We go to Church before a Tragedy

Sought Church, Las Vegas, Nevada

When you visit a new church every week, you get a lot of swag. I mean, not Oscar-bag-with-a-pendant-from-Tiffany’s level swag, but swag nonetheless. As visitors, we’ve been given lots of pens (with which we take notes during sermons), a fair deal of coffee mugs and water bottles, candy (4” by 10” chocolate bars are the true “fun size”), even t-shirts with church logos. We’ve received DVDs and CDs of sermons that made for good listening at times and fine coasters at others times. We’ve been given good and lame books. But I think the best greeting gift we’ve received was at Sought Church in Las Vegas.

We were asked to fill out a visitors card with whatever information we were “comfortable in giving.” We wrote what we always write, our names and our e-mail (DeanandMindygotochurch@gmail.com . We got out of the habit of putting down our address last year when we didn’t have an address); and then the pastor making the announcement said that  turning in our card got us this great gift: $5 would be given in our names to Caridad, a Las Vegas ministry to the homeless.

We’d spent part of the day before with our friend Kathleen giving cookie to the homeless (Cookies and Hope) and helping a little with a dinner and worship service for the homeless. It was nice to think that gift might go to people we met the day before.

We’d been looking for place to worship the Sunday morning we were in Las Vegas (actually, we were looking for a second place to worship, since we’d gone to Guardian Angel Cathedral earlier that morning). We liked some of the things we read on Sought Church’s website. “With Sought Church, you don’t have to dress up. We’re not concerned with who you voted for in the last election. And, please, don’t feel the need to pretend about anything. Everyone is welcome here -- to share your story, your questions, your doubts, or struggles -- because all of it is valued. You won’t find canned answers, but you will find genuine conversations. From there, we’ll seek together.”

Sought Church is in the Arts District of Las Vegas, a short walk from the motel where we were staying. The Arts District has galleries and theaters, many in converted warehouse space, containing more subtle art than most of what’s found in the Strip. The church rents space in a small theater, setting up every Sunday for 10:00 am worship. Jake Musselman, the pastor, said they’ve come to love the neighborhood and the unique opportunities for ministry it offers.

There was a guest speaker that morning; Stephen Feith, a pastor friend of Jake’s from Madison, Wisconsin. He talked about the challenge of pastoring in that city, the home of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, where of the sixty attempted church plants since the year 2000, only two are still going. But their church has prospered.

Stephen joked, “Jake said I get twenty minutes to speak. Usually I have thirty-three, so I’ll have to speed up.” (He still went over.) After the sermon, there was time to pray; people were encouraged to pray silently.

Because Jake and the leadership of the church promised an hour-long worship service, they didn’t serve communion (which they would normally do). But after the service, they set a ten minute timer and encouraged people to talk to each other. People were encouraged to talk to someone they’d never talked to before, which was easy for us, of course.

During that time, I talked with Pastor Jake. He’s a Nevada native, but he’s not from Las Vegas originally. He’s been in the city for three years now and thinks the best is yet to come. Besides the worship time, the church meets in small groups in homes, and they also meet in homes for supper clubs. They plan to rent a laundromat soon so they can host a free day there for the community.

That morning of worship was about twelve hours before the shooting in Las Vegas. Since then, we’ve received several emails from Jake with great words of encouragement for the congregation. The city already was a place of unique challenges for ministry, but Sought Church seems ready, with God’s grace, for those challenges.

We Go to Church on Saturday Night

Salvation Army Chapel, Las Vegas, Nevada

We certainly weren’t needed to help serve the food. There appeared to be a couple of families with parents and children prepared to serve tortillas along with meat, veggies, and salsa.

Our friend Kathleen had asked if we wanted to go to the dinner with her. She usually gets a team of friends together to serve dinner outside one of the chapels at the Lied Social Services campus of the Salvation Army on the third Saturday night of each month, but this was the fourth Saturday. Another team was serving for the evening, so initially, anyway, we just observed.

The dinners are served outside the chapel, which is surrounded by Salvation Army apartment buildings and other facilities for those in need. The dinner isn’t just for apartment dwellers, though. It’s for anyone who’s hungry. A long line of people were already waiting when we arrived shortly before the 6:00 pm dinner was served.

Estimating how much dinner to prepare can be a challenge -- after all, nobody RSVPs for the weekly event. Guest volume can be affected by anything from weather to when assistance checks arrive. Kathleen said that on her first night of preparing the meal, she greatly underestimated the number of people coming; even though everyone got something, some people still left hungry. She determined to never let that happen again, and she hasn’t

Over a hundred guests were served the night we visited, and they all seemed to enjoy the dinner. (I overheard a man trying to give pointers on how to fold a tortilla to another diner, and she protested, “I know how to fold a taco! I’ve got plenty of Mexicans in my family!”) There were also plenty of desserts (donated by a local grocer).

Shortly after dinner began, a loud argument began between a man and a woman in the line. Ron, who administers the ministry, quickly calmed the unrest. After getting food, the young, slender woman involved came over to tell Kathleen her story.

She asked Kathleen for a place to stay and money. Kathleen suggested the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, but the woman gave an elaborate story of why that wouldn’t work for her. Kathleen couldn’t give the help the woman wanted, but hoped they’d begun a relationship that might lead to something later.

I asked about the woman’s story, and Kathleen said, “She was lying. I know, because when I was in her place, I was a liar.” She knows from experience that alcoholics and drug users lie. But lives can change.

As diners entered, they were invited to stop by a table full of neatly folded clothes, including a number of coats. Ron urged people to pick out clothes, “Winter is coming! You’ll be needing those jackets!” By the time dinner was done, all of the clothes were gone.

There was another chance for people to get clothes if they needed them -- during the meal, Ron announced, “We have new socks available for everyone who stays for tonight’s worship service!”  Some ministries require people to attend a worship service before the meal is served, but this ministry didn’t operate that way. Still, the offer of new, clean socks was generally a powerful incentive to attend the evening service.

Only twenty-two people stayed for the worship service; most people left immediately after eating. Though there was a preacher for the service, the usual worship team couldn’t make it, so we sang an acapella version of the first verse of “Amazing Grace”.

The speaker that evening, Tae Chu, opened with a golfing joke, then spoke about the Lord’s Prayer, then the story of Joseph from Genesis. He concluded with another joke about a symphony conductor.  Ron came forward and gave short Gospel presentation after Tae finished.

When Ron finished, a woman raised her hand, “Ron, I think you should preach like that when people are here. You should stand on a box while people are waiting in line for food.” Ron chuckled, but not a chuckle that seemed to commit to the idea.

While helping with clean-up, I talked to another volunteer named Mike who told me he had had a gambling addiction, but God had saved him. That is why he wanted to help people dealing with other problems. He hoped his story would help others.

I suppose I should make it clear that though this meal and the worship service were on Salvation Army grounds, it wasn’t a Salvation Army ministry, just a group of people trying to help others. Not a work of a church but rather the work of The Church.

Statistics:

Service Length: 1 hour

Sermon Length: 35 minutes

Our Rough Count: 22

Snacks: meal served before worship service

Musicians: none

Songs:“Amazing Grace”

Distance to Church: 3 miles

Open WiFi: no

Tie/Suit Count: none

We go to Mass in Las Vegas

Guardian Angel Cathedral, Las Vegas, Nevada

There are a lot of ways Las Vegas is different from other big cities in the United States -- not just because of what it has (the casinos and strip clubs), but also because of what it doesn’t have. When you drive down the major streets of most cities, you see churches. Sometimes they're old or even dead churches, but they’re there.

When you drive down the best known street in Las Vegas, the portion of South Las Vegas Boulevard known as “The Strip,” you don’t see churches. Sure, there are wedding chapels -- but anyone who works in one will make it quite clear those chapels are not churches. Many people who visit Las Vegas see only their hotel, some casinos, restaurants, and night clubs. When we visited Las Vegas this time, though, we found a church in the shadow of casinos.

Guardian Angel Cathedral, a Roman Catholic Church, is just off South Las Vegas Blvd. You walk out the front door and look straight out at Trump Tower. Like other buildings in the neighborhood, the architecture of Guardian Angel isn’t subtle. The A frame is large, but the cross-topped tower is even taller, with a statue of the Holy Family beneath it. Inside the cathedral, the stained glass windows are elaborate and quite beautiful.

Catholics definitely have an advantage over Protestants when they go to church in a new place. They can go anywhere in the world, and most of the worship service will be what they’re used to. The rituals of the liturgical year will be the same. For those of us who aren’t Catholics, we’re confused. We have to watch other people to know when to sit, when to kneel, when to stand, and what page to turn to in that little paperback book on the back of the pew. By now, Mindy and I have visited enough Catholic churches to get some of it right, but I always wonder what it’s like for visitors with no prior church experience.  

Even among Catholic churches, though, there are differences. A couple hundred people showed up for the 8:00 am Mass at Guardian Angel (You see lots of people on the streets in the afternoon, evening and even 2:00 am Sunday morning, but not so much at breakfast time. Apart from worship services, it’s a rather quiet time around town). This service had a fair deal of singing and the woman leading the singing (the cantor) had a very nice voice.

A part of worship in the Roman Catholic church that can throw some Protestants off is the two offering thing. The first offering goes to who knows what, but then the priest or a deacon up front says, “This morning’s second offering goes to …” some very cool ministry, perhaps to homeless in the neighborhood or hurricane victims or starving people in Africa. As an unprepared visitor, you already put the money you brought into the first offering. It’s frustrating.

The Gospel reading at Guardian Angel that morning (as at Catholic churches throughout the world) was from Matthew 21: 28 - 32, the story of the two brothers. In the story, the father asks the sons to do some work. One says he won’t, but then goes and does the work. The other brother says he will do the work, but then he doesn’t. The priest pointed out that God cares more about what we do than what we say.

Another strange thing is noticing who doesn’t go forward for communion. I don’t go, because I know that in the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is for Catholics who are in good standing. So I stay seated. But I observed people near me who knew when to sit and when to stand and when to kneel and to kick up the kneelers (which makes quite the simultaneous clunking sound), remain in their place rather than going forward. I know why I shouldn’t go, but I always wonder why that person doesn’t go forward.

There are moments during Mass when I feel like an outsider, but when Scripture is read, songs are sung, and even when people are shaking hands around me, I feel like I’m in the catholic Church, Christ’s Church encompassing all who believe in Him.

I hope that particularly this week, when so many in Las Vegas are suffering, grieving, questioning, and seeking, they can find hope in this church.

Statistics

Service Length: 52 minutes

Sermon Length: 7 minutes

Visitor Treatment: Near the end of the service, the priest welcomed visitors and invited them to return next time they were in Las Vegas

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none

Our Rough Count: 220

Snacks: none

Musicians: organ (woman)

Vocals (cantor, woman)

Songs: “Crown Him with Many Crowns”

“Glory to God in the Highest”

“Remember Your Mercies, O Lord”

“Lord, This Time, Change our Hearts”

“Here I am, Lord”

“Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God, Almighty”

“Save us, Save us, Savior of the World”

“Amen, Amen, Amen”

“Lamb of God”

“Teach us, O God, to Follow Your Ways”

“Amazing Grace”

“They’ll Know we are Christians by our Love”

Distance to Church: 3 miles

Open WiFi: no

Tie/Suit Count: at least 3 (all the ushers wore suits)

Church Website: gaclv.org

6 Things you should know about Nevada

1. The motto of the state is "All for our country"

 2. Almost 3/4 of the 3 million people in the state live in Clark County (which includes Las Vegas)

3. When it was first U.S.  territory, Nevada was part of Utah Territory. When silver was discovered in 1859, the population exploded and a separate territory was carved out. By 2006, it had become the eighth fastest growing state in the country.

4. Although prostitution is legal in some counties, it is illegal in Las Vegas and Reno. In Las Vegas, alcohol can legally be sold 24 hours a day. In 2006, the crime rate was about 24% higher than the national average (it's since gone down), and 85% of those were property crimes.The state's largest industry is tourism.

5. Since 1912, Nevada has voted for the winner in every Presidential election (except 1976).

6. Nevada church attendance is the fifth lowest in the U.S., but it has the highest number of hotel rooms per capita (1 room per 14 residents)

-- Mindy