Being the Other

For my experience, I went to the First Baptist Church.  When I first walked up to the door, the people were very friendly.  They shook my hand, and introduced themselves, then showed me inside to the chapel.  When I sat down, I noticed that the people there were dressed in a mix of casual, and what I would consider church clothes.  T-shirts and jeans were mixed in with dresses and ties.  I'm used to people dressing just shy of formal when they go to church to show respect.  If I was to make an inference based on that, it would lead me to believe that they don't put as much stock in using their wardrobe as part of their worship.  Another thing that I noticed was the fact that there weren't very many people at the service, at least, not as many as I am used to.  What I can infer from that is not as many people in the area share their beliefs.

Another thing was the music.  They had a variety of instruments.  What I am used to is just a piano accompaniment, and occasionally a flute or a violin for special musical numbers.  Those are considered to be reverent, appropriate instruments.  At this church, however, they had a piano, an electric guitar, a bass, and even a clarinet mixed in with all of their music.  I would say that perhaps they are not as reverent with their songs as Mormons are, but they stood for every song.  In the Mormon church, we usually save that for special hymns on special occasions.  And a large amount of the service was spent standing.  There were eight songs in the program!

 Their hymnal was also much bigger than what I was used to.  Some of the songs were modern Christian songs, and so weren't even in the hymnal.  It was a little hard to sing along, since I didn't know any of the words to the songs or the tune, but what made it easier was the fact they had the  words to every song projected up on the screen, which I didn't notice before, because I was so busy looking for the words in the hymnal.  When I did look up, I noticed that hardly anyone was using the hymnal, making me stand out.  With all of this, it makes me think that singing and music are a very large part of their worship.

They also used a different version of the Bible than I was used to.  Where I expected a leather-bound King James Version, they used paperback and water-stained copies of the English Standard Version.  At first I thought that they didn't hold the Bible in as much regard as Mormons, but then I noticed how well-used they were, and I realized that they do respect it, just in a different way than I'm used to.

The thing that stood out the most to me was the fellowship.  They were a small community, but they had such love for each other.  In the Mormon church, what often happens when someone in the ward has a family member pass away is that the Bishop will ask for the congregation to keep the family in their prayers, and then move on with the service.  At the Baptist church, after it was announced that members of their congregation had experienced a loss, they called for a group prayer, and a large number of the congregation stood and went to the front of the chapel, and stood in a group as different members took turns saying a prayer for the family.  The sermon was even about acting as a community to keep each other on the straight and narrow.  After the service was what they called the Fellowship Meal, which they were quick to tell me was every three weeks, and I was more than welcome to come back.

When I first got to this church, I was so nervous, and everything about me made me stand out.  The clothes I was wearing, the fact that I looked in the hymnbook, and that I didn't know when to stand and when to sit.  There were even spoken cues I didn't know to look out for and recognize, let alone what the reply was meant to be.  What made it better was immediately after the service, One of the members came up to me, and after introducing herself, and getting to know me, she walked me around to different members and introduced me to them.  And they were all so friendly.  They invited me to their Fellowship Meal, and the table I sat down at was quick to fill up.  They asked me about school, where I was from, my family.  I was nervous about telling them that I was going to their service for a class, and not because I was actually interested in joining their church, because I didn't want them to make me feel unwlecome, but their attitude towards me didn't change at all.  They asked me what class it was for, and which professor I was taking it from, how the class was going so far, what I liked about it, and what other classes I was taking.  They were so welcoming.  I feel like this is something that we as Mormons always say we should do, and try to do with new members and visitors, but I think that we sometimes fail to do it.

In my class, I'm sure there will be at least one student who doesn't feel like they fit in, or doesn't know what's happening or what the routines that we often take for granted are, like standing to say the pledge of allegiance.  If this experience has taught me anything, it's that the best way to make them feel comfortable is to be as welcoming, and understanding as possible.Fellowship can go such a long way in making someone feel at ease.