On Sunday we went for our first meeting at the local Community of Christ church. It was so, so wonderful. The kids all loved the art project (they were supposed to create something that symbolized what God is to them) and Lydia and Mary both met girls their ages there. Lydia especially loved her new friend and couldn’t stop talking about her afterward.
The format was so nice too. We all ate pizza and then discussed what Lent meant to us. The groups was small and very thoughtful. The majority were ex-Mormons, but there was one Presbyterian there who was completely mystified by the whole Mormon dynamic. At one point he asked us what happened with our old church (because that came up regularly during the conversation). One of the guys there was so funny. He offered to explain it to him over breakfast…and lunch, and dinner. When your whole identity is your religion and then you find out your religion betrayed you, it feels like a lot to explain.
The Community of Christ organizer was awesome, though. She tried so hard to keep the tone of the conversation productive and positive, and since she has never been LDS she feels no bitterness towards the LDS Church. It was so strange to sense the lack of animosity in her. On our youth trip to Missouri we had an entire testimony meeting about why the Community of Christ was not the true church, and I can not even count the number of times I have sat through lessons where the teacher or class disparaged other faiths. It was kind of a shock to see a church leader who had the opportunity to just totally rip apart a rival church but who instead used the moment as a peacemaking moment. It was a new experience for me. (Also I catch the irony here that I am disparaging my old faith instead of being positive and kind like the leader in the Community of Christ. Old habits die hard, I guess.)
Afterward we all went out to Menchies to celebrate this new exciting step for our family.
