jamie y. watkins

Tag: Church

  • It’s Not About the Building

    —

    by

    jywatkins
    in

    I love debating the topic of church buildings because I can see the merits of both sides. I like discussions with no right answer. I think it leads to much deeper conversation and shows the layers and complexities of our world and the ways in which we relate to God. So let’s talk about the…

  • Norway: Finding Peace in “Forgive Us”

    —

    by

    jywatkins
    in , ,

    I chose just the right book to read on vacation to accompany our theme of peace and to align with our visit to the Nobel Peace Center. Reflecting back on my post about the laureates, the one thing I didn’t mention in my (ever-changing, evolving) definition of peace is forgiveness and lament. Forgive Us: Confessions…

  • Seeking Community: Lutheran Church

    —

    by

    jywatkins
    in

    It’s been a couple weeks since we visited our local Lutheran Church, but right after I left for a business trip and then had visitors for my birthday… so we’ve had a couple Sundays off since this visit. I still want to chronicle it, though. I don’t know where my lofty ideas of Lutherans came…

  • 30 and Loved

    —

    by

    jywatkins
    in

       I had a plan for this weekend. I thought, I can’t stop 30 from coming, so I might as well throw myself a party. So I was going to have my family over to our house yesterday, and then all my friends over today, but Chad had a different plan. Apparently, he’s had a…

  • Seeking Community: Bible Fellowship

    —

    by

    jywatkins
    in

    For our third church visit, this past Sunday, Chad and I visited a Bible Fellowship Church just a couple minutes from our house. Like the Mennonite church we visited a few weeks ago, this church was small and friendly, about 30 people at the service.  Unlike the Mennonite church, it was not very diverse, but…

  • Seeking Community: Assembly of God

    —

    by

    jywatkins
    in

    I wrote last week about our visit to a Mennonite church as the first step in a process of finding a new church community. I’m going to try to record my thoughts about each of our church visits. Our second visit was to an Assembly of God church just down the street. We’re staying local…

  • Seeking Community: Mennonite Church

    —

    by

    jywatkins
    in

    Chad and I are in search of a church community. It’s been almost a year since our small church community disbanded, and we’re finally feeling strong enough to start looking for something new. We have a lot of ideas and a lot of opinions, and that’s good and bad. We know we want a small…

  • Hospitality and Friendship

    —

    by

    jywatkins
    in

    Chad and I love having people over. Even in our small one bedroom apartment, we used to invite a bunch of people over for Christmas parties and barbeques and other events, cramming people in to our small space. When we bought our house, our greatest vision for it was how we would be able to…

  • Why So Sad?

    —

    by

    jywatkins
    in

    Why so sad today?  I didn’t expect this man sitting in front of us to ask that question, to even acknowledge us. When the pastor told the congregation to stand up and greet those around us, to share our names and how long we’ve been attending, I didn’t move, and so, neither did Chad. The…

  • Next Steps

    —

    by

    jywatkins
    in

    It’s been just over three weeks since our satellite church held its final worship service. And it hasn’t been easy for Chad and I to acclimate to life without out it. We are still trying to figure out where we belong, if we should return to our home church or find somewhere new. Don’t get…