Day 12 - Different perspectives

This morning I attended the Reading Family Church. It was much different from the two previous churches I visted. I knew that going in, as the web site said it was "charismatic". But it also was much different demographically. The congregation had approximately 50 people today, but is usually more like 100 -- many of the distant students and holiday travelers were not there today. But still it seemed (age-wise) like a pretty representative sample of Reading, including a lot of people around my age.

In many ways it reminded me of Riverside Church in Norman, though not as big. Like Riverside, it was charasmatic to the extent that people showed significant emotion, but it wasn't overly emotional or pentecostalish (I didn't see anyone shaking out of control or anything like that). They clapped during most of the singing. I liked that. I did it too, though it did feel a little strange after being at Christ the King so long. I thought the music was right on -- it was reverent, biblical, contemporary, soulful, but not shallow.

I met some very nice people there. After the service, I was invited to a barbeque. I ended up staying there until around 5:30. Normally I wouldn't like to sit around and chat for so long, but this time I enjoyed it very much. Rather than just a lot of small talk, the group at the barbeque had some very interesting conversations, from which I learned a lot.

One of the things we talked about were differences between America and England, including why they (remember, these were charismatic Christians who are quite conservative socially) liked Bill Clinton but dislike George W. Bush. They liked Clinton because of his personality and good speaking/debating skills. They saw him as someone who looked like he could be the leader of such a powerful country. Similarly, they like Tony Blair because he presents himself as a good leader. As for Bush, it was not so much his conservatism or particular policies that they didn't like, but more his attitude and speaking skills, and how he didn't really work his way up to the top politically. It was very interesting. I just assumed that people in England didn't like Bush because they're all liberals, but that is definitely not the case.

I spent a lot of time talking to another guy there, around my age I think, who had just returned from a trip to India. I went to his house for a while before and after the barbeque, which was about a block away. He asked about my view on Global Warming and the Kyoto treaty, which is always something I'm happy to talk about. He also had some interesting perspectives on politics, theology, and America & Britain, which are some of my favorite topics. I later learned that he's a big fan of John Piper and Jonathan Edwards, and read a book about the Trinity in the Old Testament - he even knew what I was talking about when I mentioned the trinitarian language in the Aramaic targums. Anyway, as most of you know, I love talking to people about these topics, so it's great to find someone here who's also interested in them.

Also, the people at the barbeque gave me a lot of useful information about the Reading/London area. And they explained the English soccer ("football") leagues to me. I might actually be a little interested in it. I don't like soccer as a sport, but the same was true about (american) football when I first moved to Norman. Seeing the way people here go nuts over it just might be enough to make me interested in it, as was certainly the case with OU football.

I might visit a couple other churches to see what they're like, but I'm pretty sure this will be my church while I'm here. By the way, one last thing -- they thought it was very funny that I seriously would've voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger if I still lived in California.

posted by Matt @ 8:38 PM