http://www.shepherd-express.com/shepherd/23/51/cover_story.html
December 19, 2002
Volume 23, Issue 51
Passion in the Pews!
- by Chuck NowlenA backslider's tour of Beer City church services
These are trying times for religion, but who among us hasn't pleaded privately at some desperate life crossroads either, "What am I doing here?" or, "Please, God, can you give me a break, just this once?"
Milwaukee is fertile ground for such thoughts, especially during the holidays; it's home to 1,253 houses of worship, reflecting 65 different faiths, according to the 2002 Yellow Pages. Some claim there are more churches per capita here than in any other major city in the nation.
So Shepherd Express decided to sample a bit of what's out there, visiting 10 church services-chosen completely at random-that represent a crude array of Milwaukee's spiritual possibilities. Obviously, some churches and faiths are not represented, and we promise to make amends with similar, annual stories in the future.
The plan this year was simple: We arrived unannounced with a backslider's imperfect open mind, judging not so much a church's belief system, but rather each service's ability to touch and inspire-to move an uninitiated stranger. In so doing, we also were keenly aware that religion is by nature very private and highly subjective-and that even a collection of devout kindred spirits can have particularly good or bad days.
The first-person reports that follow, then, include an equally subjective, 5-maximum rating system, but they're by no means intended as definitive. Other people present might have had very different impressions; another visit might have prompted a very different account.
So think of the following dispatches as only one man's smorgasbord of first impressions-as well as a holiday reminder that no matter who you are or what you believe, God is far from dead in Beer City.
Sunday, November 3, 10 a.m.:
Witness for the Prosecution
Jehovah's Witnesses-Central Congregation
2434 N. 7th St.
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
Thankfully, you won't get the full-court Jehovah's Witness press when you walk into this service, which is more of a guided meditation than a liturgy: no robes; no rituals; no music; no head minister; and-surprising to me-no crosses or public offerings of any kind.
Immaculately tailored, like everybody in the congregation, an usher greets me subtly as about 120 parishioners ease into the cushy, theater-style pews. He takes me aside, and when I ask how to address him, he answers, genuinely friendly: "I have no title; none of us do-we're all just 'brother' or 'sister.' "
Selected tenets of the Jehovah's Witness faith, according to the "Who are we?" bulletin I'm handed at my request: The Bible is literal and historical; mankind now lives in "the time of the end"; blood transfusions "violate God's laws"; and "Satan is invisible ruler of the world."
Visiting Brother Corey Richards strikes hard at the last one as he haltingly reads a prepared address that takes up the entire 45-minute session-and, forgive me, almost puts me to sleep. Suggestive clothing, "drunkenry," "misuse of love": just a few obvious keys to Satan's workshop.
I honestly mean no disrespect-maybe I'm just having bad day-but I can't help but yawn here and chuckle a Woody Allen line to myself, "Hey, don't knock my hobbies."
Sincere faith, but with a closed-society feel-and a too-rigid message this morning that falls on deaf, backslider's ears.
One and a half crosses.