Church!

After almost two months (including eight Sundays) in St Andrews, and visitations to four different church services, Liana and I have decided on a church community to be a part of.

One of the interesting facts about St Andrews is that, partly due to the large percentage of international students making up the population of the town for much of the year, there are a wide variety of churches to choose from. As is the case in much of the UK, the church in Scotland at large is not exactly flourishing... but you wouldn't know it from our town! We have, thus far, attended churches belonging to the Vineyard, the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), and the Scottish Episcopal Church (think the Anglican Church in Canada). And there are more that we haven't attended: another Episcopal church with a less high-church worship service (the one we attended had it all: incense, a sung liturgy... as the pundits say, "bells and smells!"), another Presbyterian congregation, a Baptist church, a Free church, and a Roman Catholic church. Relatively speaking, then, the four we've attended isn't all that many!

This has been an interesting experience for Liana and me, as neither of us has ever really been completely without a church home. We've had a few discussions about whether we ought to try yet a couple of more churches before settling down. It's an interesting tension: on the one hand, this is a unique opportunity for us to expose ourselves to different Christian traditions that we haven't had the opportunity to be a part of before. On the other, we've found that all this hopping around gets tiresome. After all, the point has been to find somewhere we want to stay. I don't think that continuing to check out further services just on principle - just because we can - reflects the right attitude.

Some might call what we've been doing over the past months as "church shopping"; to me, however, that just sounds a bit too consumerist to accurately describe our intentions. Yes, as we have been attending services we have probably been hyper-attentive to the experiences we've had worshipping at them, but not in a "what can this church do for me" kind of way. We have not only been looking for a church with great music, or strong preaching, or whatever else one may evaluate a worship service on - we've been looking for a place with a community that we could feel quickly welcomed into and a part of.

Well, we feel that this is what we have found at Trinity Church.

Trinity Church is, basically, the more contemporary version of Holy Trinity Church, the historic parish community of the Church of Scotland in St Andrews. If you'd like to read more about Trinity, you can do so here. I encourage you to take a look - the website gives a good run-through of the church's history, purpose, and goals.

We've now attended four services at Trinity, and over this time we have experienced it to be a vibrant, easy-going, and welcoming community of believers. It is made up of a wide variety of age groups, all the way from seniors who have lived in St Andrews all their life (St Andreans) to a large contingent of students from the university. I have particularly enjoyed worshipping surrounded by the beauty of ancient stone and incredible stained glass. Though some of the images represent aspects of the church's confessional positions which I have problems with (e.g. the St Andrew's cross [the diagonal white cross on a blue background - the Scottish flag] depicted right next to the crucified Christ), it is the same God we worship, made known to us in the same Jesus Christ, whose life is depicted in several incredible pieces of art. The building itself testifies to the story of the life of the church over hundreds of years, which I think is an exciting reminder of what we are a part of. We have also felt enlivened and blessed by the worship music (it always helps when you know most of the songs!), prayer, and teaching.

One of the many stained glass windows in Trinity Church

The other wonderful part about Trinity - and a big factor in our decision to stick around - has been the fact that three other couples we've come to be friends with (each of the husbands are St Mary's postgrads) all go there. The Allens, Hargroves, and Morehouses have been the face of Trinity's community to us, welcoming us not only to join them for worship, but for brunch beforehand. It's incredible what hospitality can do. The fact that these folks invited us to be a part of this (unofficial) tradition of theirs has meant more to us than  just sharing food.

I think both Liana and I are glad to have made this decision. I am glad to know where we'll be going tomorrow, and the next Sunday, and the one after that. Somehow, attending a church when you're not sure if you'll ever be back again seems... I don't know, somehow less significant. I don't just want to be a face in a crowd, I want to know others and be known by them, I want to share this life in Christ together with brothers and sisters in the Spirit! I hope that we can now start to put down some of those roots, lay those foundations, and - slowly, I know, but God willing, surely - find our own place in this community of believers, this part of Christ's body.