This morning MC and I went to chapel together. EA wasn’t feeling well, so Keith stayed home with her and Will.
When my husband first entered the chaplaincy and we began to attend chapel together, I didn’t understand it.
Even though I didn’t understand it, there was no question for us that we should attend chapel. It only made sense….my husband was a chaplain, so the chapel was our place of ministry and service on Sundays.
Every Army post has at least two chapel services, most of the time there are more, but there is always a Catholic and Protestant chapel congregation.
The Prodestant chapel is collective, meaning that there are people from all denominational backgrounds worshipping together.
This is what some have trouble with and I didn’t understand in the beginning.
We tend to want to be with people that are “just like us”. We only want to serve and worship with others that believe just as we do.
No differences.
No variables.
Just cookie cutter Christians.
And everyone is happy.
But I have come to appreciate and to be thankful for the opportunity to worship with other believers that may not believe exactly as I do.
This hit me this morning during communion in our service. A friend of MC’s was sitting beside us, her parents were in the pew behind us.
We all believe in Christ, they’re a chaplain family as well. But we come from different denominations.
We are Southern Baptists. They are not.
We don’t believe in children taking part in communion until they have accepted Christ. They believe that children that have been confirmed in the church can take part in communion.
We drink grape juice. They drink wine.
So, as the communion plate was passed down our pew this morning, I quietly whispered to MC that she was not to take it. Her friend did. And as I picked out a cup with grape juice, her friend picked one with wine.
And that was okay.
There were no judgements.
Just the worship of one God, one Lord, one Savior by two different families from different backgrounds.
We don’t ask them to change. And no one is asking us to change what we believe either. We can hold firm to our specific beliefs without compromising them as we worship and work with others.
I expect that my children may question some of the differences that they notice within the chapel as they get older. It is our responsibility as parents to confidently know what we believe and why so that we can explain it to them. I believe that we should be doing this anyway.
That’s why we teach Bible in our homeschool and in our family Sunday School time.
Worshipping in the Army Chapel has opened my eyes to readily love and accept those within the body of Christ who have different denominational backgrounds than I do.
I am thankful that we can worship together as one body, just as we will one day in heaven.
Hallee says
I love this. I grew up in the Army – my dad retired when I was 27, so it was very much a major factor in all of my life, but we always went to church off post. I have only ever been to Army chapel one time, and that was with my husband (who is National Guard) when he was at a school at Ft. Gordon. I loved it. It was a wonderful experience.
.-= Hallee´s last blog ..Menu Monday 5 Oct 2009 =-.
Real Life Sarah says
What a great post! I go to a non-denominational church. (I should say Inter-denominational) and it really does help to make a distinction between solid Biblical Truth and matters of interpretation and conviction. It can be difficult!
.-= Real Life Sarah´s last blog ..Your Life, Your Blog: October 5, 2009 =-.