Castles, churches, and, yes...Taylor Swift

There are a lot of churches in Edinburgh, but most of them are now community centers, concert halls, office space. There are also castles in and around Edinburgh and, of course, many throughout Scotland. I've made some connections in my mind and I'll attempt, as best I can to illustrate them here. In my mind, a decent post promotes discussion and thought, and I hope for that here.

When Craig and I first came to Edinburgh two months ago we did some "church shopping". It actually wasn't hard as the list was very short. My criteria was an open and affirming Christian church. When it comes to churches, for me, I can't skim on my values. Everyone needs to be welcomed at Jesus's table, and you love who you love. There were only two who advertised they were welcoming to all. The first one we visited was closest to us. We quickly caught on that open and affirming had been forced on this small, older congregation by their liberal, American minister. In talking with them, their proudest achievement seemed to be remodeling their church and subsequently being visited by Prince Phillip.

We next visited St. Augustine United Church. This has since become our "home" church. It's in Old Town and we've had to fight through throngs of tourists to get to it. Well, until Craig discovered this lovely short cut through Grass Market (total Harry Potterville!).

The size of the sanctuary is somewhat small and pretty much all the seats are full every Sunday. There are lots of kids there and a scattering of teens. The church tries very much to be totally inclusive with a careful eye on their language. I feel at home when I see Jan Richardson's artwork shown on their screen, and think warmly of my neighbor, Edie, who introduced me to Jan Richardson's writings and artwork. Am I challenged and inspired? Maybe in very small ways, but that is a huge, 'nother discussion in itself. But, I feel at home here.

Out of curiosity we visited St. Andrew and St. Georges Presbyterian church. They are a recently (past three months) combined congregation of two churches. I thought their numbers would be more, given this is two churches who are now one. I think Craig and I are maybe the youngest people there, except for one miserable looking teenager. They have started the process of seeking a pastor, and, having been on a search committee, I pray that their process goes as well as ours did. The interim minister preaches a sermon acknowledging that their congregation is struggling and that "people are turned off" by religion. I hope that this church is able to take a look at why this is and make changes.

But, when we sing the last hymn, I grimly say to myself, they've got a lot of work to do. If I could remember the name/number of the hymn, I would print it for you here, but, trust me, I was so struck, while singing, that I was in a castle, not a church. (Yes, here is the castle part.) Through the years, have churches integrated too much castle into them? The words of the hymn were: throne, kingdom, majesty, power, realm. Where is Lamb of God and a little humility? Geez. I believe that language matters. Words can hurt or heal.

Recently my sister, Catherine, has shared the BEMA podcast with me https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/ . I love it! I'm still in the beginning of the Old Testament, but it's been great in helping me understand some things. What it is, is a theologian who is fluent in Hebrew, taking a look at the translation of the Bible from the Hebrew. What I'm hearing so far seems that often the translation becomes very skewed and seems to take on a more patriarchal and capitalistic view when translated into English, getting away from God is love, and every single person "has value and worth".

Now you may be asking yourself, ok, but where does Taylor Swift fit into this post? Well, I probably would not be blogging about Taylor Swift if she didn't just do a three day performance in Edinburgh, breaking all concert records, her "Eras Tour" being compared to Woodstock, bringing over 200,ooo people (sold out shows all three nights, 70,000+ fans each night) and injecting an estimated 77 million pounds into the Edinburgh economy. But, if I'm honest with myself, it's a little more than that. Craig turned me on to Taylor Swift a few months before we came to Edinburgh. I really like her 1989 album. One of my favorite songs "You're on Your Own Kid" was going through my head (the line "You've got no reason to be afraid), as I was boarding the plane to Scotland for six months. Craig and I were unable to get tickets at anything less than $600 a piece, and that just wasn't in our budget, otherwise, I wish I could have gone to the show. (See Craig's blog for what we did instead https://auld-riecke.ghost.io/little-stories/?ref=craig-a-riecke-newsletter). She has a huge following, she is positive, she is authentic, her fans are drawn to her vulnerability and openness. She has been a huge advocate for women empowerment. She has college courses about her. Ok, don't get me started....but,

I was standing in line in the Waterstone book store, and there on display:

Is there a message here for churches who are struggling? What happens when you send out a positive message that all people are valued and welcome?

When at one of my first Ceilidhs (at an old church turned into a dance hall!) the group next to me was talking about the church, and someone remarked, "No one in Edinburgh goes to church anymore." What a shame. God is still speaking. That doesn't stop because people don't go to church, but what a missed opportunity for community, sharing and love, in a world that is ever more becoming isolated and polarized.

Thanks for reading!

amy