short sermons from various ministries.

When I did attend formal church services, there was a time when I played the piano for one particular church. I intended to fill in for a couple of Sundays when their organist left but I ended up playing for well over a year. As I didn't think I played well enough, I was not comfortable with this arrangement so I managed to relieve myself of the responsibility. I preferred to relax and listen to the sermon without worrying about how well I was going to play. I didn't really want to commit myself to playing every Sunday as things would come up now and then
when I would rather stay home or go away for the day.

After that, I visited many churches as I wanted to observe how the different denominations conduct their services. Even after all my searching, I couldn't seem to find a church that I wanted to call my "church home" but I never lost my faith in God. I seemed to find positive aspects I liked about most of them. I didn't always like the music at some of them.

I still look at the "Church Directory" in my local newspaper as I still toy with the idea of finding a church but I always seem to end up sleeping a little later on Sunday as I have to get up so early to go to work during the week.

[Z]

Hey Mariah,

Don't take this wrong, just take this as an extremely lazy Taurus shunting work to someone else :D, but if you search through the posts I've made, I'm pretty sure you can find occasional comments about reconciling skepticism and faith. It's a topic I'm pretty interested in, since I DO have these irrational beliefs, and since I DO practice, at least in part, some skepticism.

I don't know if I qualify as a skeptic, per se... maybe junior skeptic or skeptic side-kick? Maybe one of the Olde Tyme J-Ref guys could clarify that?

'Mr. Credible, and his sidekick Gulliboy!'

[izittrue]

http://www.naturalism.org/spiritua1.htm

perhaps you have seen this site before...
i think this deals with the question that was posed...but then again it may have nothing to do with the question...
this is my first post...
and i had hoped for a wonderfully profound one...
..back to the drawing board....

[Mariah]

Thanks all. I hope to hear more.

Izittrue, welcome! I'm quite interested in the naturalism movement, and I write about it.

Thanks, Dragon. I will search through your posts sometime.

Hardenburgh, I, like you, looked in directories for churches, etc.

C4ts, I don't understand about the "Church of Halos." Explain, sil vous plait.

[Z]

Oh, I just wanted to add, that I really do go all out on Hallowe'en. I completely envelop myself in the mysteries of the Woo, and have a full-on night of mystic power and magic. But, as of yet, my magic, bolstered as it is by a proper straw broom, hasn't been able to overcome gravity much.

I figure, one night of ceremony and self-delusion is worth a year of critical thinking and realism.

[Palimpsest]

My body is a temple, and on Sundays I worship at the Church of Volleyball (http://www.vgva.net)

[Mariah]

Thanks all.

Welcome Izzitrue.

I had a longer post written, but a glich in the system erased it.

[Piscivore]

Sex and cartoons. Then housecleaning.

We also like going to the movies on Sunday morning, because it's less crowded.

[c4ts]

Originally posted by Mariah

C4ts, I don't understand about the "Church of Halos." Explain, sil vous plait.

"Halo" is a video game. A lot of people on my campus play it.

[Kopji]

Originally posted by Mariah
Thanks, Kopji. That's just the kind of thing I'm leaning toward. I have found, as I see you have, that we have to be organized about it and do it regularly. I appreciate this. I'm curious to know if you have ever been a church-goer, if you care to answer.
I am not particularly organized nor do I do things regularly. I was definitely a church goer. I was even a pastor once... it seems so long ago and far away now since my descent into evil. :)

And I was really screwed up for a while, sometimes without even noticing., but other times I noticed.
I left and hurt so many nice people, but I'd be dead by now if I'd stayed.

Maybe it was that once I saw there were other people like me, I realized I could do something besides be the living dead.

Your question touches on something I used to worry/wonder about - if I was sort of living on 'fading light' after walking away. There is an accusation about atheists that goes sort of like: 'Well! you were brought up in religion so that's why you are the way you are'.

The reality seems to be that we are who we are for many reasons, and try to find a place in the world we fit.

[Dubium]

Karaoke at the pub. More fun singing than singing hymns.

[Huh-What?]

Football. Can't get enough of it and the season is about to start.

RPG games, specifically Dungeons & Dragons. I play on Sundays and switch over to Saturdays when the football season starts. This has become my social placibo.

[Mariah]

The heathen say:

"Karaoke at the pub. More fun singing than singing hymns."

"Football. Can't get enough of it and the season is about to start."

Mariah says: I can see you two haven't given eternity a lot of thought. :))